Paint Professional HD... vs Highlights
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Paint Professional HD...
Create detailed digital artwork with a wide range of brushes, layers, and advanced editing tools. Seamlessly import and export files, and utilize stylus support for precise control. Save your progress automatically and share your creations across devices.
- Unlimited undo/redo
- Bluetooth stylus support
- Layer management
- Import/export Photoshop files
- Dropbox integration
- Record and replay paintings
- Advanced gestures for zoom and tools
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Supported iPhone and iPad. Move paintings between your devices (including PC) and keep working wherever you go. Features: - Recording every step of your painting – Unlimited undo and redo - OpenGL-based accelerator – Dimensions up to 2048x2048 – Full support for all Retina devices – Background autosave – Simple and approachable interface - Supports Bluetooth active stylus for capacitive screen with the definition of Velocity Import and Export: – Integrated with Dropbox – Import native Paint files, JPEG, and PNG files – Export as native Paint files, JPEG, PNG, and Photoshop files (with layers) – Place images from your photo album into paintings – Copy paintings to the pasteboard – Tweet paintings – Post paintings to Facebook Advanced Gestures: – Zoom with two finger pinch – Zoom in with two finger double tap – Zoom to fit with two finger double tap – Toggle interface visibility with a single tap (this can be changed to a two finger tap in the app settings) – Tap and hold to access eyedropper tool Painting: – Full screen painting – Record and replay paintings – Ultrafast OpenGL-based painting engine – Huge brush sizes up to 512x512 pixels – Simulated pressure – 64-bit painting on the latest hardware – 14 parameterized brush shapes – Adjustable brush settings (spacing, jitter, scatter, etc.) – Adjustable color opacity – Invert color and desaturate – Flip and arbitrarily transform layers – Adjustable color balance (iPad only) – Adjustable hue, saturation and brightness (iPad only) Layers: – Create up to 10 layers – Lock and hide layers – Lock layer transparency – Adjust layer opacity – Duplicate, rearrange, and merge layers – Change blending modes: normal, multiply, screen, exclude
Highlights
This app is a fast and lightweight PDF reader designed for research. It allows users to read, highlight, and annotate documents, and then extract this information into organized notes. Advanced features include table data extraction, text recognition, and smart copying of annotations into various formats.
- Read and browse PDF documents
- Highlight, underline, and strikethrough text
- Add comments and sticky notes
- Extract annotations into organized notes
- Convert table data and recognize text
- Smart copy annotations to various formats (CSV, BibTex)
- Lookup citation metadata and DOI links
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"... an app that students, academics, and anyone who does substantial amounts of PDF-based research should try" - Macstories.net "It’s the novel approach to PDF annotation that makes this app a cut above the rest"- TapSmart.com *** "App of the Day" - App Store, US *** USE HIGHLIGHTS FOR FREE Highlights is a fast and lightweight PDF reader (under 10MB) packed with features to help you do your best research. Free users have access to standard PDF reader features including document browsing, reading and annotating. There are NO ADS, time limits or tracking. READ PDF DOCUMENTS • Open PDF documents from anywhere • Browse files using the familiar document browser • Open PDFs in Single Page or Two Page scroll mode • Double tap to Smart Zoom in on a paragraph or figure • Scrub smoothly to the desired page • Search the entire document in an instant • Navigate using any connected keyboard or mouse STORE YOUR FILES WHERE YOU WANT • Full support for "Open In Place" lets you make edits to the file where it is • Access your files from iCloud Drive, Dropbox, Google Drive, OneDrive or Box using the document browser • Or keep them privately on device only HIGHLIGHT AND ANNOTATE FASTER • Select text with your finger, Apple Pencil or mouse pointer • Highlight, underline, strikethrough text and make image selections • Add comments to annotations or as individual sticky notes • Annotate with fewer taps using context aware popovers • Default annotation colors prevents you from having to repeatedly setting the color for the same type of annotation every time TURN ANNOTATIONS INTO NOTES • As you markup text and images the contents are extracted and sorted into notes • Customize the formatting and contents of your notes • Sort the annotations chronologically or create your own color coding EXTRACT TABLE DATA AND RECOGNIZE TEXT • Convert images containing text or tables to actual text and tables using machine learning - letting you get to the underlying