Another
fun app from Autodesk, Sketchbook (which comes in both a free and paid version)
is exactly what the app implies, a sketching application in which you use your
fingers to draw on the screen. It is a
relatively simple app, intuitive and easy to use, but I also think it is very
powerful and comes with great potential.
You
can select a variety of brush types and widths, colors, patterns etc. A full color wheel is available to select virtually any color and different
brush stroke types can give you a variety of effects. An eyedropper tool lets you easily match an
existing color.
You can draw on a blank white canvas, or
import a photo from the ipad photo album and draw on top of that. Don't have a photo, activate the camera from
within the app and snap a photo. This
could come in handy while touring the site.
Instantly take a photo and sketch on top of it holding the ipad flat and
gathering around it.
The program sports layers so you are able to
layer your sketches and turn them on or off.
Put the background image on one layer, create additional layers for
iterations of your sketch or other elements you want to be able to use.
The
ability to use layers is a powerful benefit because you can turn features on or
off depending on their layers. One of
the things I tested was after taking a picture of a framed opening without
doors in a house, I drew the doors back in on the screen. I used a series of layers for the doors, and
a different layer for each type of lite.
When finished, I could turn on or off various layers and show the original conditions,
doors drawn in with a series of different lite styles on different layers. Could turn all the layers off then back on
one at a time and show the progression of the design or various design options.
On
the downside, it is a little clunky to use.
Someone like me with fat fingers can sometimes have problems drawings
exactly where I want, although this is probably something that gets easier with
more experience and practice with the program.
Some of the brush strokes are wider, and can actually change depending
on the direction of the stroke and the orientation of your finger on the
screen. (for example, select a wide
brush stroke, start by swiping down and the brush stroke is wide, move your
finger to the left or right in the same stroke and the thickness changes to
thin.)
This
could be beneficial in the field or at client meetings. Most of us would probably be more comfortable
with a piece of paper (or napkin) and a pen and this would probably impress a
client more than drawing with our fat fingers on an ipad screen.
What
about hooking the ipad up to a projector (with the attachment of course) and
then sketching on the ipad in front of a group of people? Document cameras were popular several years
ago, but lately you are seeing less and less of them, so when at a meeting with
a group of people it is probably more likely that the room will have a standard
projector with a VGA hookup than a document camera for you to use. Hook up the ipad to the projector, then you
can sketch and draw to your heart's content!
The
ability to draw on top of a photo is probably this app's strongest
feature. Snap a photo of a blank wall
and draw a new design on top of it. Snap
of photo of the blank exterior of a building and draw a sketch of a new façade.
The
paid version ($4.99) gives you a variety of additional options including
exporting to a .psd file with layers, ability to save to dropbox and the
icloud. Exporting to and from iTunes is
also supported.
Give
it a try!
