Charcoal Reviews

by Tiff6975

u used Charcoal and at first I loved it. But then one day I went into it and started to draw and Charcoal completely froze me on mid draw which was very disappointing and i-was not able to recover any har of my hard work or time spent. I should have saved in my photos but depended on Charcoal mistakingly. I am so upset as some of my best work was just gone, just like that. I wrote to Charcoal and never heard back with a solution. I don’t recommend Charcoal because of that.

by Hermeownie Granger😸

Charcoal just feels like a riff off the Notes app. I mean, the colors are different. And there are slightly more options tools/colors wise. But in all it’s not worth it. You can’t type, so it isn’t really good for keeping track of your ideas, or however the description worded it. And the tool/color options aren’t actually good enough for art. Again, it’s a knock off Notes. It’s got some things better, but barely. I suppose it’s impressive because a teenager made it... but when you consider the copied Notes’ homework it’s not that great.

by Areeehee

Great if you want a simple app to draw or even write notes in. Very smooth and no ads. But my only complaint is it’s very limited. It limits you to one layer, a couple of pre-chosen pallets, and one set of tools (which include several drawing tools, an eraser that you can’t adjust the size of, and a ruler & select tool). Some things I wish were in Charcoal : color chooser/wheel, smudge brush, more size options, layers, ability to rotate the canvas, and ability to add pictures. That would be awesome!

But for now, I’m deleting Charcoal because it’s not for me. It’s pretty simplistic and easy to work with, if that’s for you. But overall it’s not that bad. :)

by A Person Typing A Review

Recently all of my drawings got erased with the new update. I emailed the developer and got no response. :(

Original description:
The only drawing app I know that just lets you draw-no payment(s) or ads needed. For someone that just wants to doodle every once and a while without using paper, this is the perfect thing for me.

by Cereal_is_not_a_real_food

Charcoal is as described, simple. That is probably really helpful to those starting out in the digital art world. However, Charcoal is not for those who are looking for more advanced options. For example, you cannot change the size of the brushes/pens and you are limited to one pallet of colors. I know that Charcoal is made to be simple, but I think that maybe the option of incorporating a size adjuster on the brushes would enhance the program.

by TheArtDoctor

Charcoal is nice but the palettes are on the side of Charcoal and there’s no way to hide them. I’ve accidentally selected a different color. Also the preview images when you open Charcoal will all turn into the image of what I just edited recently making it hard to select the photo I want. Other than that it’d pretty nice.

by Rally Grand Master

It works! Sure, I’d like to have a couple enhancements to better display of the pages + a way to go back & copy / paste sketches to mod a previous one. Basics are good = Thanks ! My great granddaughter will have a great time creating.

by Madgero

It’s incredibly refreshing to be able to draw and color well by just selecting the tool and putting them to digital paper. The pens that come with procreate are widely considered not that great and it makes it a lot more difficult to draw. But on Charcoal I was drawing comfortably immediately. You don’t have to navigate through any menus customize any sensitivity scales when all you want is a decent artist’s pencil.

My only problem is that sometimes when I’m trying to open a previous sketch it will immediately close that sketch. And it will do that repeatedly until I close Charcoal entirely.

by 月と美少女

Saw Apple’s WWDC20 story and was immediately attracted by Charcoal’s logo design and i am just searching for a Apple’s memo drawing replacement.
i’m so glad that I download Charcoal and I highly recommend this to anyone looking for a great iPad productivity booster but in light weight!
So far, the only problem i have is that it seems to be a little delay when using Pencil1 drawing. Because I write and draw very quickly, so the delay is quite obvious but others may not care.
Thanks my beloved young developer ! Can’t wait to see more of your works!

by The Cane Brain

I really love this for not getting bogged down with extra stuff I never know how to use. One thing I noticed is the colors change when I send my drawings to people is that an intentional choice trying to mimic different mediums or is it a technical issue?

by An_na84337

It’s perfect for what it is supposed to be, a simple, easy to use drawing app. I really like it. I do think that it would be better if you could change the brush size, but other than that I have no issues.

by Spike1176

Ok so I’m going through Charcoal Store and land on Charcoal then I download it. So I did and Charcoal made it more clear. You can sketch which I love so much and now it’s my number 1 app on my device.

by Anonymelon

I like Charcoal, because when I get tired of more complex programs like Procreate or Medibang, you can just go straight to Charcoal and start drawing. The simplicity works very well, and I think that it’s just refreshing when you have only a few tools to work from. I think you should add a small guide for where the tools are just to the side, so you don’t need to search around for them (unless there is one) and more brush sizes. Either way, I think this is great considering you don’t have to pay anything, and you don’t see that a lot.

