Finding the best drawing app is essential if you want to make digital illustrations, paintings, and cartoons while having access to the exact tools you need. The web offers a selection of specialized applications that can emulate hand drawing, create 3D models, perform image manipulations, or handle any other task you have in mind.
To ensure you pick the best app for drawing possible, you should start by determining your drawing goals, required tools, and if you plan to keep your creations in digital format or print them out. By answering those questions, you’ll have a far easier time choosing the optimal option for your needs.
Developer: Adobe Systems Co., Ltd.
Platforms: macOS, Windows
Free trial: Rather than offering a 30-day trial, this application offers a completely free version with a reduced feature set.
Pricing: Free for Adobe Creative Cloud subscribers or $9.99 a month for non-subscribers.
You can purchase Fresco as a standalone application from the developer’s official site, Creative Cloud, and the App Store (iPad edition will cost you $9.99 annually).
Other than being available separately, Fresco is also included in a bundle with Photoshop or as a part of the All Apps subscription plan.
Overview: Adobe Fresco allows you to enjoy a paper-like experience, which is unachievable by all other competing applications.
One of its most appealing features is called Touch Shortcut, which transforms your brush into an eraser and provides other features that help streamline your workflow, which is very important when working with a touchscreen UI and trying to ensure the drawing process is as enjoyable as possible.
The application also breathes new life into basic drawing features while offering an intuitive interface that is easy to use and navigate. Additionally, it provides dynamic motion and transformation effects similar to Liquify, which can help you achieve some truly creative, artistic results.
Developer: Serif Labs
Platforms: iOS, macOS, Windows
Free trial: No trial option
Pricing: Single-time purchase for $54.99 on the official site
Overview: Affinity Designer might be the best drawing app for iPad Pro if you’re looking for a lightweight vector drawing solution that doesn’t require powerful hardware.
It’s particularly great for Apple device users because of its automatic iCloud Drive file synchronization that ensures you never lose progress and your projects are always easy to access.
It provides a large selection of drawing modes, satisfying the needs of both pencil-and-paper enthusiasts and artists who prefer more precise controls. The included brush library is also pleasantly diverse, and you can set up the keyboard shortcuts as you see fit to easily access the features you need.
Developer: Lucky Clan
Platforms: iOS, macOS
Free trial: 7-day free trial
Pricing: Single-time purchase for $19.99
Overview: ArtStudio Pro offers a stylish and intuitive UI that resembles Adobe products and is pleasantly user-friendly. Moreover, it provides useful keyboard shortcuts, which can help streamline your workflow even further.
All actions are performed in real-time, allowing you to make the necessary changes to the filter settings, brush sizes, or opacity on the fly.
One of the reasons some users consider this the best drawing app for iPad and Mac is the provided Apple Pencil and Wacom tablet support, which ensures using ArtStudio Pro is as convenient as possible.
This application is supplied with all the essential drawing tools, including smudge, blur, a fill bucket, and a clone feature, as well as a wide array of brushes and pencils.
Developer: Ambient Design
Platforms: Windows, macOS
Free trial: There’s a free ArtRage 6 Demo available if you want to test its functionality
Note: Demo version doesn’t allow exporting your projects.
Pricing: Single-time purchase for $59 on the official site
Overview: ArtRage is mostly known for making the creations of its users feel realistic. It’s also a cartoon pictures app that excels at emulating the depth and texture of paint, paper, and all kinds of brushes. Additionally, it allows you to apply realistic smearing and blending effects when using oils, watercolors, and other tools.
ArtRage also deserves a lot of praise for its expansive toolset. It invites you to pick from a broad selection of markers, pencils, pens, ink pens, brushes, crayons, etc.
The provided functionality is also pleasantly easy to use, particularly if you’re using a touchscreen or Apple Pencil. The UI offers simple navigation and doesn’t force you to waste precious seconds trying to find the necessary tools when you’re in the zone.
Developer: Adobe Systems Co., Ltd.
Platforms: macOS, Windows, iOS, Android
Free trial: Get the fully-featured 7-day free Photoshop version from the Free Trial page on Adobe’s website.
Pricing: Creative Cloud Photography Plan: $9.99/month
The subscription can be purchased from Adobe’s official site. You can pay for it via credit card, PayPal, or wire transfer.
Overview: If you’re wondering what is the best drawing app for working with watercolor, charcoal, cartoons, or animated graphics, Photoshop is the answer you’ll hear the most often.
