Illustrator on the iPad works intuitively with your Apple Pencil so you can design on the go from anywhere, even offline – it’s never been easier to take your creativity to new places. Merge or cut graphics with quick, intuitive Pencil gestures to remove unwanted areas.
Make your graphics pop with effects, and access over 18,000 fonts, 20+ color palettes, up-to-the-minute live streams from famous creatives, and guided tutorials. Plus, your Illustrator work is automatically synced to the cloud, so you and your team can always access the latest version from your desktop or iPad. • Natural ways to draw — Make lines and curves using the Pen, Pencil, and Brush tools • Pinpoint editing — Create perfect graphics without quality loss with Smart Delete, Simplify Path, and more
• Polygon shape creation — Make objects out of circles, triangles, squares, and stars
Illustrator for iPad review
It is pared down, compared to the desktop version, but this works in a way that makes the whole experience of using the iPad app way more intuitive to use. For instance, there is less focus on the Layers tab and more on direct selection with a very neat little menu bar for each shape drawn. This means it will seem way more accessible and easier to navigate and use to those not familiar with Illustrator, and who might have kept their distance from the desktop app previously because of how complicated it seemed. With the touch-screen element, moving in and out of Artboards or even just zooming and rotating your document seems to bring the process alive in a much more natural way. Although it’s still easy to dip into the layers or properties tab, the focus is more on having everything a mere touch away on your ‘desktop’ or canvas. For instance, with the touch shortcut held, you can adjust singular nodes and snapping points, making your editing techniques a lot more instantly nuanced and intuitive.
The quality of the current Adobe ecosystem means that working off or online and being able to collaborate with other creatives or team members is now possible, much like a shared Google Doc. Another nice touch to the app is the ability to track a full version history, which makes it much easier to manage and follow your own progress, and that of others if collaborating. Highlights from the version 2.0 additions include; the blend tool, for creating serious dynamism between two separate objects; Shape transform tool, allowing you to group and modify shapes without having to select every anchor point (a serious time saver); and the ability to convert raster images to vectors. Requirements are pretty standard for an app of this ilk; you’ll need at least 4GB of RAM; 8GB of free space on your hard drive; and iOS 14 or later.
Price wise, you can download Illustrator for iPad for free (opens in new tab), but it’s $9.99 / £9.99 per month to access its premium features, whether you need these will depend on what you’re using it for.
The best drawing apps for iPad in 2022
There’s also now a host of great drawing apps for iPad to help you get the best experience creating art on the device, offering different brushes and other tools to enhance the creative possibilities. The app has taken the digital art world by storm with its many different functions, versatile interface and 3D painting abilities (it’s actually compatible with Zbrush, Blendr and others). Illustrator on the iPad has plenty to offer artists (Image credit: Ben Brady)
Just like Procreate, Adobe Illustrator is incredibly popular in the digital art community.
While the app is free, it does require some in-app purchases, but with features like radial, grid and mirror repeat, its worth the money. We’ve found that when you combine the Illustrator app with the new iPad Pro (M1, 2021) and the Apple Pencil 2, then you get a sleek, controlled and enhanced digital art experience (make sure you check out the iPad Pro deals and the Apple Pencil deals if you haven’t got the devices already).
If you like drawing in Photoshop, you can now have the same (well, almost) experience on iPad (Image credit: Matt Smith) When we tested it, we found there are some important missing tools, but the functionality is being improved all the time and it’s becoming a useful add-on that allows you to seamlessly transfer files between the app and the desktop – and it can take a heavy load. Inspire Pro has one of the speediest and most realistic rendering engines on the App store (yep, high praise indeed).
From oil to spray paint, the app boasts a large library of brushes and high-quality tools that are customisable to suit your exact needs.
A leader among drawing apps for iPad, the new Adobe Fresco offers a buttery smooth user experience (Image credit: Phil Galloway) Affinity Designer is a powerful app for creating a range of art (Image credit: Future)
Built from the same back end as its award-winning desktop version, Affinity Designer for iPad is a vector drawing program that’s fully optimised for iOS, including Touch controls and Apple Pencil support. Our testing appreciated the fact it can support huge multi-artboard canvases with as many layers as you could possibly want, and you can zoom to over one million per cent. Affinity Designer supports both CMYK and RGB, and has a full Pantone library in the colour swatch panel, meaning it’s ideal for creating both digital and printed art.
