What’s the best free coloring app to use with the Apple Pencil and iPad in 2023?

You’ve seen the videos. You know the ones – artists who color and sketch beautiful artwork on their iPads. They tap, swirl, and drag their Apple pencil across screens, creating gorgeous layers and effects. Adult coloring is mesmerizing, especially adult digital coloring.

You want to join in – you want to add your coloring pages to your Instagram account, and be part of the broader digital artist community. And you have a question: Is there a coloring app for the iPad?

The answer is yes – learn more with our video below.

Is there a coloring app for the iPad?

The short answer? Yes. Yes there are coloring book apps for your iPad that will allow you to make gorgeous digital paintings. We may be a little (ok, a lot), biased, but we truly believe that the Pigment Coloring app is the best adult coloring app for your iPad.

Here are some other coloring apps with free and subscription options for your iPad:

Pigment: 5,000+ coloring pages, import & color your own photo capabilities, and intuitive tools that simulate a real coloring experience. The Pigment Gallery allows you to easily share, comment, follow and find inspiration in the coloring pages of the community. Challenges and prompts provide additional inspiration. The most realistic digital coloring book experience. Free & Subscription versions available.

Adult Coloring Book: This coloring app has pages designed to look like mini coloring books. It has some daily options for free coloring and a subscription option for full access.

Recolor: This coloring book app has 27 free pages, but to get higher quality images and gradient color options, you need to subscribe.

Color Therapy: Cool drawings, fun coloring palette options – there are free options and you can buy pages or color palettes piecemeal, or upgrade to Pro for a fee.

Why is Pigment the best coloring app?

Coloring book author and illustrator, Sarah Renae Clark, personally tested 100 coloring apps and chose Pigment as best coloring app available. Watch her video (she discusses Pigment at 21.30).

“The range of brushes available are more extensive than any other app I’ve seen, and they are full customizable, with pressure-sensitivity if you’re using a stylus or Apple Pencil. You’ve also got the variety of patterns, gradients and fills that other apps offer, along with the option to use the color palettes they’ve created or the color wheel.”

When comparing Pigment to other coloring apps, Sarah Renae Clark couldn’t find another app that offered the same intuitive, expressive coloring experience.

Is the Pigment coloring app free?

Pigment is a freemium coloring app which means you can download and use its basic capabilities for free. You can also do a free 7-day trial which allows you to get a sense of the premium tools and massive collection of coloring pages. (Like massive. Like you can color one page/day for 13 and a half years and still have some more to go.)

Is Pigment a Color by Number Coloring Book App?

Pigment is a coloring book app for your iPad, and has capabilities for both newbies and more advanced colorists. If you want a “color by number” vibe, use the “Automatic” mode which is the mode your app will be in when you start it. This allows you to color your picture smoothly&easily without going outside the lines.

Switching to freehand mode allows you to have a more controlled, more advanced digital coloring experience.

What are Pigment’s coloring tools?

Pigment’s coloring tools allow you to color with ease!

• Relax and color using simple tap-to-fill tools.
• Color with a variety of fills. Metallic, bloom, fade and more.
• Easily add dimension using the airbrush or marker brushes.
• Multiple undos make creative experimentation stress-free!

Can You Turn Pictures into Coloring Pages with Pigment?

Yep! Our import tool makes it easy (like, so easy) to import a picture and immediately turn it into grayscale for coloring. Create digital artwork of your pet, your significant other, your mom – these make great sentimental gifts. (They are perfect for people who “already have everything.”

Pigment Coloring App Reviews

Honestly? Don’t take our word for it. Try it for yourself. The download is free. If you want to try the premium version, it’s free for a week. (And after that is $9.99/month; cheaper than a movie ticket!)Come see why idiva describes Pigment as “the closest to real coloring you can possibly get,” imore lists Pigment as the most realistic coloring experience, and diycandy says “This adult coloring app is truly amazing. Unlike any of the other apps, you can choose brushes that allow you to *really* color.”

Or, as Pigment user usharwell5 puts it: “I have been a long-time Pigment Premium user, since 2015. I have seen many different additions through the years and this app beats EVERY other coloring app out there. One of the others actually let you color and use your own brain. The other are basically tap and fill. I was never a good artist, but I have learned so much from this app and the Pigment Community. I think the gallery is so much a part of the whole experience.”

What’s the best free coloring app for the apple pencil?

Pigment. Absolutely. Even the free version goes far beyond what other coloring book apps are providing. Move beyond apps that are tap-to-fill, limited coloring page collections, rare updates – you deserve a coloring app that creates an intuitive and realistic coloring experience.

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Enjoy some artwork from the Pigment community below!

What’s new in Pigment in 2023?

2022 saw some fun additions added to Pigment.

In May, Pigment added a Gallery user search, making it easier than ever to find and follow your favorite Gallery artists. Not sure what the Pigment Gallery is? It’s Pigment’s private social network for sharing your coloring, finding inspiration, and discovering community.

In June, Pigment added two funky new brushes: Nebula and Spraypaint. It also became available as a “Share To” option in the menu of other apps, making it easier than ever to import external images into Pigment for coloring.

In November, Pigment introduced new brushes and a menu makeover making everything easier to find. It also added a Pigment widget allowing you to see your most recently colored page right on your home screen.