Gone are the days when you needed to use a desktop PC only in order to create cool vector art. The technological progress doesn't stand still. New gadgets and tools are being presented to the Internet community on a regular basis. It even doesn't matter if you have a degree in any specific kind of arts or not. You can make use of software that will get the most complicated job done for you.
Creating vector art on-the-go is not a dream any longer. The opportunities that contemporary smartphones and tablets running on iOS provide have gone so vast and advanced that we can draw stunning vectors on the touchscreen devices and attain results that can compete with the ones created on desktops.
There are plenty of vector apps for iPhones and iPads that we can use to our benefit. Some of them are free. Some others are available for download at a fee. Some of them are less feature-rich than other solutions of the same kind.
If you are in search of the most optimal vector app to install on your iOS device, then the compilation of the 15 iPhone and iPad apps to create vector graphics at your fingertips will come in handy.
15 Top iOS Vector Apps (Free & Premium)
Compatibility: iPhone, iPad
Price: Free with IAP
With the help of Assemblyis app, you can feel the ease of creating beautiful vector imagery, icons, scenes, stickers, and other kinds of graphics in a fun way right on the touchscreen of your iOS device, without having to master Illustrator's ways. A vast library of shapes, symbols, and stickers will save you loads of time to draw your artworks. All elements can be layered and positioned within a simple and intuitive interface. There are more than 180 basic shapes that you can use to build larger designs, put those on any background, including the one with a custom image.
Features:
- 180+ basic shapes;
- 250+ fully finished, customizable stickers;
- Smart snapping for easy shape placement;
- Multi-select and nested grouping;
- Copy, flip and rotate shapes and groups;
- Save groups and projects to the custom shape pack;
- Fill, stroke, and shadow options;
- 35 pre-made color palettes;
- JPEG and PNG output up to 4096x4096 pixels;
- Save as transparent PNG;
- Sync with iCloud.
Compatibility: iPhone, iPad
Price: Free with IAP
The free iOS vector app comes loaded with every single piece of functionality that designers commonly use in Adobe. There are also lots of drawing tools and vectors that can be found in Adobe Ideas. The software includes every piece of functionality needed to create layered and flat vector artworks.
Features:
- 5 different pen tips with adjustable opacity, size, and color;
- Multiple image and drawing layers;
- Rename/duplicate/merge/adjust each individual layer;
- Insert basic shape stencils or new vector shapes from Capture CC;
- Multiple stylus support for Adonit, Wacom, Pencil by 53 and Apple Pencil;
- Send illustrations to Photoshop or Illustrator with all layers preserved.
Compatibility: iPhone, iPad
Price: $8.54/£5.99
iDesign iOS app is intended to let you create stunning illustrations and technical drawings on-the-go. The functionality that the software includes lets you create drawings accurately with your finger not getting in the way or blocking the view. The app includes advanced point and shape editing functionality, which is best suited for creating vector art on the move.
Features:
- Unlimited fast and smooth multitouch zoom with sharp and clear images;
- Line, polyline, square, rectangle, circle, arc, ellipse, polygons, stars & path tools;
- Object alignment tools;
- Multilevel Undo/Redo for all edit operations;
- Create multiple layers to organize & separate design components;
- Fill color and pen color swatches with opacity controls, custom RGB mixer;
- Export designs to JPEG, PNG, PDF & SVG formats;
- Import SVG files (from email attachments and also via Dropbox), etc.
Compatibility: iPhone, iPad
Price: $8.99
ProtoSketch is one of the most popular iOS apps to create vector art. You do not need to a designer or developer in order to sketch something. Simply pick the necessary brush and start sketching on-the-go. A handful of amazing features lets you express ideas and feelings as you simply sketch logos, concepts, vector illustrations, icons, landing pages or other useful stuff on your iPhone or iPad.
