Comparison

PainterTool vs Comic Draw for Schools

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

Head to head
About

PainterTool

This app helps artists of all levels improve their drawing skills by comparing their work to reference photos. It offers tools like customizable grids and transparent overlays to assist with proportions, colors, and shading throughout the creative process.

Highlights
  • Reference photo comparison
  • Customizable grid overlay
  • Transparent overlay
  • Real-time color and shading comparison
  • Progress video creation
  • Automatic photo saving
Features
Read full description

Master the art of drawing with PainterTool - the ultimate learning companion for artists of all levels. Take a photo as your reference model, create your sketch, then use PainterTool to compare your work with the original. Adjust and refine until you achieve perfection. Perfect for beginners learning to draw, students developing their skills, and professionals seeking precise proportions. Practice with photos of friends, from the internet, or magazines. As your skills grow, you'll draw longer before comparing, eventually creating art without any digital assistance. Professional artists, illustrators, sculptors, designers, and art students use PainterTool for exact proportions before applying their unique style and materials. Unlike simple image projection, PainterTool works throughout your entire creative process, helping you compare colors, shading, and expressions in real-time. Add a customizable grid overlay for methodical square-by-square drawing, or work freely with the transparent overlay. All your model and artwork photos are automatically saved to your Photos app for easy sharing. You can also create and share video of your progress. Transform your drawing skills with PainterTool - where digital precision meets artistic creativity. PainterTool is a rare app that will let you use a digital tool to create a physical object. Terms of use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

About

Comic Draw for Schools

Create and view comics and cartoons on your iPad with a comprehensive suite of tools. Features include brushes, fonts, layers, perspective guides, and a script editor. Optimized for iPad Pro and Apple Pencil.

Highlights
  • iPad Pro and Apple Pencil optimization
  • 34 bundled brushes and 130+ comic fonts
  • Layers and layer groups
  • 1, 2 & 3 point perspective guides
  • Integrated comic script editor
  • Auto-save and export options
Read full description

*** Requires iPad Air or more recent. *** "I've only had it for a day but it is by far my favorite app on my iPad Pro. It is the app I have been waiting for. Thank you!" - Alex Ogle, Comic Book Artist. View and create awesome comics right on your iPad! Comic Draw for Schools comes with everything you need: brushes, fonts and tools to make reading & creating cartoons and comics easy and fun! • Feature Highlights - Optimized for iPad Pro and Apple Pencil - Supports Adonit & Wacom pressure sensitive styluses - Standard comic and cartoon templates - 34 bundled brushes - 130+ bundled comic fonts - Layers and layer groups - 1, 2 & 3 point perspective guides - Fast and easy comic lettering - Auto-save enabled - never lose your artwork - Integrated publishing system • Brushes - 34 bundled brushes - Textures and screentones - Lots of customization options - Easy favoriting system - Import and export brushes for fast sharing • Layers - Build up your artwork with layers - Layer groups help separate your stages of work - Lock, hide and merge layers as you go - Layer blend modes for advanced effects • Color - Create custom color palettes - Multiple bundled palettes including a classic comic color palette - Fast color blocking with automatic edge detection from higher layers - Quick shade adjustment slider - Canvas color sampling • Perspective Guides - 1, 2 and 3 point guides available - Multiple guides per page - Automatic perspective snap of strokes, lines, rectangles and ovals - Simple guide calibration from reference photo or sketch • Selection and Masking - Copy, flip, distort and filter selected areas - Filters include hue, saturation, brightness, recolor, background exclusion and foreground selection. - Mask regions for safe painting • Lettering - 130+ bundled fonts - Advanced balloon support including extension balloons - Sophisticated lettering controls including warping and 3D effects - Advanced style system for consistent fonts and graphic design across multiple pages • Script Editor - Full comic script editor included - Automatic keyword recognition - Drag and drop lettering elements from the script to comic page • Sketchpad - Separate sketch area with simplified tools - Fast switching between sketch and final artwork - Lettering layer available for panel layout planning • Publishing & Sharing - Record video of your creative process - Import Comic Draw native format - Export as Comic Draw native format, PDF, ePub, JPG or PNG - Export to AirDrop, iCloud Drive, Photos, iTunes, email and many more

Screenshots

PainterTool4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: PainterTool at $0.99 against Comic Draw for Schools's $9.99. PainterTool also leads on update cadence (every 3 weeks vs every 3 months) and review sentiment (100% vs 88%). Comic Draw for Schools's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 1) and ads (none vs shown). On monetization model 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

PainterTool costs $0.99 and Comic Draw for Schools $9.99 up front. PainterTool sells 1 in-app purchase, starting at $1.99 per 3 months. Comic Draw for Schools asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Comic Draw for Schools holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 4.5. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Comic Draw for Schools has 62 ratings behind it against 2, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 100% of PainterTool's written reviews are positive against 88% of Comic Draw for Schools's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

PainterTool ships an update every 3 weeks, Comic Draw for Schools every 3 months. The most recent releases landed on October 1, 2026 and October 6, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard9 real differences · 1 level
PainterTool versus Comic Draw for Schools: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterPainterToolComic Draw for Schools
Price$0.99 — better$9.99
Rating4.5 (2 ratings)4.7 (62 ratings) — better
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews — better87.5% of reviews
Number of ratings262 — better
Update frequencyEvery 3 weeks — betterEvery 3 months
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationPaidPaid
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPad
Requires iOS15.611.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size39 MB57 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperDemagic ABplasq LLC

Customer experience

PainterTool

All ratings2 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Comic Draw for Schools

All ratings62 ratings
Positive95.2%
Neutral1.6%
Negative3.2%
Written reviews16 reviews
Positive87.5%
Neutral0.0%
Negative12.5%

In-app purchases

1 purchases

PainterTool

Subscriptions1
  • PainterTool$1.993 Months
None

Comic Draw for Schools

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is PainterTool free?
PainterTool costs $0.99, and also offers in-app purchases.
Is Comic Draw for Schools free?
Comic Draw for Schools costs $9.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, PainterTool or Comic Draw for Schools?
Comic Draw for Schools is rated higher. PainterTool averages 4.5 out of 5 from 2 ratings, while Comic Draw for Schools averages 4.7 from 62 ratings.
Do PainterTool or Comic Draw for Schools have ads?
PainterTool shows ads; Comic Draw for Schools does not.
Which is updated more often, PainterTool or Comic Draw for Schools?
PainterTool ships an update every 3 weeks, and Comic Draw for Schools every 3 months. Most recently, PainterTool was updated on October 1, 2026 and Comic Draw for Schools on October 6, 2026.

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