Before Adobe Photoshop Touch appeared on iOS, ArtStudio was considered the go-to image editing app, with the best selection of editing tools available on the iPad, including some decent artistic paint brushes. In its most recent revision, ArtStudio has undergone a radical interface overhaul, ultimately looking a lot like a desktop graphics tool, and making critical controls -- such as the extensive layer options, including blend modes and layer masks (the latter missing in PS Touch) -- more accessible. The result is a slick, smooth program that proves worthwhile to vets of Photoshop or any other full-featured image editor.
ArtStudio has many of the important tools you’d expect, from robust Curves and Levels color correction controls, to a healthy selection of useful filters (including the critical Unsharp Mask, absent in Photoshop Touch, which offers more artistic effects offerings than ArtStudio), and a really nice set of paint brushes for mimicking natural media -- such as wet brushes and airbrushes. In-app purchase options are available for many more custom brushes, though at $4.99, the full set costs as much as the app itself, which is a bit silly.
The Shadows/Highlights command works the way you’d expect it to, unlike the faux version in Photoshop Touch, which is surprising, given the usefulness of this color correction technique. We found the interface to be a little more intuitive than Adobe's iPad option – ArtStudio is arranged much like a desktop program, with a traditional menu structure; anyone familiar with the Mac version of Photoshop will instantly feel right at home in ArtStudio. What we didn’t like was the lack of a clone tool and a filter for reducing noise, both rather obvious omissions in an otherwise well-balanced toolset.
You’ll dig the fact that you can add additional fonts to the app via iTunes, plus another major attraction for desktop image editor users is the ability to email layered Photoshop files directly from ArtStudio; Photoshop Touch requires the use of the Creative Cloud to accomplish the same thing. Selections in ArtStudio can be modified via Expand and Contract options, missing in PS Touch, which in turns offers its uniquely powerful Refine Edges options, with nothing comparable in ArtStudio. Both apps could definitely learn tricks from each other, though at present, it makes them very much complementary options.
The bottom line. Although Photoshop is a verb (even on iOS), ArtStudio is a worthy competitor; and at half the cost, possibly the best imaging bargain we’ve yet seen. Even if you own one of these headline iPad apps, you’ll probably want the other as well.
of 5
iPad running iOS 4.1 or later
Robust image editor at an affordable price. All-inclusive feature set. Refined interface.
Full brush set as costly as entire app.