Features:
- Vector Brush with Variable width (Apple Pencil support);
- Vector Eraser;
- Scissors - for cutting vector paths;
- Shape creation tools - rect, ellipse, line, polygon, star, spiral;
- LAYERS;
- EXACT size and position input;
- Hardware Keyboard Shortcuts;
- LIBRARY full of UI elements, icons, shapes and more vector elements;
- Alt, Shift and Repeat buttons for fast workflows;
- Swathes, color wheel, rgb and hsb sliders and HEX input;
- Rotate and scale transform handles;
- CMD buttons for object-oriented design;
- Context menu with even more actions (hold on object to show);
- Grouping/ungrouping, etc.
Compatibility: iPhone, iPad
Price: $2.99
With the help of this app, you can not only draw and sketch your creative ideas. It also lets you share artworks with the community within the app, get inspired and motivated by the works of fellow artists from your community. The app provides you with a powerful selection of vector tools, pens, and brushes with 44 pre-built presets. There are lots of tools intended for vector drawing and designing, most of which support freehand drawing.
Features:
- Brush, Blur, Eraser, Fill, Pen, Pixels, Procedural, Select, Smudge, Text, and Vector tools;
- Built in tool presets;
- Layer filters for color adjust, blurs, edges, noise, vignette, etc.;
- Layer transform with skew, shear, and tiling;
- Super fast brush and compositing engine;
- Up to 64 layers with configurable blending, naming, and color tagging;
- Up to 16K canvas size with presets including standard 300 DPI print sizes;
- Canvas recording and export in full 1080 HD, and much more.
Compatibility: iPad
Price: $8.99
The software doesn't lag behind the functionality included in the desktop version of the app. With its help, you can create stunning graphic designs and illustrations on the touchscreen of your iPad. The spec list features lots of tools intended to let you create beautiful artworks without any special skills. The app lets you create designs and logos similar to the ones that you attain on Photoshop desktop version. The app features Photoshop export/import options. It also supports PSD, multi-color, lots of drawing tools, and a number of extra layer editing options.
Features:
- Photoshop PSD import/export;
- PDF and SVG import/export;
- Layer FX - shadows, glows, multiple strokes and fills, etc.;
- Multi-color linear, radial, and angle gradients;
- Shape libraries;
- Canvas scale, Rulers, and units (mm, cm, inches)
- Dropbox Integration;
- Autosave, etc.
Compatibility: iPhone, iPad, iPod
Price: $3.99
Create stunning and professional designs and vectors with the help of this iOS app. It includes all functionality needed to build professional vectors. logos, flyers, invitations, icons, greetings, etc. on-the-go.
Features:
- Export to PDF or PNG formats;
- Multi-Layers;
- Transparency system;
- Resize / Rotate / Full color palette;
- Undo/Redo, transparent eraser;
- Import designs, PNG transparent images, maps and premade photos or camera images;
- Hundreds of premade templates;
- Thousands of fonts;
- Save projects for later editing;
- Share your designs via Facebook, Twitter, Email, Dropbox, PDF Reader or any other PDF, JPEG or PNG app.
Compatibility: iPad
Price: $9.99
Freeform is a vector drawing tool for your iPad. Create quick sketches, mockups, or diagrams with this powerful tool. Export your drawings via email in JPG, PNG, or PDF formats, or save to your photo library. Create new designs whenever or wherever inspiration strikes!
Features:
- Shape tools with adjustable settings: Oval, Rectangle, Line, Polygon, and Star;
- Custom path creation;
- Sketch a quick shape with your finger;
- Linear and Radial gradient fills for objects, with the ability to add multiple color stops;
- Boolean operations;
- Combine two shapes into one, or use one shape to cut a hole in another;
- Path modification - add and remove control points from shapes or paths;
- Add or remove curve handles from points;
- Full undo and redo support.
Compatibility: iPhone, iPad, iPod
Price: $14.99
Intaglio Sketchpad is a full-fledged drawing app based on Intaglio - award-winning Macintosh app. Different from other iPhone apps, Intaglio Sketchpad lets you create and edit shapes and text blocks instead of painting strokes and erasing pixels on the screen. The vector graphic design elements retain their shape and attribute to be edited at any time. For example, you can adjust color, line thickness or apply spelling fixes whenever it's necessary.