by Ksag022217

This is a simple and elegant app. No nonsense, no ads, free. Note also the small size of the download - this is well programmed too. Very nicely (aesthetically) designed interface with well-chosen basic tools. Allows you to quickly and simply create content - for example, quick sketches and one-page handwritten notes, to-do lists, etc., using well-designed, basic tools, which you can then save/email/etc. as .png files. It is so refreshing to see a simple, well-designed, practical, useful, function-based app like this, that lets you quickly create content, control where the content is stored, and for free without the distraction and nonsense of ads or other gimmicks. … Also, note (no pun intended) that Charcoal is different than Notes. The emphasis here seems to be on finger/stylus/Apple Pencil (I.e. free-form) input, rather than on using the keyboard or typing. That’s the main difference, it seems. Only feature I’d like to see added would be an option to save to .pdf. Anyway, this is an excellent, really nicely designed little app. Thank you to the developer.

by Slampoodle

I love the idea. I actually find myself in a lot of scenarios where I’m having a hard time explaining a concept to somebody. Being able to open up a no-nonsense canvas and begin drawing is much faster than finding my notebook and a pen. Keep up the great work!

by C1414NN

This is a simple cool sketching app, it’s free no ads.
Great job!
To the developer. If you are not going to charge for this nice app at least have a donate button. I would be the first to send you some money.
Too many people think they should get apps for free because it’s downloaded. Well developers need to make money for their hard work.

by WillyWonTon

I love sketching, it’s one of my favorite things to do in my free time. So finding Charcoal was perfect. Charcoal is very simple to use and anybody can figure it out. Charcoal skips all of the fancy stuff and gets straight to the point. If you are looking for a good app for sketching, look no further. This is the perfect app for you! I love using Charcoal and look forward to seeing what comes next for it!

by Matt Pipes

This is a great app for when you just want to doodle... and then maybe refine the doodle a little bit, or not. I appreciate this because so far it is the closest to just scribbling on a piece of paper I have found for iPad, and it is exactly what I was looking for to quickly visualize ideas. For more complex drawings or illustrations I use Procreate, but for just getting things down this does it for me.

by Memenememeiiii

I haven’t learned all of the features and I’ve only have had this for a week but it’s awesome,I like how the colors are arranged but I think that the makers of Charcoal should make a color wheel so you don’t have too go though and find the color but other than that I think it’s a great app. If your not that good at drawing this is a good app too start with and one more thing is that if there isn’t an Eye dropper then I think you should add one, but other than that it’s a great app and I recommend this to people who are looking to start drawing

by MrAndMrsSkye

I love it.

You can easily open it and draw anything that comes to your mind so you don’t forget it.

It is not details with layers and everything, but that is the point! (I’m explaining to complainers.)

It isn’t supposed to be a giant app, it is simple and efficient to sketch down whatever someone needs. For example, I could easily give my friend a try at this and they could easily draw a small sketch in which I would sketch out something in my art style for them!

It is an adorable and safe storage app which is again, efficient and safe.

Thank you! 💙

by Astelete

I hate to say this, but it lacks a lot of things. For example, pen pressure, stabilizer, selection tool, bucket tool, symmetrical ruler, circle tool, blend, clipping, layers, and more! I would give it an A for effort though, it just needs work! It would be great if you added these things and gave us a chance to choose canvas size and insert photos! Charcoal has potential, u just need to work on it!

by Randy131516

Great app, but I got one issue. I couldn’t get the 2nd Gen Apple Pencil to switch between pen and eraser when I double-tapped on it. Small issue, but it slows me down some. I look forward to the next update.

by Nine3cobra

I love Charcoal, but there needs to be layers and a function for filling and size, a good app though,

by Mr. Recked

I don’t think that Charcoal is a replacement to other apps that does the things Charcoal do. It is great for quick sketch, but the canvas is pretty small and I don’t think you can edit the pen

by Danimalicea

It's a good app, but it would be better if the brushes could enlarge or reduce and if could add layers

by Rachie_gurl

Charcoal is so simple I love it! Just PLEASE add a color fill! It would make it so great

by N33dJe5u5

I love Charcoal but i had to delete it after i bought Procreate but it is great for Logo design after all i really love the Basic easy to use UI Charcoal is a 5 star ♥️

by 123bob897

It’s perfect for what it is. I’m a sketch artist and most of the time I use paper and pencil. Charcoal is exactly that. Keep up the good work.

by NathanBLawrence

Of Lars’ two apps on the store now, one is a node-based 3D processing environment and the other is an entirely custom drawing app with the ability to save your work.

Really impressive work, yet again. Some day, he’s gonna put us all to shame.

by Tory0424

I really enjoy drawing, and this is the most favorite drawing app ever in my life!!!
You have to try Charcoal!😆😆😆

by FantasticSpork

I’ve been trying to find a good sketching app for a very long time. This is perfect. It’s exactly what I’ve been looking for, not kidding, for over a year.