Sketches posts

Filed under: Software, Cool tools, Developer, iPhone, App Store

Sketches 1.7 out now

by Mike Schramm (RSS feed) on Jul 23rd, 2009

My favorite iPhone artmaking app, Sketches, has been updated again, this time to version 1.7. It's been made compatible with the iPhone 3.0 firmware, which means you no longer have to leave the app to share your pictures via email, and they've added in a few other bug fixes and improvements which will set them up for the next major release, the big 2.0.

This release isn't done yet though: "Redo" has been added in -- when you hold the Undo button down in the app, you'll get a whole menu of different options to go to various points in what you've done so far. And the Zoom function has been tweaked and improved as well, offering a quicker response and a better resolution, even when zoomed in.

I'm a big fan of Sketches, and expecially of the app's ability to let you pull in a background from almost anywhere (from your phone's camera to the Google Maps app), and then make your own marks on it. It's more than just an art app -- I've used it as a memory jogger, and even as a way to quickly send directions out to others via email or Twitter. It's available to new users on the App Store for $4.99, or the 1.7 update is free to those who already have it.

Tags: app, app-store, art, email, features, iphone, iphone-3.0, redo, sketches, tweaked, twitter, undo, update, version, zoom

Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Software, iPhone, iPod touch

Sketches updated to 1.5

by Mike Schramm (RSS feed) on Jan 27th, 2009

One of the first applications I used and enjoyed on my iPhone, Sketches, has updated to version 1.5. New in this version is the ability to change the alpha settings for colors (so you can change the opacity of the drawings you make on photos you take), and an edit mode for the corkboard view, to rearrange your drawings with. Additionally, they've moved uploaded photos off of a third-party server and onto their own page, so (for right now, anyway) no ads to get in the way. Not new in this app: a quality, fun, and surprisingly robust photo and image editor designed for the iPhone.

We've heard from the devs that there is a version 2 on the way as well, and both this version and that one are free to anyone who's purchased the app. But if you haven't picked it up yet, it is available for $4.99 over on the App Store, well worth it if you often take and share pictures with your iPhone.

Tags: drawing, iphone, photo, prices, sketches, uploading, version-1.5, version-2

Filed under: Software, iPhone, iPod touch

Sketches on sale through December 31

by Steven Sande (RSS feed) on Dec 29th, 2008

The highly-rated and popular drawing app for the iPhone and iPod touch, Sketches, has been on sale through Christmas. Now LateNiteSoft has extended the sale through December 31 to give more people the opportunity to draw on their pocket devices.

Sketches (click for TUAW review) is not only fun to let the kids play with, but it's great for creating quick drawings and annotating iPhone pictures. It comes with a bunch of pre-created shapes, you can use photos or a map of your current location for a background, and there's even an eraser available. It's the most drawing fun you can have without a Newton MessagePad (by the way, my MP2100 will be accompanying me to Macworld Expo again next week).

Sketches has been a favorite in the App Store (click opens iTunes) since July, and it's now in version 1.4. The App normally sells for US$4.99 / €3.99 in the App Store, but during the sale it is discounted 60% to the low price of US$1.99 / €1.59.

Jorge Llubía, co-founder of LateNiteSoft, has stated that there will be a 1.5 release, and then Sketches 2.0 will be released with major new features. Both of the upgrades will be free to registered users.

Tags: iphone, ipod touch, IpodTouch, sales, sketches

Filed under: iPhone, App Store, iPod touch

Sketches goes 1.3, offers discount for those who waited

by Cory Bohon (RSS feed) on Sep 29th, 2008

At TUAW, we love the Sketches application for iPhone and iPod touch. Without a doubt, this app is the best way to draw/edit photos on the iPhone -- and it recently got better with update 1.3. This update gives you some additional functionality as well as providing some major improvements to current features:

You can now input text using the built-in soft keyboard. Now you won't have to attempt to read someone's horrible handwriting.
Web sharing is now built-in. This feature is found on many other iPhone applications, and it is now standard in Sketches. You will no longer have to email your pictures to your computer -- just browse your masterpieces in your favorite web browser.
You can now take one finger off the screen while placing images in a multi-finger gesture. This is handy when you are "zooming" an object and you run out of room on the screen.
Additional shapes categories including "Office." The "Fun" and "Callouts" categories have additions as well.

If you are a new user to Sketches, the developers have added a tips system just for you -- this displays popups that let you know what each function does. This is handy for the less-experimental people among us.

To celebrate the launch of Sketches 1.3, the developer is offering the software for just $1.99 (regular price is $4.99). You can download Sketches from the iTunes App Store today for this special price. The special will last until Oct. 4, 2008.

Tags: App Store, AppStore, iPhone, iPod touch, IpodTouch, Sketches

Filed under: Flickr Find

Flickr Find: iPhone sketches

by Cory Bohon (RSS feed) on Sep 18th, 2008

We knew it was only a matter of time before this would happen. The fun and frivolous application for the iPhone, Sketches, now has a Flickr pool devoted to its users' quirky creations.

From the artistic, to the strange, to the fun, this Flickr pool has them all. If you are a Sketches addict and constantly find yourself doodling on your iPhone, then why not share them for the world to see?

On different note: We would like to congratulate Giles Turnbull, who is a good friend and former blogger here, on his new gig at Cult of Mac.

[via Cult of Mac]

Tags: app, find, Flickr, iPhone, Sketches

Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Software, iPhone, Graphic Design

First Look: Sketches

by Mike Schramm (RSS feed) on Aug 7th, 2008

Sketches was one of the apps I picked up the very first day the App Store opened -- in fact, it was the first I ever bought, and I bought it as a mistake: Apple's one-click shopping bit me for $7.99 (the app has since dropped in price to $5.99). But it turns out, as a mistake, it was a fortuitous one, because it's one of the apps I've been most impressed with. There are a few other "Paint" style apps floating around the store nowadays, but Sketches is worth the price of admission for doing exactly what it says: letting you easily and quickly draw whatever you want on whatever you want.

The quantity of options in a simple app like this are surprising. Choose from six different kinds of backgrounds, including photos shot with the phone's camera, existing album photos, a solid color, a webpage pulled from an in-app browser, a map of your location or a library of six included backgrounds.

Next, select from a bevy of colors and line thickness for drawing or the provided clip art. Finally, save the sketch in the app, export it out to your photo album or send it to Twitter. And even as you use the app, more fun appears -- there's a cool Etch-a-Sketch-like shake feature to erase what you've drawn, and the zoom button can move you in close for even more detail.

Text input is missing (and reportedly will be included in a later version), but as a quick sketch creator (you won't be designing the Mona Lisa with this, more like circling something on a map or pic before a quick upload to Twitter), Sketches is a really fun, very professional app. LateNiteSoft has it up to 1.2 so far, and even though I had no intention of buying it when I pressed the "Buy App" button without thinking (weren't we all a little feverish when the App Store first dropped?), I don't regret my purchase one bit.

Gallery: First Look: Sketches

Tags: app-store, first-look, firstlook, fun, gallery, iphone, sketches

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