Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

'Paper' Aims to Be The Ultimate iPad Sketchbook

In-App Purchases and Home Sharing

Intriguing, but I normally use Home Sharing to share apps with the wife (we have separate iTunes accounts, which I regret, but that's how it is)...

With apps like these, what happens with the in-app purchases? Will we have to buy them twice then? Or will they work with Home Sharing like apps normally do?
 
On page 1 with Flipboard.

I think this App is great. I just went ahead and bought the whole set of tools. It does have me thinking of getting stylus, but I'll wait a bit longer and make sure I'm still sketching enough to make that purchase. I'm a designer by trade and it's nice to have something I can get quick ideas out on when I'm out and about or lying in bed. Then I can polish things up in Illustrator or Photoshop when I'm ready to get down to work. I've tried some other sketching apps, but they feel just a little too fiddly. This is about the right amount. I'd love two additions: I want to be able to send to Evernote. And if they could add a bezier pen, that would be pretty cool too.
 
Minimalism is nice when you first play with it, but is it really so terrible to have such complicated features as zoom, choosing line width, and probably a few other things I'm not thinking of right now?
 
I'm glad I saw this post - I downloaded the app and it is pretty addicting. It's definitely nothing great for taking notes or anything, but for just drawing if you're on the phone or need something to keep you busy, it's pretty nice.
 
I'll take that "challenge"

Beedough said:
To everyone complaining about $8.00:

I challenge you to go out and buy a sketchbook, 9 pencils, 9 fountain ink pens, 18 markers, 8 tubes of paint and an eraser for under $8.00.

Side note:

Here are two of my creations using Paper http://beedough.tumblr.com/
Click to expand...

How about 30 Brushes, millions of colors, 44 fonts, various shapes, lines, ellipses, polygons, 20 custom brush preset slots, 6 layers, 2048x2048 resolution support, 6 layers, numerous filters, 9 layer blend modes, PSD export, photo import and edit-over-paint . . .

all under . . . . wait for it . . . . Under $8.00 (actually only $2.99 at the moment).

It's called ArtStudio.

"Paper" isn't competing with brick and mortar art supply stores. It is competing with polished and powerful Apps like this, and many others, for frequently less. (and the competition is arguably better)
 
notabadname said:
How about 30 Brushes, millions of colors, 44 fonts, various shapes, lines, ellipses, polygons, 20 custom brush preset slots, 6 layers, 2048x2048 resolution support, 6 layers, numerous filters, 9 layer blend modes, PSD export, photo import and edit-over-paint . . .

all under . . . . wait for it . . . . Under $8.00 (actually only $2.99 at the moment).

It's called ArtStudio.

"Paper" isn't competing with brick and mortar art supply stores. It is competing with polished and powerful Apps like this, and many others, for frequently less. (and the competition is arguably better)
Click to expand...

thanks for mentioning ArtStudio. While an artist I am far from, for $3 it's great to play around with and try to expand on the stick man drawings.

I did like the paper ability to quickly create notes, but I sure didn't like that it's advertised as free. I have no problem with an app having add-ons, but don't advertise that way, imho.
 
The issue, IMHO, is that it appears you're only paying for the brushes. Paying a fiver for the app is a better value proposition than a fiver for four brushes. I convinced myself to buy the brushes by thinking that I was actually buying the app.

I really do like it, and it's excellent for getting pen to paper. I just wish I didn't have to create a construct in my own head to get around the 'what are you getting for your money'.
 
pubwvj said:
They are missing a tool: typewriter/keyboard. I want to be able to type, create searchable text, outlines, formulas, etc. This is a must have for a notebook - drawing, typing, math. If they do that then I buy.
Click to expand...

I agree it would be useful to have a text tool in app. The app is free though, so you don't need to buy the current version, only the extra drawing utensils. :)
 
A lot of peolpe here are really missing the point of this app.

No, it doesn't have a huge range of features. No, it isn't massively customizable. No, you can't get the level of effects that you can achieve in many other apps. And that's the point!

This app is for jotting down ideas in quick, simple sketches and doodles. This isn't the app you would use to create a finished product. It's the app you would use for broadly outlining ideas at the start of a project. It's for storyboarding and brainstorming.

For this you need something quick where you don't have to adjust sliders or use sub menues to pick brushes. You have a tiny little tool set and a tiny little colour set and then you have a nice blank page. And you don't want to have to open and close various files (with layers making them slow to load) to look at your sketches. You want to be able to flick quickly through your pages and compare them with a quick swipe.

I am no artist but I can do a nice little sketch with colours and shades, stick figures and notes, etc., in a matter of minutes. Sure, a graphic designer would then move to another app or even physical tools to turn his/her sketch into a completed product or something for presentation but that's fine. This isn't that app.
 
Beedough said:
To everyone complaining about $8.00:

I challenge you to go out and buy a sketchbook, 9 pencils, 9 fountain ink pens, 18 markers, 8 tubes of paint and an eraser for under $8.00.

Side note:

Here are two of my creations using Paper http://beedough.tumblr.com/
Click to expand...

Great app.

And impressive drawings on your blog, keep it up, got some more art?
 
I'm a new iPad user and working in the art field though definitely not an illustrator so I wanted an app I could just relax and sketch with.

I saw the video, thought it was impressive and downloaded the free app. The interface is very simplistic, which on one hand I like, but I'd also wish I could customize a bit of the color palate.