Features:
- 11 drawing tools;
- Align, delete, duplicate, group, layer or transform graphics;
- 100 font/style combinations on the iPhone and 135 on the iPad;
- Path editor, subpath contour control functions, boolean path operations and text to path conversion;
- Gradients, patterns, drop shadows, arrows, brushes, dashed lines, outlined text and clipping masks;
- Drawing aids such as a grid, smart guides and object location and size feedback;
- Customizable drawing scale and size;
- A customizable graphics library including a variety of predefined shapes;
- Store drawings and libraries locally on the device or in iCloud;
- Share drawings with other users of Sketchpad via iCloud, Wi-Fi or Bluetooth, or with Intaglio on the Macintosh, etc.
Compatibility: iPad
Price: $14.99
Skribl is a vector drawing app that was developed not only for artists and designers, but also everyone who might need to create logos, diagrams, and other artworks. The app integrates with any program accepting images by cut and paste from the system clipboard. Images created within the app can be sent via email or transferred using Dropbox.
Features:
- Dropbox integration;
- modify fills, lines, and shadows separately;
- unlimited layers;
- object blend modes;
- adjustable canvas sizes up to 4K;
- rulers;
- adjustable grids;
- objects are sizable in various units of measurement: inches, millimeters, centimeters, pixels, picas and points;
- export as .png, jpeg, sag, pdf or skribl format for later editing and easy transfer and archiving, etc.
Compatibility: iPad
Price: $2.99
The vector drawing tool is intended to create stunning artworks and zoom in paintings without blurring. The software lets you experiment with your own brushes. You can use a stylus or draw strokes with your and watch those appear smooth at any zoom level. With the help of the app, you can both mimic "real" media to create digital artworks.
Features:
- Zoom functionality;
- Transparency;
- Stroke size, Pressure-sensitive could be adjusted.
- Share artworks to Facebook, Twitter, email, etc.
- Huge virtual canvas;
- 50 background style templates;
- Various types of high-quality natural brushes;
- Import images or photos from your device and draw over your photos;
- Export page to pdf file and share it over email, etc.
Compatibility: iPad
Price: $1.99
Crayons is a vector-based software for iPad, with the help of which you can draw smooth shapes, import photos from the photo library, write texts with different sizes and fonts, transform objects, etc. The app includes lots of tools, layers functionality, and PDF export to attain the best results at your fingertips.
Features:
- Available drawing tools: - Pen, Brush, Lines, Shapes, Photos, Texts, Buckets;
- Select and move key- and control points of draw object,
- Move all shapes of one layer;
- Full layer support (add layers, delete layers, reorder layers, alpha-value for the whole layer,...);
- Export functions: PDF (vector based), PNG & JPEG.
Compatibility: iPhone, iPad, iPod touch
Price: free
Concepts app combines paper and pencil with powerful vector manipulation. With its help, you can make quick sketches, beautiful illustrations, and precise drawings with ease and style. The software includes infinite canvas and layers, flexible multi-touch shape guides, vector manipulation with advanced transforms, and the ability to export your sketches to powerful standardized formats like SVG, PSD and CAD (DXF). The app saves you time and enhances your creative capability. You can use simple gestures like a tap-and-hold to select anything, and configurable shortcuts for unlimited undo, making adjustments, and accessing layers or the iconic COPIC Color wheel.
Features:
- Infinite canvas, sharp zoom, rotation;
- 5 layers with intelligent separation;
- Image import;
- Unlimited projects;
- Beautiful color wheel;
- Bluetooth stylus support;
- Vector brushes;
- Real-scale paper sizes, layout guides + rulers, transparency, graph paper and isometric grids.
