Vector drawing: iDraw, InkPad, iDesign or Intaglio Sketchpad?

[nagromme]

All three sound excellent in their own way. Or is there another better choice?

I’m seeking an Illustrator-type app with power features and ease of use. Ideally:

* Grid AND point snap

* Booleans

* 4-way nudge (in different increments, ideally)

* Numeric entry for scale/translate/rotate

But I know there may be no one app that does all that yet, so I’m wondering what people think is the best out there for now.

(I’ll do more technical, logo, and and UI design work, and less freehand drawing.)

TIA!

P.S. Links to info:
http://appshopper.com/productivity/inkpad
http://appshopper.com/productivity/idesign-2
http://appshopper.com/productivity/intaglio-sketchpad

 

[nagromme]

A couple more I found, for what it’s worth:

miniDraw HD (looks a little too basic?)
http://appshopper.com/photography/minidraw-hd-vector-graphics-application-for-the-ipad

Freeform
http://appshopper.com/productivity/freeform-the-vector-drawing-app

And I forgot about iDraw—maybe my top candidate at the moment:
http://appshopper.com/productivity/idraw

It’s hard to trust reviews, since all of these apps seem to have been updated massively over time! (I found some criticisms of iDraw, for instance, but now I see that the missing features have long since been added.)

 

[FlyRobDog]

Sooo.... what did you choose?

I have used Adobe Illustrator, and love it.. I never thought about doing any illustrations on the iPad.. but now you sparked my curiosity..

Im also thinking that it might be nice to be able to export your iPad "mockup" illustrations into Adobe Illustrator for final modifications.. Have you played with that at all?

 

[nagromme]

Sooo.... what did you choose?

I have used Adobe Illustrator, and love it.. I never thought about doing any illustrations on the iPad.. but now you sparked my curiosity..

Im also thinking that it might be nice to be able to export your iPad "mockup" illustrations into Adobe Illustrator for final modifications.. Have you played with that at all?

I don’t yet have an iPad, but I will soon and then the first time I want to do vector work, I’ll make my choice and report back here! iDraw is the lead contender, but I may change my mind (or get several). iDraw can export SVG, and import as well (not sure if all the others can import), so that gives you a possible workflow with Illustrator. (I know most/all can at least export SVG and/or vector PDF.)

One limitation, I assume, is that you can’t add additional fonts. Still, I do a lot of different tasks in Freehand/Illustrator, and some of them would be great to have on my iPad! With grid-snap, boolean, and some basic text support I should be able do a lot of planning, diagrams, UI mockups and icon design. I might get a stylus too (probably Boxwave) although I know a touchscreen will always have a touchscreen feel.

 

[matalachancha]

i own idesign and its ok but i just bought INKPAD and its perfect for me:
-unlimited layers.
-high performance
-convert text to path.
-import photos
-Snap to grid, points, and path edges.
-export as SVG, PDF, PNG, and JPEG

it was the app of the week some time ago and its now on the staff favorites.
only 5 bucks.

just a tip............use a stylus pen.

 

[aGr]

I would suggest a stylus too. It's difficult to get any precision out of your brushes with fingers. I picked up the Radtech stylus and it is worthless. I am very happy though with the Targus stylus, which looks similar to the Boxwave stylus.

 

[Curiositrey]

Inkpad Supports Custom Fonts

Just saw these posts after a google search...Inkpad for iPad lets you import fonts via integration with Dropbox within the app...not sure which types of fonts are supported, but OTF fonts definitely are. I have loaded around 50 fonts, without trouble, except for if the font is too big (kb's) or way too many fonts. The fonts you import and install in inkpad are only usable within the app, not in other apps.

 

[nagromme]

Just saw these posts after a google search...Inkpad for iPad lets you import fonts via integration with Dropbox within the app...not sure which types of fonts are supported, but OTF fonts definitely are. I have loaded around 50 fonts, without trouble, except for if the font is too big (kb's) or way too many fonts. The fonts you import and install in inkpad are only usable within the app, not in other apps.

Thanks! Good to know. Can it import fonts and artwork by means other than Dropbox, such as via WiFi, iTunes, or if you email a font as an attachment?