data with a single tap SMART COPY Copy annotations to the desired format with one tap: • Text markup as text • Image selections as images • Tables as CSV • Citations as BibTex LOOKUP CITATIONS • Highlights will fetch DOI-links and metadata • Markup any reference and tap the link icon to look it up • If you have read the work already or have it in your reference manager library, Highlights will link you to it EXPORT ANYWHERE • Save or share your notes as portable files: Markdown, TextBundle, HTML, WebArchive or PDF • Share them to your favorite notes app: Apple Notes, Bear, Craft, Evernote, DEVONThink, Keep It, MindNode, Notion, Obsidian, Roam Research or Ulysses • Or send them to a colleague via mail. It's your notes, you decide where they go MUCH MORE • Dark mode • Multi-window support on iPadOS • Keyboard shortcuts and navigation • Support for system Copy and Undo gestures • Alternative app icons • Custom accent colors • Apple Pencil double-tap gestures • Power annotation tools For a full list of features see: highlightsapp.net/features HIGHLIGHTS PRO The Highlights Pro subscription unlocks advanced features on your iPhone, iPad and Mac: • Export options for other apps and easily editable formats • Extract information using table and text recognition • Customize accent colors and alternative app icons • Power annotation tools • Citation lookups • Smart Copy Highlights Pro includes a 14-day free trial. You can cancel your subscription at any time. The subscription will automatically renew unless auto-renew is turned off within 24-hour prior to the end of of the current period. Payments will be charged to your iTunes account and your account will be charged within 24-hours prior to the end of the current period. Any unused portion of a free trial period will be forfeited when you purchase a subscription. For more information about Highlights Pro: highlightsapp.net/pro Privacy Policy: highlightsapp.net/privacy Terms of Use: highlightsapp.net/terms
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Highlights at 4.5 against Paint Professional HD...'s 1.7. Highlights also leads on update cadence (fortnightly vs every 15 months) and ratings volume (1.6K vs 3). Paint Professional HD...'s advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 3) and iOS requirement (9.0 vs 15.0). On price, review sentiment, ads 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. Highlights sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month. Paint Professional HD... asks for nothing beyond the download.
Highlights holds the better App Store score, 4.5 against 1.7. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Highlights has 1.6K ratings behind it against 3, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 48% of Paint Professional HD...'s written reviews are positive against 53% of Highlights's.
Paint Professional HD... ships an update every 15 months, Highlights fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on October 15, 2026 and October 14, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Paint Professional HD... | Highlights |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 1.7 (3 ratings) | 4.5 (1.6K ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 48.5% of reviews | 53.2% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 3 | 1.6K — better |
| Update frequency | Every 15 months | Fortnightly — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | Free — better | Freemium |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac — better |
| Requires iOS | 9.0 — better | 15.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 56 MB | 37 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Evgeny EGOROV | Jonas Myren Ribe |
Customer experience
Paint Professional HD...
Highlights
Bugs and requests
Paint Professional HD...
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
Highlights
Reported bugs
5 issues- Highlights and annotations randomly disappearing
- Text selection issues, especially with footnotes
- Compatibility problems with certain PDF files
- Syncing issues across devices
- Export functionality not working as expected
Requested features
5 requests- Add handwriting and freeform annotation support
- Implement a table of contents or bookmarking feature
- Allow editing of notes directly in the app
- Provide a one-time purchase option instead of subscription
- Improve search capabilities with visual results and navigation
In-app purchases
Paint Professional HD...
No in-app purchases
Highlights
- Highlights Pro: Monthly$4.991 Month
- Highlights Pro14 Days trial$29.991 Year
- Highlights Pro: Legacy Upgrade1 Year trial$29.991 Year
Questions
Is Paint Professional HD... free?
Is Highlights free?
Which has better reviews, Paint Professional HD... or Highlights?
Do Paint Professional HD... or Highlights have ads?
Which is updated more often, Paint Professional HD... or Highlights?
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