In addition to an expansive toolset, it offers support for the CMYK color gamut, which is usually used for printing. That fact alone makes Photoshop an essential addition to a digital artist’s toolset even if they’re using other drawing software.
If you plan to employ Photoshop for drawing, you’ll need to learn how to customize and use its pen and brush tools. Parameters like pen pressure are disabled by default, so you have to take care of such features before you can get to work.
Developer: CELSYS, Inc.
Platforms: Windows, macOS, iOS, Android
Free trial: Trial version lets you test the app for 3 months. If you get it from the Galaxy Store, you can extend that duration to 6 months.
Pricing: Clip Studio Paint PRO: $4.49/month (Annual: $24.99)
Clip Studio Paint EX: US$8.99/month (Annual: $71.99)
You can also pick a different plan if you’re using multiple devices.
Overview: Arguably the most appealing feature of the Clip Studio Paint app is called natural blending, which resembles using watercolors and oils. It allows you to create artworks that look more realistic and natural. The application also has an expandable Materials section that lets you easily access the textures, screen tones, and other tools to ensure you enjoy a streamlined workflow.
Clip Studio Paint was initially created for PCs, but it can also be conveniently used on tablets and smartphones. Its UI is easily customizable, allowing you to fine-tune its layout to suit your needs. The app includes a large selection of diverse brushes, a collection of materials and resources, as well as useful tutorials created by experienced artists that will ensure you quickly learn how to take advantage of the available features.
Developer: Corel Corporation
Platforms: Windows, macOS
Free trial: Offers a 30-day trial
Pricing: Yearly subscription: $199
Single-time purchase: $429
Overview: Corel Painter might be the best drawing app for Surface Pro and other similar tablets if you’re looking for a raster-based solution. It comes with a diverse collection of illustration and painting tools. It also offers a layer-based workflow, meaning users who previously worked with Photoshop will feel right at home. You can conveniently draw and edit each part of the artwork separately, which gives you a lot more creative freedom.
The UI of this application is intuitive and was created to imitate the process of working on traditional artworks. This means you can enjoy a convenient, natural workflow, which can be especially important if you’ve just started transitioning from classic to digital drawing.
Corel Painter also lets you download traditional art brush collections, which can be customized to fit your preferred techniques.
Developer: Adobe Systems Co., Ltd.
Platforms: macOS, Windows
Free trial: 7-day trial where you can use Adobe Illustrator for free obtainable from the Adobe Creative Cloud free webpage.
Pricing: In-app purchases
Illustrator on iPad: $9.99/mo
Adobe Design Mobile: $14.99/mo ($149.99 /annually)
If you already have a Creative Cloud subscription that includes Illustrator, you don’t have to pay anything.
Overview: One of the main benefits of Illustrator is that it allows you to create vector graphics instead of raster images. Such artworks can be resized as you see fit without losing detail or quality, which can be incredibly useful.
The application’s interface is also pleasantly intuitive and familiar, particularly if you own other Adobe products.
Regardless of whether you want to draw a detailed illustration or a modern logo, Illustrator will provide the tools you need. It also has essential features like an eraser, ruler, and color picker. Meanwhile, the iPad edition includes a library of more than 18,000 fonts and 20 color palettes.
Developer: Autodesk
Platforms: iOS, macOS
Free trial: Free edition with a restricted feature set
Pricing: In-app purchases
Premium Bundle - $1.99
Overview: Sketchbook comes with an expansive feature set and is widely considered the best free drawing app for beginners. Its UI is aimed at imitating traditional drawing, which is great if you’re used to working in the physical medium.
The application offers a wide range of pens, pencils, and brushes while allowing you to employ graphic tablets and other gadgets for further convenience. It also has hotkeys, which help simplify the workflow even further.
A big benefit of this application is its layer support, which enables you to tweak individual elements of the artwork even if it’s covered by a different element or layer. This provides you the advantage of non-destructive editing while the implemented color wheel makes it easy to choose the desired tone or tint instead of having to use less precise sliders.
Developer: ibis mobile inc.
Platforms: iOS, Android
Free trial: Free version (ibisPaint X).
The free edition includes ads and a restricted feature set. You can purchase a premium membership in-app.
