Atelier vs PaintMixLab
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Atelier
This tool helps artists draw and paint with accuracy by providing reference analysis and construction aids. It offers features like head construction overlays, proportion measurement, and color analysis to support traditional and digital art workflows.
- Loomis head construction overlay
- Measurement and proportion tools
- Color and value analysis
- Grid system for scaling
- Canvas presets
- Layer visibility control
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Draw With Accuracy. Learn With Structure. Atelier: Art Grid is a professional reference and construction tool for artists who want to draw or paint with accuracy and confidence. Designed for traditional and digital artists alike, Atelier helps you analyze proportions, understand head structure, and transfer reference images to paper or canvas using proven academic methods. The app focuses on clarity, precision, and minimal distraction, giving you exactly what you need while you draw, and nothing you don’t. CORE WORKFLOWS Loomis Head Construction * Overlay a structured Loomis head directly onto your reference * Adjust orientation, scale, and alignment to match the subject * Ideal for learning head rotation, proportion, and placement Measurement & Proportion Tools * Place multiple measurement lines on your reference * Check distances, angles, and relative proportions * Toggle measurements on and off as you work Color & Value Analysis * Sample colors directly from your reference * Analyze value relationships to support accurate rendering * Useful for painters and realistic drawing workflows * Color mixing guide. STUDIO FEATURES * Grid System: Precise grid overlays for scaling and transfer * Canvas Presets: Match common paper and canvas formats * Layer Visibility Control: Show only the tools you need * High-Resolution Zoom: Maintain position while inspecting detail * Clean Drawing Mode: Designed for long, focused sessions BUILT FOR ARTISTS * No ads * No social features * No clutter Atelier is intentionally narrow in scope, built for artists who care about fundamentals, structure, and craft. Whether you are studying portrait drawing, refining your proportions, or preparing a reference for a finished work, Atelier supports the way artists actually work.
PaintMixLab
This app helps oil and acrylic painters accurately mix colors by analyzing a photograph. It provides precise recipes using your own paint tubes, saving you time and preventing wasted materials. Get exact color matches for any shade you can capture.
- Photograph colors to match
- Precise paint mixing ratios
- Supports multiple paint brands
- Customizable paint sets
- Color sampling from photos
- Save mixes and projects
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Stop wasting paint on test mixes. Photograph any color and PaintMixLab tells you which of your tubes to mix, and in what ratio, before you touch a brush. Tap the color you want in a landscape, a portrait or a magazine swatch and get two or three tubes in whole parts, like 4 : 2 : 1, with a rating of how close the mix will be. Recipes are written for the oil & acrylic brands you actually own. HOW IT WORKS 1. Choose your paint set (or build your own from the tubes you own). 2. Photograph the color, or open a photo from your library. 3. Tap the spot you want to match. 4. Mix the recipe, check it against the swatch, paint. WHY THE RECIPES WORK Screens mix light. Paint mixes pigment, and the two behave nothing alike: blue and yellow light make grey, blue and yellow paint make green. PaintMixLab models how each pigment absorbs and scatters light across 38 bands of the spectrum, fitted to real painted swatches rather than guessed from a hex code. Every brand is calibrated separately, which is why a Winton recipe and a Gamblin recipe for the same color are different, and why both come out the color they say they will. PAINT SETS INCLUDED Gamblin 1980, Gamblin Artist Grade, Winsor & Newton Winton, Magicfly 40, Castle Arts 24, Mont Marte 24, Arteza 24, Ohuhu 24, Bob Ross 14, US Art Supply 36, and My Tubes for a custom palette. 379 paints in all, from 14-color starter boxes to 93-color artist ranges. WHAT YOU GET - Color sampling from any photo, done on your phone - Recipes in whole parts with a match rating (Excellent, Very close, Close, Approximate) - Two-tube and three-tube options, with and without white - Blocks: the dominant color masses of your photo, largest first, so you can block in the big shapes before the detail - Style studies after Van Gogh, Monet, Turner and other masters, computed on your phone, no AI - Calibrate your own tubes: paint a swatch, photograph it, and the model adjusts to your paint and your white - Save mixes to each photo and keep projects for the paintings you are working on - Calibrations sync across your devices, and any project you choose to keep in your cloud does too MIX THE COLORS PAINTERS ASK ABOUT Sage green, Payne's grey, light and medium skin tones, teal, olive, dusty rose, lavender, navy, forest green, terracotta, mustard, turquoise, sky blue, peach, cream, charcoal, neutral grey, mauve, moss, coral, rust, sand, maroon, brown, and anything else you can photograph. No more muddy greens or chalky flesh tones from guessing. WHO IT IS FOR Oil and acrylic painters first, and gouache painters use it too. Beginners get a recipe instead of a guess; experienced painters get a calibrated starting point for the colors that are hard to see, like greyed greens and shadow skin tones. YOUR PHOTOS STAY ON YOUR DEVICE BY DEFAULT Color sampling happens on your phone and the picture stays there. If you turn on Keep a copy in your cloud for a project, that project's photo and swatches are stored privately against your account so you can open it on another device. Switch it off or delete the project and the copy is removed. We never view, share or use your photos for anything else. HONEST ABOUT ITS LIMITS A recipe is a starting point, not a guarantee. Tube batches vary, paint thickness changes a color, and the light you paint under is not the light you photographed in. PaintMixLab gets you close enough that the last adjustment is a small one. FREE GUIDES paintmixlab.com has free recipes by color and guides on mixing greys, skin tones, why greens go muddy, complementary pairs, tinting strength and how to measure ratios in parts. SUBSCRIPTION PaintMixLab Pro is $3.99 per month, with the first 3 days free. The subscription renews automatically unless it is cancelled at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. Manage or cancel it in Settings > your name > Subscriptions. Terms of use: https://paintmixlab.com/terms-of-use/ Privacy policy: https://paintmixlab.com/privacy-policy/
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Atelier at none against PaintMixLab's 1. Atelier also leads on ratings volume (16 vs 1) and update cadence (every 5 days vs every 9 days). PaintMixLab's advantage is rating (5.0 vs 4.7). On price, ads, device support and iOS requirement 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. PaintMixLab sells 1 in-app purchase, starting at $3.99 per month. Atelier asks for nothing beyond the download.
PaintMixLab holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.7. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Atelier has 16 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two.
Atelier ships an update every 5 days, PaintMixLab every 9 days. The most recent releases landed on November 5, 2026 and November 6, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Atelier | PaintMixLab |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.7 (16 ratings) | 5.0 (1 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 100.0% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 16 — better | 1 |
| Update frequency | Every 5 days — better | Every 9 days |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | Free — better | Freemium |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 15.1 | 15.0.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 59 MB | 30 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Reuven Levitt | Jason Ehleben |
Customer experience
Atelier
PaintMixLab
In-app purchases
Atelier
No in-app purchases
PaintMixLab
- PaintMixLab Pro3 Days trial$3.991 Month









