Color Study vs Studio Grid
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Color Study
This app helps artists simplify images into essential shapes and colors for study. It provides tools for accurate color matching, paint mixing guidance, and detailed analysis of value, saturation, and color codes. Advanced features for deeper analysis and paint mixing are available via subscription.
- Image simplification to shapes and colors
- Accurate color picker with pixel averaging
- Paint mixing guidance
- Value, saturation, and color code inspection
- Interactive analysis maps
- Customizable grid overlay
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Color Study is a tool for artists to simplify images, study color and value, and accurately match colors through paint mixing. Load any photo and reduce it to clear shapes and essential color information. Color Study generates a clear color map of your reference and provides guidance for mixing paints to match the colors you see, giving you a practical guide you can use at the easel or in study. Focus on the fundamentals that matter in drawing and painting. Made for artists Core tools: • Accurate color picker with magnification and pixel averaging options • Place and customize color markers directly on your reference • Inspect value, saturation, and color codes (RGB, HSV, HSL, CMYK, LAB) • Automatically extract key colors and accents in an image, and mark their locations • Compare colors to assess value, relative temperature, saturation, and perceptual difference • Customizable grid overlay for precise alignment Advanced tools: • Interactive value maps, shape simplification, temperature maps and notan controls • Paint-mixing guidance designed for opaque paints, with real-time feedback from photographed mixes • Export analysis views and color maps as images for reference or study • Advanced grid controls for precision alignment and subdivision • Generate simplified line drawings and contour maps to clarify structure, edges, and major shapes • Organize your work into projects with images, paint palettes, and artwork details • iCloud sync keeps your projects and palettes in sync across all your Apple devices Advanced tools available with subscription. Train your artistic eye Color Study is not a design tool or palette generator. It is a learning tool for painters, illustrators, and art students who want to analyze what they see and make better decisions in their artwork. Study master paintings, analyze your own photos, and deepen your understanding of value structure, color harmony, and visual design. Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/
Studio Grid
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Studio Grid lays a grid over your reference photograph, matched to the paper on your desk, A5, A4, A3 or a size of your own, so every square on screen is a square you can rule. Your first three drawings include every tool, and you keep them for good. After that the grid, paper sizes and numbering stay free for as many drawings as you like, and a single payment unlocks Studio Grid Pro for life. No subscription, no ads, no account. WHY IT IS DIFFERENT Most grid apps put squares over a photo and stop there. Studio Grid starts from your paper. Tell it what you are drawing on and it works out the grid that actually fits, in whole squares if you want no awkward partial row along the edge. THE GRID - Squares across, set by you - Ink that picks itself to suit the photograph, six preset colors, or any color you like - Line thickness and opacity, so the grid sits under the image instead of shouting over it - Diagonals through every square, for placing an angle or a curve exactly - Subtle numbering on all four edges, so you can always name the square you are in SEEING IT BEFORE YOU DRAW IT - Black and white, to judge tone without color arguing with you - Three, five or seven value bands, so the shapes of the tones become obvious - Skin warmth, which lifts warm skin off a cool background that plain gray flattens DRAWING FROM IT - Drawing view puts the reference full screen with the numbers pinned to the edges, and zooms to 6x for detail, without ever moving your crop - Save the gridded reference to Photos, or share it to print or AirDrop at full resolution MADE BY SOMEONE WHO USES IT I am a pencil portrait artist. I built this because the grid apps I tried were built for phones rather than for paper, and because I wanted the reference to stop shifting every time I touched the screen. Everything in here earns its place in my own drawings first. YOUR PHOTOGRAPHS STAY YOURS No account. No sign up. No analytics. Nothing is collected and nothing leaves your device. Your original photograph is never altered: the grid is an overlay, and exporting writes a new image. STUDIO GRID PRO One payment, for good, including future updates. It unlocks diagonals, drawing view, saving and sharing, value bands, skin warmth and any grid color. Family Sharing is on, so your household is covered by the one payment. Your first three drawings keep every tool whether you buy Pro or not. Nothing you have been given is ever taken away.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is chart position: Color Study at #131 against Studio Grid's unranked. Studio Grid's advantage is update cadence (every 5 days vs every 11 days). On price, ads, in-app purchases and device support there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS
Both are free to download. Color Study sells 7 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month and Studio Grid sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
Color Study ships an update every 11 days, Studio Grid every 5 days. The most recent releases landed on October 28, 2026 and October 24, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Color Study | Studio Grid |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.9 (529 ratings) — better | — |
| Positive reviews | 87.9% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 529 — better | — |
| Update frequency | Every 11 days | Every 5 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | — |
| Best chart rank | #131 — better | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, Mac — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 16.6 — better | 17.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 195 MB | 1 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | BrushLabs LLC | PAUL DAVIES |
In-app purchases
Color Study
- Color Study Pro monthly$2.991 Month
- Color Study Pro monthly$4.991 Month
- Color Study Pro yearly7 Days trial$19.991 Year
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- Color Study Pro Yearly7 Days trial$24.991 Year
- Color Study tip$1.99
- Color Study tip$19.99
- Color Study tip$29.99
Studio Grid
- Studio Grid Pro$9.99
Questions
Is Color Study free?
Is Studio Grid free?
Do Color Study or Studio Grid have ads?
Which is updated more often, Color Study or Studio Grid?
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