Best Art Apps for Chromebooks
Expressing your creativity has never been easier. The internet has given us access to literally, anything and everything. Whether you’re a photographer hoping to share your snaps with the world or a budding sketch artist who wants to do away with the pads and pencils, there’s a long list of apps you can utilize to create, edit and reveal your masterpieces as you like.
But when it comes to using these apps on a Chromebook, many artists get a tad bit confused. While the machines themselves are great, there’s a misconception that they lack quality art apps that are user-friendly, with powerful drawing options to boot.
Luckily, that isn’t the case. A Chromebook may not always be one’s go-to choice for digital drawing but there are many different apps compatible with it that’ll grant them access to all the tools needed for stunning, detailed work. In fact, there are specific Chromebook apps designed for specific artists, from illustrators to graphic designers and hobbyists – even children with parents hoping to hone their creative instincts without the mess of crayons or paints.
To help you unleash your full artistic potential, we’ve listed some of the best art apps for Chromebooks in 2021. Read on to get your creative juices flowing!
Infinite Painter
This one’s ideal for beginners. It works great on Chromebooks and comes with 160 preset brush options, blend modes, layer support, textures, patterns, gradient tools, geometric tools, perspective assistance for 3D pieces and an ‘infinite’ list of other options. You can digitize any photo with the Clone tool and make use of the Line, Ellipse, Pen, Lazy and Protractor guides for precision.
Once done, simply export your masterpieces into JPG, PNG Or PSD formats and voila!
Artflow
Create digital paintings effortlessly with this virtual art studio. The Artflow app is also suitable for beginners who may get confused by other, more complicated ones. Among the its many features, you’ll specially enjoy the 100+ customizable brushes, Gradient Fill, Smudge Tool, layers, tilt support, symmetry fixtures, six-step undo and custom colour palettes.
And the best part? The maximum size of the canvas is 6144 x 6144 so you can save your creation in high resolution! Of course, paying is mandatory for access to all features but it’s worth it.
Chrome Canvas
Quick and easy, the Chrome Canvas app is free and can be used straight from the Chrome browser on your laptop. It offers basic drawing tools like Pencil, Pen, Marker, Chalk and Eraser options but the Custom Color Picker has all the colors of the spectrum. Not to mention, you can adjust Size and Opacity, so it’s great for beginners and children.
Bear in mind, though, that Chrome Canvas doesn’t work with stylus pens so you might want to skip it for professional design tasks.
Sketchpad
If you’re looking for a standard, mid-range app, Sketchpad offers pretty must most of your usual stuff. There’s color picker, 18 different brush styles, vector-drawing, 800 fonts and over 5000 images in the clipart collection, available for free. You can even set new Letter and Word spacing values or try the new Blend Mode.
Sketchpad comes with offline support but we’d recommend installing it as a progressive web app (PWA) to use its features without changing any settings.
Sketchbook by Autodesk
This is perhaps the best option for professionals. The app’s compatibility with stylus pens makes sketching incredibly easy and what’s more, you can utilize its many drawing tools and even customize your brushes as you go. There are 190 brushes to choose from, with huge canvases and technical support for multi-layered designs.
Also, Sketchbook comes with a built-in scanner through which you can digitize your work, and a Predictive Stroke option that fixes your lines as you draw. Need we say more?
Concepts
Often regarded as the best digital drawing app in the market, Concepts is compatible with a variety of styluses and features brushes, pencils and pens that work on velocity, tilt and pressure for more accurate results.
The infinite canvas includes many different paper types and textures and you can even alter the drawing’s scale, position and color whilst adding blending effects or using the vector-based options. But if you want to reap all the benefits Concepts has to offer, you’ll have to get a subscription.
Gravit Designer
Professional digital artists love this pro-grade, vector app for it lets your design a variety of graphic elements. Use anchor points to create fun icons and logos, insert images onto existing designs or add effects to your work, online and offline, where ever you may be. You can even create animations and characters!
However, invest in Gravit Designer only if you’ve already got at least some understanding of digital drawing as it’s not for newbies. Upgrade to the Pro version for best results.
Limnu
All you need is a solid internet connection to get started on this web-based art wizard. Limnu has unlimited whiteboards, thereby ensuring there’s enough space for the most complicated ideas as well.
There’s an extensive selection of pens and brushes so you can draw without restrictions and whatever you draw can be shared easily with your Slack team. But the real USP is that Limnu allows multiple users to work on the same whiteboard simultaneously, depending on your subscription plan, of course. Time for some team work!
Kiddie Art on Chromebooks
Other than Chrome Canvas, there are many great options to keep your little ones occupied for hours. Apps like Google Keep, Kids Paint, Coloring Games and Learn to Draw are all easy to use and offer just enough for children. A major drawback is that these apps lack palm rejection and pressure sensitivity so the child’s work might get ruined a lot. But still, it’s a great place to start.
Our final thoughts
Chromebooks may not be as popular for creative purposes but rest assured, they are almost at par with any other machine if you manage to find an app that suits all your needs. Beginners should opt for less complicated options like Infinite Painter or Chrome Canvas, thanks to their powerful learning tools. Experienced artists who already know the tricks of the trade can use Concepts or SketchBook. Which app are you going to use?