ArtRage Vitae is an easy painting simulation software (Image credit: Ian Dean)
ArtRage Vitae is the newest edition of one of iPad first and longest-running digital painting apps. There’s a variety of canvas presets and paper options, plus a wide array of brushes, pencils, crayons, rollers, and pastels.
One downside is that you have to stop drawing when you want to adjust the size and pressure of your tool, but there are plus sides – including the ability to correct mistakes quickly and simply. For that reason and more, iPastels is a great app to use if you want to try out compositions before beginning a real painting – or just for a bit of fun.
MediBang Paint for iPad is jam-packed full of handy drawing tools (Image credit: Future)
When we reviewed it, we found Medibang to be an easy-to-use program with similar features to Photoshop, including layers, with the ability to add styles and a handy brush editor. In fact, MediBang is full of brilliant drawing and painting tools – so much so that it’s hard to believe it’s free. Compatible with iOS 11 and above, if you want to create professional-looking artwork but you are on a budget, this is the iPad drawing app for you.
Zen Brush 2 has a lovely ink dispersion effect (Image credit: Rob Redman) Our testing found it has a smooth and fluent drawing engine, and although our Zen Brush review describes its limited features, we also know it is par for the course with such a narrow usage and that’s okay. Zen Brush 2 has a gallery feature that enables you to save your work in progress, as well as a lovely ink dispersion effect to give your drawings an added feeling of depth. Concepts is compatible with iOS 12.4 and later, and supports the iPad Pro (2018) and second-generation Apple Pencil.
You’ll also find a digital sketchpad for experimenting with your concepts, and an inking and colouring interface to help you finish your design with various brushes. Rather than painstakingly drawing everything out yourself, you can choose from an enormous selection of ready-made shapes and stick them together to create your vector masterpiece. This app comes packed with drawing tools such as pencils, markers, calligraphy pens and air brushes. And because the drawing engine works so well with the Apple Pencil, you’ll have a full range of pressure-sensitive dynamics to get your linework perfect. Offering a desktop-class standard of vector drawing, Graphic boasts variable-width brush strokes and pressure-sensitive support for the Apple Pencil.
This easy-to-use addition to our drawing apps for iPad guide is compatible with both the Mac and iPhone versions via iCloud and Dropbox, enabling you to save your masterpieces on the go for straightforward editing across devices later down the line.
There’s a wide range of digital pencils, pens, markers, and airbrushes to choose from, all accessed via a simple but intuitive UI that enables you to pin your favourite toolbars to the screen. It’s flexible and fast, too, enabling you to work with layers, transparency options, annotations and advanced blend modes.
With Dropbox integration plus the ability to import and export Photoshop-friendly files, it’s an ideal iPad art app for working on the move. Legendary artist David Hockney has been spotted using the Brushes app when creating art on the iPad. It’s an oldie but a goodie, designed specifically for Apple’s tablet and now with the ‘Redux’ suffix – and it’s free and open-source.
Using a basic toolbar at the bottom of the screen, you can bring up a colour wheel/picker, work with layers and switch between various brushes.
Sketch Club has a great set of tools for creating beautiful digital art, which is why it’s a valuable addition to our drawing apps for iPad list. Sketch Club has an uncluttered user interface, with lots of settings to customise the app to your own unique preferences.
Here you can upload your sketches to let others rate and comment on your work, as well as enter daily challenges and fun weekly competitions. This lets you use your iPad as a graphics tablet, drawing on the touchscreen with your Apple Pencil while you look at the results on your Mac.
You can connect via WiFi or USB, and the app allows you to customise gesture shortcuts and pressure curves.
The sidebar shortcuts automatically adapt to match whatever Mac app you’re working in, and there’s also keyboard support.
12 Best Adobe Illustrator Alternatives (Free & Paid)
Adobe Illustrator is one of the most popular vector graphics editors and design programs out there. This popular design app has come a long way since then, offering numerous improvements and a wide range of applications. A great feature introduced in late 2019 was the “Simplify Tool”, which aims to remove the unnecessary anchor points. Since the app is very precise and intuitive to use, you don’t necessarily need to be a graphic designer to enjoy this innovative tool.
Adobe Illustrator is also helpful for artists, accountants, digital marketers, engineers, and so on. Nevertheless, these days consumers have started to turn to other alternatives to Adobe Illustrator for various reasons.
In any case, it can be useful to take a look at the top 12 Adobe Illustrator alternatives out there before you decide which one is best for you or your company. If you click an affiliate link and subsequently make a purchase, we will earn a small commission at no additional cost to you (you pay nothing extra).
