Favorite Apps for Artists in 2022
Another year, another post on my favorite apps for artists! A few new ones and a couple of old ones because they are still amazing!
I was not paid or endorsed by any of these companies for my opinions.
Here we go!
Smartist
What it can do:
Art Mockups with customizable environments.
Why I love it:
Smart cropping! This means it can straighten out your images without distorting them. It saves so much time for posting mockups of new artwork. All you have to do is enter the correct dimensions of your finished piece and the app does the rest. The ability to change the environment colors means with a little effort, you can make your painting really pop in the environment you’ve chosen. There’s over 150 custom environments for displaying your art. You can change wall colors, accent colors, floor textures, lighting, and angles. There are even automatic shadow adjustments. You can also choose to add framing or not. Easy to export into popular social media formats too!
$$ Free and Paid
Pantone Colors Images Studio
What it can do:
Save and share color palettes. Color values/references in sRGB, Hex, CMYK. It also shows you harmonies such as complementary, monochromatic, triadic, and more.
Why I love it:
I love the visual cross reference across all color systems. I use this app regularly to build my palettes. You can extract colors from images to build custom palettes. You can also apply your chosen color to 3D papers and fabrics to see how they look. Having a color-accurate device is important though, so be sure whatever device you’re using this on is calibrated correctly for best results. The app also connects with Adobe Creative Cloud and makes sharing palettes with friends or coworkers a snap. All tools, features, and content are free with a selection of available PANTONE Colors, subscribing unlocks the full library.
$ Free and Paid
ArtStage
What it can do:
Similar to Smartist, this app has hundreds of custom environments to display your art.
Why I love it:
Calling all artists who love round canvases! This is the only app I’ve found that lets you crop circle art! I used to have to use an additional app to remove the background of my round canvases in order to post my bubbles online but with this app, it’s a breeze! This app is free to use, subscribing will unlock more custom environments!
$ Free and Paid
VOUN
What it can do:
Color intuitive Photo and Art Mockups
Why I love it:
This app is perfect for your website mockups! There’s an AI color picker that will pick complementary frame colors for whatever image you’ve uploaded. This app features all the classic frame styles, allowing you to share your framed canvas art, photography, or art prints all with a swipe. There’s also no monthly fee for this app. You only pay for what you choose to use.
$ Free and Paid
Canva
What it can do:
Everything! Seriously! Social media, marketing, mockups, digital products, presentation, and more!
Why I love it:
The ability to collaborate in real-time with others is still one of the best features but if that’s not enough there are hundreds of thousands of templates and free cloud storage to store your designs.
The Pro version comes with a branding kit, allowing you to upload your own fonts and logos to drop into any of your designs with just the click of a button. If you’re looking for a way to streamline your branding, this is it. There’s also a content calendar to help keep you organized.
$ Free and Paid
InShot
What it can do:
Videos and photo editing
Why I love it:
Easily, my favourite app! I love using Inshot to make my reels. My biggest selling point with Inshot is the UI is extremely user-friendly, even if you’ve never made a reel. I subscribe to the yearly option and they are always updating the app with new features, stickers, fonts, and more. It’s very inexpensive compared to similar apps. Another huge perk, at least for my ADHD brain, is that it auto-saves drafts so you can always pick right back up where you left off and the preset sizes for social media make creating content easy across various platforms.
$ Free and Paid
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I think that about wraps it up for 2022!
As always, if you have an idea for a blog or something you’d like to know more about, feel free to message me!
Do you have an app you can’t live without? Drop a line below and let me know!
Until next time,
Dani
