Comparison

Drawing Projector vs Smudjo

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side โ€” with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Drawing Projector

Transform photos into traceable line art and project them onto paper using your device's camera. This app acts as a portable drawing projector, allowing you to trace images stroke by stroke with a real pencil. Features include opacity controls, a built-in template library, and timelapse recording of your drawing process.

Highlights
  • Camera lightbox overlay
  • Opacity and lock controls
  • Photo to line art conversion
  • Built-in template library
  • Timelapse recording
  • Offline functionality
Features
Read full description

Turn any photo or template into traceable line art โ€” then project it live through your camera onto paper and trace with a real pencil. Drawing Projector: AR Trace converts your image to clean edge art on-device (no internet required), then overlays it semi-transparent over your live camera feed. Position your phone above the paper, adjust opacity, lock the frame, and trace stroke by stroke โ€” just like a classic drawing projector, right from your pocket. CORE FEATURES โ€ข Camera lightbox overlay โ€” project any image as transparent line art onto paper โ€ข Opacity & lock controls โ€” dial in the perfect trace opacity, freeze the frame while you draw โ€ข Flashlight & grid โ€” illuminate your paper and keep proportions true โ€ข Photo to line art โ€” convert any photo to traceable edges, entirely on-device โ€ข Built-in template library โ€” anime characters, animals, flowers, and more to start instantly โ€ข Timelapse recording โ€” every tracing session is captured frame-by-frame; export your draw-with-me video and share it โ€ข Daily draw streak โ€” build a habit with a streak counter and local reminder each day โ€ข Progress gallery โ€” before/after view of every finished project WORKS OFFLINE Import, convert, trace, and export your entire session in Airplane Mode. All processing is on-device. Creative tracing aid โ€” camera lightbox for drawing. See Settings โ†’ Legal for full disclaimer. EULA - https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

About

Smudjo

Features
Read full description

Smudjo is a painting app for people who like making a mess. Twelve brushes that answer the way real ones do โ€” pencil, technical pen, fineliner, brush pen, marker, gouache, charcoal, chalk, spray, airbrush and two rounds โ€” all of them pressure-, tilt- and speed-sensitive, on a canvas with no edges. Smudge, fill, selections and symmetry. Layers, groups, clipping, blend modes. Undo as far back as you like, and a time-lapse of the whole thing at the end. PAINT TOGETHER The part no other painting app does. Share a six-character code and up to eight people paint on one canvas, live, watching each other's strokes land as they're drawn. Everyone gets their own layer so nobody paints over anybody by accident, and you can follow someone's view or jump to where they're working. On the same Wi-Fi it connects directly, device to device. Anywhere else it goes through a relay that passes along messages it cannot read: sessions are end-to-end encrypted from the code itself, and the relay only ever sees a room number. REAL FILES Your paintings are files in a folder you choose, on your device or in your own cloud storage. Open them, move them, back them up, or stop using Smudjo entirely โ€” they are yours either way. No account, nothing to sign up for. WHAT'S FREE Every brush and every tool, forever. Five paintings, five layers each, exports up to 1080 pixels across, and joining anyone's session with no limits at all. One purchase unlocks unlimited paintings and layers, full-resolution export, hosting a full room, and keeping the paintings you make in someone else's session. It covers every device you own, and it is not a subscription.

Screenshots

Drawing Projector4 screens
Smudjo4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is ads: Smudjo at none against Drawing Projector's shown. Smudjo also leads on device support (3 vs 1). On price, in-app purchases and iOS requirement there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price ยท Rating ยท Positive reviews ยท Number of ratings ยท Update frequency ยท Ads ยท In-app purchases ยท Monetization ยท Best chart rank ยท Devices ยท Requires iOS

CostPrice ยท In-app purchases ยท Ads ยท Monetization

Both are free to download. Drawing Projector sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per 7 days and Smudjo sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

Scorecard2 real differences ยท 6 level
Drawing Projector versus Smudjo: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterDrawing ProjectorSmudjo
PriceFreeFree
Positive reviews0.0% of reviewsโ€”
Update frequencyFortnightlyโ€”
AdsYesNo โ€” better
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesโ€”
DevicesiPhoneiPhone, iPad, Mac โ€” better
Requires iOS16.0 โ€” better17.0
Further details โ€” not scored
Size30 MB5 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperTUSE TECH LLPGargant

In-app purchases

4 purchases

Drawing Projector

Subscriptions3
  • Weekly Premium3 Days trial$4.997 Days
  • Premium Monthly3 Days trial$9.991 Month
  • Annual Premium7 Days trial$29.991 Year
One-time1
  • Drawing Projector: Lifetime Access$9.99
1 purchases

Smudjo

One-time1
  • Smudjo Unlocked$12.99

Questions

Is Drawing Projector free?
Drawing Projector is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Smudjo free?
Smudjo is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Drawing Projector or Smudjo have ads?
Drawing Projector shows ads; Smudjo does not.

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