Sketchology

Creative

vector drawing app

SHOW HN2013

212points
80comments
#64of 1,739 in 2013
Top 4%of 2013 by points

How HN took it

MixedNo clear lean

15 positive, 18 neutral or asking, 5 mixed, 12 critical, out of 50 comments about the project. Thread score +0.07.

Idea: 5 for, 7 againstExecution: 3 for, 1 againstDesign: 1 for, 2 againstPricing: 1 for, 1 againstPerformance: 1 for, 0 against

The thread, comment by comment

Each row is a top-level comment and its replies, in HN's order. Select a cell to open that comment on HN.

positive neutral or mixed critical about another commenter or something else the maker

What HN said

What people liked

  • Smooth lines and natural-feeling drawing

    From 2 comments
    • Very, very cool. It "feels" great to use it - the lines look smooth and satisfying to draw. I can see this being a lot of fun to use for random doodling. The simplicity is also…
      alex_c on HN
    • Wow! This is a fantastic app. All of the basic tools feel natural to use, and the vector smoothing "just works". Well done!
      davidppp on HN
  • Infinite zoom canvas is a standout feature

    From 2 comments
    • Don't listen to the naysayers. You've created something simple, elegant, and instantly understandable. In a world where we're constantly bombarded with technical discussions of…
      seanMeverett on HN
    • This is what I've been looking for since the iPad came out. Your brushes aren't as good as Paper, but the zoom feature is killer and makes the iPad a real drawing tool for the…
      alexmorse on HN
  • Simple, focused UI

    From 1 comment
    • Very, very cool. It "feels" great to use it - the lines look smooth and satisfying to draw. I can see this being a lot of fun to use for random doodling. The simplicity is also…
      alex_c on HN

Objections

  • iPad only; no Android or other platforms yet

    From 2 comments
    • The first 6 months or so of development were on Windows/Linux, so cross platform compatibility is something I've always had my eye on. I can't say when though, in all honesty an…
      mickrobk on HN
    • Any plans for other platforms? Android? Windows 8?
      guizzy on HN
  • No SVG or vector export

    From 2 comments
    • It's fully vector but you cannot export to SVG or any other open formats due to the performance difference between Sketchology and other vector apps. (More than 100x even against…
      mickrobk on HN
    • No unfortunately. While it's fairly trivial for me to support, the performance difference (a factor of more than 100) between Sketchology and other vector drawing apps makes it…
      mickrobk on HN
  • Icon design is weak

    From 1 comment
    • This looks like a really wonderful app, but the icon needs a lot of work. Maybe export a beautiful, colorful world as the icon and have it look sort of abstract? A big ugly S is…
      flyosity on HN

Requests

  • Vector or hi-res image export

    From 2 comments
    • First, congrats on the app and the selling method. Free trial and extras for sale are definitively a honest way to go on the app store! I understand it's hard to export a svg,…
      fwdbureau on HN
    • Can you export to SVG, PDF or some other vector format?
      NLPsajeeth on HN
  • Text tool

    From 2 comments
    • This is probably outside your vision for the product, but adding a text box tool would transform this into a pretty amazing notebook app. All the type-and-draw apps I've used are…
      mortenjorck on HN
    • i was actually trying to use sketchbookX from autodesk to take quick notes and draw schema diagrams. the lack of boundaries will make me continue to use your app! it is how i…
      gcb0 on HN
  • Android or Windows ports

    From 2 comments
    • Are there Android and Windows Phone ports on the horizon? This App would pair up nicely with active digitizers such as Samsung's S-pen and Surface Pro's pen input. On a more…
      gabriel34 on HN
    • Any plans for other platforms? Android? Windows 8?
      guizzy on HN
  • Layer support

    From 1 comment
    • Now only if I had layer support and export to some standard format
      asadlionpk on HN

Questions

  • Is it vector-based and what export formats exist?

    From 2 comments
    • So does the tool just abstract pixels or is it using Vectors? If it is vectors, what kinds of tools does it offer for exporting? Note that I'm not into designing at all but I…
      andrew_gardener on HN
    • Can you export to SVG, PDF or some other vector format?
      NLPsajeeth on HN
  • Which stylus is recommended?

    From 1 comment
    • Looks awesome. Is there any specific stylus that is recommended for this app? Also would it work on an iPad Mini
      RaSoJo on HN

Alternatives named

  • Adobe Ideas

    From 1 comment
    • A couple of years ago, I watched a guy explaining his concept starting with nothing but a blank canvas in Adobe Ideas (very similar iPad vector drawing app that's been out a…
      toddmorey on HN
  • 53 Paper

    From 1 comment
    • I much prefer Sketchology's freely zoomable canvases over a fixed canvas, but somehow the brush styles don't look as nice as 53 Paper (http://www.fiftythree.com/paper). I don't…
      micheljansen on HN
  • Autodesk SketchBook

    From 2 comments
    • i was actually trying to use sketchbookX from autodesk to take quick notes and draw schema diagrams. the lack of boundaries will make me continue to use your app! it is how i…
      gcb0 on HN
    • Looks very neat, I'm disappointed that's it's apparently iPad only. I'd love to give it a try next to Sketchbook Ink [0] on my Android devices. Though, I have to say, I'm growing…
      incision on HN
  • MyPaint

    From 2 comments
    • Looks like a closed source Ipad clone of mypaint. If you want this for the desktop I recommend mypaint instead, it already has 8 years of development and its free.
      oib on HN
    • wow, something like this and no one points out two fantastic FOSS alternatives: krita and mypaint
      droelf on HN
  • Krita

    From 1 comment
    • wow, something like this and no one points out two fantastic FOSS alternatives: krita and mypaint
      droelf on HN

Category, keywords, summaries and labels on this page were made by AI (Thread Reader v2) and not checked by hand. Each point links to the comments it came from.

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