I too was put off by the in app purchases so I went ahead and bought sketchpad pro first, which after trying to use on the fly was just too complicated and not fluid enough for my casual use. So I ended up buying the watercolor brush and pencil in the Paper app anyway.

Since I have I haven't been able to put it down. Its gonna take some getting used to until I can make some really awesome imagery, but its a blast to use and as someone else said very relaxing. Its without a doubt a luxury, but for cafe sketching its fantastic!
 
Beedough said:
Side note:

Here are two of my creations using Paper http://beedough.tumblr.com/
Click to expand...

Wow, very nicely done!


***

One thing I’d like to see with apps/iOS is a better trial model. Clearly Paper is a better app with additional “supplies”, but before I commit, I’d like to try the better experience than the free version offers.

I’m sure developers are concerned of you have a trial that’s full featured and expires at a date/time, or can be activated into a full version, that’s another mechanism to hack, but I think they’re losing a decent amount of revenue by people who aren’t getting +enough+ of the experience using the “fremium” model.
 
fruitycups said:
has anyone tried this?

how would you rate this?
Click to expand...

Despite its flaws, it's an app I'll keep coming back to. It doesn't ask you for perfection or artistic ability (trust me, I have neither quality); if you just want to set pen(cil) to paper, this app is great. It's excellent for doodles and sketches.

Edit: Like I said earlier, I had a hard time justifying it to myself (4 brushes for a fiver?!), but I'm glad I did. IMO the app as a whole is definitely worth it, but the tool cost feels over the top if looked at in isolation.
 
notabadname said:
How about 30 Brushes, millions of colors, 44 fonts, various shapes, lines, ellipses, polygons, 20 custom brush preset slots, 6 layers, 2048x2048 resolution support, 6 layers, numerous filters, 9 layer blend modes, PSD export, photo import and edit-over-paint . . .

all under . . . . wait for it . . . . Under $8.00 (actually only $2.99 at the moment).

It's called ArtStudio.

"Paper" isn't competing with brick and mortar art supply stores. It is competing with polished and powerful Apps like this, and many others, for frequently less. (and the competition is arguably better)
Click to expand...

Forgot I had purchased artstudio. blows paper away.
 
Sketchbook

Sketchbook will also let you zoom in to about 2500%, which is very useful to getting really detailed in small areas. And you can also draw something, then use a free form command and orient/rotate your image what ever degree you want ( 0-360 ). Also you can drop a photo into it also.

:eek::eek::eek::eek::eek:
 
OneMike said:
Forgot I had purchased artstudio. blows paper away.
Click to expand...

They aren't comparable apps.

EDIT: update on my earlier review which I can summarize as "interesting by deficient -- my go-to app is still penultimate":
This app is growing on me. I doodle on it during meetings because the artistic results belie my true ability (very limited). So I end up taking notes with it if anything important comes up (usually not, unfortunately). And I go to it first for diagraming ideas (I am a software engineer and an frequently end up the de facto software architect sadly) because it's basic operations are completely intuative so I can hand my iPad and stylus to a collaborator (I leave the palette open) to make his/her own notations and changes.

For god's sake, please add automatic wrist protection (lefty and righty) somehow, and primary colors to the color palette (I am a primary color kind of guy!!! I can never fully embrace this app without my three best friends in color space, R G and B!!!!)

Regarding the in-app-purchase thing... too much is made of it.
All you need to know is that it's $8 total for all the tools... if you're serious about a drawing app and have a job that's nothing and if you aren't or don't that's way too much. IMHO they should somehow do somthing for college students and other people that are serious about drawing apps but don't have a job... maybe include 2-3 tools in the free app.

Bottom line-- it's my go-to app about 50-50 vs. penultimate
 
Last edited:
Paper is NOT the best sketch app. Let me explain to you how an app can be the best in a sketching category.

1) It's a complete digital tool for a professional artist.
2) It can be used as a standalone app for perfect end results.

I'm a digital artist who use the best for really good artworks. I mean Photoshop, Sketchbook pro, Illustrator, Manga Studio and even ToonBoom Studio are in my Dock everyday and a Wacom Tablet is in my desk near my keyboard and magic trackpad.

Since the iPad arrival I wonder if we can use it for collaboration between employees and asign different tasks for complete projects if the artist was happy with the size of the iPad.

What do we do? We bought every app on the appstore and use them all to see if that was possible.

Obviously we wasn't looking for a tool for the hobbyist. We had needs. We were looking for apps that let us work on backgrounds, comics, pencilers, inkers etc.
Lettering and composing was a most.

So. What are the tools that let you create a finished artwork ready for print as a standalone application?

Remember we tried them all. ( including Sketchbook Pro and Brushes)

Here are they:

1) iFontMaker ( for original fonts on comics development)
2) Procreate (for pencils, inks and coloring products in HD)
3) Strip Designer ( for comic composig and lettering as well as professional export options)

Yes. Procreate app is the best that fits our needs on comic development. I always tried to start a personal project but I'm working always for clients works and collaborating on different artworks.

Today thise tools are used everyday. For several tasks. Here's an example. See it for yourself.

Paper is for hobbyists and people who want to mess around and spend money for each brush also is good for taking notes and explain something to your boss. It looks good and respond well on touch but is NOT a tool for artists. Kudos for their marketing department.. They are doing a really good job.
 

Attachments

  • 357327129.751274.jpg
    357327129.751274.jpg
    924.3 KB · Views: 104
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back