Pricing: Paid (ad-free edition): $9.99
Prime Membership: $2.99/mo, or $27.99/annually
PC single-time payment $19.99
Overview: Possibly the best feature of this app is its intuitive UI. It’s easy to learn and memorize its layout, which makes it a good fit for users of all experience levels. ibisPaint comes with all the essential drawing, painting, and sketching features expected from such software as well as layer support, undo/redo actions, and an integrated social network for sharing your creations.
This application also comes with a wide collection of brushes and pens, which help you recreate your favorite style and drawing techniques. Additionally, it offers expanded functionality like blending modes and stroke stabilization, which is very useful for drawing smooth, accurate lines.
Developer: MediBang Inc.
Platforms: iOS, Android, macOS, Windows
Free trial: Completely free
Pricing: Free (includes ads)
Overview: MediBang Paint can be accessed on both PCs, tablets, and smartphones, meaning you can work on your art on the fly. It’s also available on all the most popular platforms, allowing you to start working on a project on your computer and finish it on your phone. This is great for users who have an elaborate setup, especially if they like to use tablets for comics.
This app offers a broad selection of features that are perfectly suited for creating manga and comics. This manga drawing software also has a large collection of brushes, textures, and backgrounds that will help ensure your creations look professional. The layer support is also great for managing your projects and adding depth to your drawings.
Developer: Krita Foundation
Platforms: Windows, macOS, Linux
Free trial: The desktop edition (Windows/macOS/Linux) is available on the official site for free
Pricing:
You can buy the desktop version (Windows/macOS/Linux) from Steam, Microsoft Store, or the Epic Store.
$14.99 (Steam, Microsoft Store), $9.99 (Epic Store)
Overview: One of the main reasons why users love Krita https://fixthephoto.com/krita-review.html (Full Krita Review) is the provided support for styluses and pressure sensitivity. This makes it easier to draw smooth, even strokes. It also includes a large collection of brushes and features designed for creating all possible types of illustrations and animations.
Krita has a customizable layout that you can adjust by moving around docks and panels and you can even add personalized shortcuts for easy tool access. In addition to drawing, you can use this application for making concept art, gaming assets, etc. However, its image editing functionality is a bit lacking compared to Photoshop or Lightroom.
Developer: Savage Interactive Pty Ltd
Platforms: macOS
Free trial: No trial option
Pricing: Buy from the App Store – $9.99
Overview: Procreate is often referred to as the best drawing app on the market. It excels at recognizing touch and stylus pressure, being perfectly suited for Apple Pencil users. This application also lets you set the color mode to CMYK, which is the industry standard for printing and realistic color reproduction.
Another benefit you get to enjoy when using Procreate is the ability to manage and reorder your projects with the help of Stacks. You can tap the thumbnails to open the sharing options as well as copy, delete, and hide files from your Gallery. The application comes with all the features needed for creating and editing professional digital artwork in a variety of styles and techniques.
Developer: Martin Renold
Platforms: macOS, Windows, Linux
Free trial: Completely free
Pricing: Free and open-source
Overview: MyPaint offers an expansive and convenient dashboard with sections for brushes, the color wheel, and brush parameters. This free drawing software https://fixthephoto.com/best-free-drawing-software.html (Best Free Drawing Software List) also lets you use third-party drawing tablets with pressure sensitivity support, which is an essential feature for digital artists.
Another noteworthy inclusion is the infinitely scalable canvas, which helps recreate the feeling of drawing on paper. The app also comes with an advanced brush engine, adjustable brushes, and graphic tablet compatibility.
MyPaint also lets you work with the OpenRaster format, which is known for storing all the image data necessary for digital artists. Even though it doesn’t have some of the cutting-edge features included in more expensive software like image filters or vector drawing tools, the available functionality is still very impressive.
Developer: Artflow Studio
Platforms: Android
Free trial: Free edition has limited functionality
Pricing: $6/single payment as an in-app purchase
Overview: Artflow is probably the best drawing app for Android, as it provides a wide range of tools for creating digital sketches. It’s easy to use and has convenient menus while also providing handy selection and smudge features as well as a large library of customizable brushes. There’s also a dedicated feature for creating textures, which can greatly expand your creative potential.
Artflow offers layer masking and gradient fill support, which enable you to create more complex projects. Additionally, it’s a fantastic application to use on the fly since it can be run both on your phone or tablet wherever you are.
It also fully supports styluses and pressure sensitivity as long as your device is capable of recognizing it. Additionally, Artflow lets you import images from the gallery, which can be useful when you can’t use physical paper.
