No. 2 for the iPhone/iPod Touch : Feature Report

No. 2 : $4.99

No. 2 may have been the very first drawing program to come out for the iPhone/iPod Touch, if not, it was certainly one of the first, and in any event, it was the first one I got my hands on. Or should I say, my finger.

The concept of this program is that it is like using a basic No. 2 pencil, and therefore it does not have colors, line thicknesses, etc. It is really for professional artists as it doesn't have alot of features for the general user and the interface is a little cumbersome so you have to have motivation to master it. The highlight of this program is the precision with which one can draw. Because of the pencil icon, it is very easy to see exactly where you are drawing, and this is especially useful if you want to continue a line, or join one line with another without crossing. It is best for making precise, detailed line drawings.

Line Types (ie softness of edge, transparency): One hard-edged, opaque line.

Line Sizes: One very fine (pencil) line.

Drawing Method: Draw with finger, no tilt effects.

Cursor Offset: Yes. You draw by dragging an icon of a pencil, so you can see where the point will draw. I think it is the best implementation of an offset as it is always clear where the drawn line will begin and end..

Drawing Colors: Black (no color).

Backgrounds: White.

Change Background Without Changing Drawing?:No - no options at all for changing background from white..

Shapes and Clip Art: None.

Paper Size & Adjustability: One paper size, 4 times the size of the screen. Use two fingers to move paper, or pinch to shrink whole page onto screen. Paper cannot be moved away from iPod Touch/iPhone edge or turned.

Zoom: Yes, pinch to resize.

Undo/Redo: One button toggles for one undo, and one redo.

Eraser: Yes. Tap pencil icon to flip it over and use eraser, tap again to flip back to pencil.

Clear Screen: No. You can delete your drawing, but then you need to start a new drawing.

Text: No.

Hide Menus/Full Screen: Single-tap.

Save Options: Can keep images organized in Books (folders) in program library, or save .jpg to photo library. If you just use as much of the page as initially visible on screen, jpgs are 4" X 6" at 80 dpi when saved to the Photo Library. If you zoom out or drag the page around and use the full available page, jpgs are 8" X 12" at 80 dpi.

Appropriate for: Those who are willing to struggle a little with the interface for the payoff of the most exacting control over placement of fine lines, for instance joining lines without overlapping. This will mostly be for artists who are not easily frustrated by technology.

Interface: It is very awkward to have to tap with another finger to put the pencil down to start drawing. You used to have to do the same thing to stop drawing, but the pencil now comes off the page automatically when you lift your finger, which has pros and cons, depending on what you are doing. The interface takes some getting used to but as you can see at all times exactly where your line will start, continue, and end, you are able to have greater control than in most of the other programs.


Here's the beginning of the Big Chart comparing all the art programs I've reviewed so far.

No. 2 for the iPhone/iPod Touch : Added to Big Chart

I haven't written up my review of No.2 in text form yet, but it has been added to the Big Comparison Chart. I've also updated the entry for Sketches on the chart.

Sketches for the iPhone/iPod Touch : Feature Report

Sketches : $4.99

Line Types (ie softness of edge, transparency): One hard-edged line, 3 levels of opacity.

Line Sizes: Slider

Drawing Method: Draw with finger, no offset, no tilt effects.

Drawing Colors: 24 presets, no color picker.

Backgrounds: 24 preset background colors (no color picker) plus can use camera, maps, your photo library, website screen shots, and included library of overlays such as graph or note paper. You can change the background at any time without affecting your drawing, which is an overlay. This means, for instance, that you can work off a photo, and then eliminate the photo from the final drawing.

Shapes and Clip Art: Included library of re-sizable geometric and clip-art shapes including speech bubbles.

Paper Size & Adjustability: One paper size, size of screen. Paper cannot be moved away from iPod Touch/iPhone edge or tilted.

Zoom: Have to use unintuitive zoom icon; pinching gets you last chosen shape, clipart, or text.

Undo/Redo: Apparently unlimited undo-s, no re-do-s.

Eraser: Yes. Correctly erases down to selected background image/color, which remains unchanged.

Clear Screen: By shaking (a la etch-a-sketch of old). No option to turn this off or have a dialog box. Cannot undo. Do not move the device quickly when putting it down or you may unintentionally clear your drawing!

Text: 3 fonts, 24 preset colors (choose color before going into font menu), can't move text after initial placement.

Hide Menus/Full Screen: Double-tap.

Save Options: Can keep 30 images in program library, save .jpg to photo library, send directly to twitter, email picture or share on web. Approximately 4" X 5.5" 72 dpi when saved to Photo Library.

Appropriate for: Everyone, from kids to experienced artists.


Here's the beginning of the Big Chart comparing all the art programs I've reviewed so far.

Overview

I'm a professional artist and a professional geek and I love drawing on my iPod Touch, a technique I call 'iDrawing'. On and off I've been working on the grand overview/review of all the drawing/painting/sketching programs for the iPod Touch/iPhone but I haven't had time to complete it. Plus, fortunately, updates keep being published, so I need to update what I have so far. So before I complete the big chart (possibly never), I'm going to do stand-alone reviews, one at a time, of each of the drawing, painting and sketching programs I've used. These include programs intended for serious artists, programs intended for kids and completely non-traditional programs. I'll included a summary of features, pros, cons and links to some images I've made using each one.

Please use comments to correct anything that needs correcting, and also to add your reviews or opinion. Please be as specific and detailed about the pros/cons of features or interface as possible - all "this s$cks I can't believe I paid two dollars" comments will be deleted.

Some of the prograns I've used and intend to review are: Brushes, Colors, No.2, iDoodle2, Scribble Lite, Squiggles, Sketches, ColorTilt, ScratchAway, Doodle Kids, Kids Paint, Sketchinz, Whiteboard, Wooly Willy, Paintbook and Light Show. Plus one where you draw with flames, and another one where you can allow accelerometer physics to affect part of your drawing, and others I've since taken off my device and will need to re-download in order to properly review. If you've published an Ap intended for drawing/painting/sketching on the iPhone/iPod Touch, and it's free, it's likely to get reviewed here eventually. If it costs $5 or less and has at least one feature not available in the free programs, it's also very likely to get reviewed. If you've developed a drawing/painting/sketching AP and would like to bring it to my attention to use and review sooner, please send me an email or add a comment to any posting.

Here's the beginning of the Big Chart comparing all the art programs I've reviewed so far.

Well, that's the plan... let's see how I do!