Comic Draw by plasq vs Artist Lightbox
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Comic Draw by plasq
Create and view comics on your iPad with a comprehensive set of tools. Features include brushes, fonts, layers, and perspective guides. An in-app purchase unlocks full editing capabilities.
- Comic creation and viewing
- 34 bundled brushes
- 130+ bundled comic fonts
- Layer support
- Perspective guides
- Comic lettering tools
- In-app purchase for full editing
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"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 comes with everything you need: brushes, fonts and tools to make reading & creating cartoons and comics easy and fun! While the basic app allows viewing and sharing of Comic Draw comics, an In-App Purchase unlocks the full editing capabilities. Start with a comic or cartoon template and get creating today! • Comic Viewer Feature Highlights - Optimized for iPad Pro - Integrated fullscreen comic reader - Import and Export Comic Draw files • Comic Editor 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 and isometric 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 - Clipping and masking modes • 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 - Upload to Comic Connect for fast and easy publishing - 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
Artist Lightbox
Transform your device into a digital lightbox for tracing and transferring images. Adjust image contrast and saturation, lock your image in place, and use any photo from your camera roll. The app offers biometric security and a togglable toolbar for a seamless tracing experience.
- Image adjustments (contrast, saturation)
- Lock image during tracing
- Biometric security
- Togglable toolbar
- Image rotation
- Use camera roll images
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Artist Lightbox is an app that makes your device into a lightbox! Trace images or even just use the white screen to use with transfer paper! Features: Image Adjustments Adjust the Contrast and Saturation of images. Lock Image Lock the image to keep from adjusting the image while you are tracing. Biometric Security Lock your image from loading until authenticated. Togglable Toolbar Triple tap the screen to hide and un-hide the toolbar. Image Rotation Easily rotate your images with a click of a button. Use Any Image Pick and use any image in your camera roll.
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Artist Lightbox at none against Comic Draw by plasq's 3. Artist Lightbox also leads on ads (none vs shown). Comic Draw by plasq's advantage is rating (4.1 vs 3.7) and ratings volume (754 vs 13). On price, update cadence, 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. Comic Draw by plasq sells 2 one-off in-app purchases. Artist Lightbox asks for nothing beyond the download.
Comic Draw by plasq holds the better App Store score, 4.1 against 3.7. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Comic Draw by plasq has 754 ratings behind it against 13, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 67% of Comic Draw by plasq's written reviews are positive against 50% of Artist Lightbox's.
Comic Draw by plasq ships an update every 2 months, Artist Lightbox every 3 months. The most recent releases landed on November 6, 2026 and November 3, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Comic Draw by plasq | Artist Lightbox |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.1 (754 ratings) — better | 3.7 (13 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 67.2% of reviews — better | 50.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 754 — better | 13 |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months — better | Every 3 months |
| Ads | Yes | No — better |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free — better |
| Devices | iPad | iPad |
| Requires iOS | 11.0 | 11.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 240 MB | 10 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | plasq LLC | Hayden Watson |
Customer experience
Comic Draw by plasq
Artist Lightbox
Bugs and requests
Comic Draw by plasq
Reported bugs
4 issues- Brush freehand tool not working with Apple Pencil
- Layers getting misaligned when using undo
- Crashes when trying to drag and zoom images
- Saved comics disappearing after updates
Requested features
6 requests- Ability to import/export PSD files
- More keyboard shortcuts and power user features
- Improved color picker with RGB/CMYK/Hex support
- Ability to work on double-page spreads
- Masking/clipping tools for panels
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- More default font options, especially non-Latin scripts
Artist Lightbox
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Comic Draw by plasq
- Free Trial2 variantsFree
- Unlock Full App$9.99
Artist Lightbox
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Comic Draw by plasq free?
Is Artist Lightbox free?
Which has better reviews, Comic Draw by plasq or Artist Lightbox?
Do Comic Draw by plasq or Artist Lightbox have ads?
Which is updated more often, Comic Draw by plasq or Artist Lightbox?
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