Compatibility: iPhone, iPad, iPod touch
Price: free
This vector drawing app lets you take total control over your drawing by means of a number of handy drawing tools like line, rectangle, oval, arc, polygon, and text. There are also tools of free line with vectorization option (recognition of simple shapes), spline, regular polygon. All attributes of each object can be edited and changed: line color, line thickness, background color, dotted, arrow, font, etc. But also the coordinates of each object because iPocket Draw lets you draw with a scale chosen and modified.
Features:
- Lite version is limited to 50 objects by drawing;
- Drawing tools are available: line, rectangle, oval, arc, polygon, text;
- The drawing area is not limited;
- The number of objects either;
- The zoom in and out either;
- The number of undo either;
- Supports the possibility to draw on several layers and create configurations of layers;
- There is an object library that you can complete as you want.
Compatibility: iPhone, iPad, iPod touch
Price: $3.99
This is a complete mobile paint solution, which includes all tools needed to create stunning artworks on the touchscreen of your smart device. It is designed to be used by both amateurs and professionals who need to have access to advanced drawing tools while on-the-go.
Features:
- Retina Quality Paint;
- Clean Canvas User Interface;
- Vector Drawing;
- Gradient Tools;
- New Brush Styles & Eraser Control;
- Improved Drawing Response;
- ClipArt Cloud & Gallery Import;
- Included Art Backgrounds;
- Ongoing Performance Upgrades, etc.
As you can see, the choice is very broad. Make your decision based on the budget that you can invest in a vector app and more importantly the features that you expect it to include.
How to Create Vector Images with Adobe Draw App
Adobe Illustrator Draw is one of the most popular and widely-used vector apps that are supported by both handheld and desktop devices. This is an impressive software that lets you create quality artworks wherever inspiration strikes, and then refine your vector art on the desktop PC if needed. Adobe Illustrator Draw lets you turn your creative ideas into impressive artworks right at your fingertips. Here is a quick guide on how it works.
In order to start working with the app, you will need to sign in with Adobe ID or create one for free. The features of the vector drawing app may vary on iPhones and iPads. In this quick tutorial, we'll see how to use the vector app on iPad.
- As you open the app, you will be able to see all your projects in Work view. Tap plus (+) in order to create a new project. You will be asked to choose the format for your future artwork. There are also options to draw an image from scratch or create vector from image. Zoom the image using a two-finger pinch. Tap the Image Layer to reduce the opacity, and drag the Image Layer below the Draw Layer in the layer stack. Now, it's ready to trace.
- The app includes 5 brushes and an eraser. In order to make the choice and see the entire collection of brush types, long-press a brush. To change the brush settings, double-tap it. There are also several options to manage the brush settings like refining them, managing size and opacity controls, roundness, angle, etc.
- As soon as you choose a brush, you can start working with the color while using built-in color schemes or creating custom choices with color Picker. There is also an option to save preferred colors to the Library or choose colors from other Adobe apps like Adobe Photoshop Sketch. As you paint, long-press on a closed stroke to fill it with color. With a long-press on color and a drag on an eyedropper, you can sample color from the artwork.
- The drawings within the app are organized into layers, each of which can be given a custom name. As you tap a layer, you can manage its opacity, work in the Blend Mode, add lines and new elements, delete unwanted elements with the Eraser tool, etc.
- The vector drawing app auto-saves your artworks as you work on them. As you close the current project, you will be taken to the Projects view. You can add a document to the project clicking "+". There are options to duplicate, add, delete, and move elements between several projects. Whenever you wish to share and export your work, go to the Document view. This is where you can refine artwork on the desktop (Adobe Desktop Apps > Illustrator CC), publish it on Behance with 1 click, add it to Camera Roll (Image > Save Image), save as PDF or generate a shareable link.
P.S. Whenever you wish to show off your talent to the online community and grow the public interest in your cool vector art, you can save loads of time launching a portfolio site on the basis of art templates, quick and easy.
And what's your preferred app/way to create cool vector art on-the-go?