Pros: It offers real-time blend mode previews, pan and zoom at 60fps, fast response to any of your commands, and can handle thousands of objects with no lag. Cons: Among some of the shortcomings of this software are the lack of a wide range of textures and a realistic perspective grid. Converting images to vectors can be challenging, and the option for multiple strokes and fills only works for one object at a time. Users love its easy-to-use interface and its smooth combination of vector and raster design tools.
Its one-off payment is around the same price as what you would have to pay for a month’s subscription to Adobe Illustrator, making this a low-budget alternative that offers a comprehensive set of features and tools. Pros: Vectornator is an impressive Illustrator alternative for iPad, Mac, and iPhone. Its creative cloud library allows users to design on their iPad and Desktop and pick up where they left off whenever they switch their devices. When it comes to importing, Vectornator supports Figma, Sketch, AI, EPS, PNG, SVG and JPEG files. Even though it launched in 2017, in this short period of time Vectornator has become one of the favorite vector graphics software for designers worldwide. Its MacOS version is less popular because it lacks some of the advanced features offered by Adobe Illustrator.
As mentioned earlier, this tool removes the need to constantly save your workspace and helps you optimize your workflow. Unlike Vectornator, this tool does not offer video tutorials, and there are few resources out there that can help you understand the way it works. Unlike Figma, this tool lacks cloud storage, so you will have to save and backup your projects frequently just to be on the safe side. It has an intuitive interface, a clean layout and makes it easy to share the projects with your coworkers or team members. For over a decade, this Adobe Illustrator alternative has built advanced training and offers customer support for new users or anyone who is a beginner. Not only does CorelDRAW offers excellent performance, but it also provides an intuitive interface, which means this Adobe Illustrator Alternative is great for anyone who is a beginner, design-wise.
Even though it is easier to learn compared to Adobe Illustrator, that does not mean CorelDRAW lacks many features. For instance, CorelDRAW users have access to a wide range of unique fonts that they can use in their design.
It also offers AI-powered image solutions and is perfect for creating impressive page layouts. For the past decade, CorelDRAW has become a leader in the graphic design space, so it is only natural to think this software will offer more advanced new features in the near future.
Unlike some other software out there, Inkscape lets you export in PDF, PNG, sk1, EPS, OpenDocument Drawing, DXF, and PostScript formats. But for those who are more experienced, this alternative offers the chance to produce a high-quality design that you can easily share with others.
Cons: Like CorelDRAW, this one also struggles with a high volume of data, and it can freeze if you feed many commands to it. Nevertheless, once you get the hang of it, it can be effortless to use, and you will instantly fall in love with its interface and the wide range of exporting options. With 500MB cloud storage, we can say that Gravit Designer is pretty generous in terms of space for documents. Gravit Designer offers users video tutorials about each of its tools, so you will never get stuck or have to search external sources to help you figure out how to use the program. Pros: It offers a professional level for background editing, and its graphics package includes lots of features. If you need to produce business cards, posters, flyers, or any other options for commercial use, you will love this program.
Pros: A cool feature of Graphic is its ability to detect brush strokes’ width whenever you are using an Apple pencil. The program is very easy to use, and it offers the ability to import or export Photoshop PSD, SVG, and PDF documents. With Graphic, you will not have to worry about this as it offers the option to import and export external applications easily, without requiring file changes.
Graphic also offers pre-made templates that you can choose from and allows you to store all your documents and files very easily.
Vecteezy might not contain the familiar design tools, but it does provide a wealth of resources, whether image or video, all requiring no licensing. Adobe Illustrator and Vecteezy are probably the most significant differing software programs on this list.
However, this is due to the wealth of tools available to the Adobe Illustrator user – something Vecteezy cannot compete with. It comes with an intuitive and minimalistic interface that clears junk out of the user’s way, allowing them to focus solely on the design aspect.
The tools Boxy-SVG lacks that Adobe Illustrator provides are 2D drawing, animation, and image tracing. On top of this, Boxy-SVG’s limited capability for exporting files as PDFs might deter people from choosing this software as an alternative for Adobe Illustrator. If the latter, then you will be better off picking the alternative that is perfect for collaboration and allows you and your team to work on shared projects simultaneously. If you are a beginner, your best pick would be CorelDRAW, Sketch, Vectr, Inkscape, Gravit Designer, or Graphic.
These are the Adobe Illustrator alternatives that offer you all the tools to bring your creativity to life. Even if none of these alternatives is the right one for you and you will still choose Adobe Illustrator, it is always helpful to know there are other options out there (some offered even for free), which you can use as well.
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