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Simple Sketchbook

by Duncan Pollock more by this developer →

#428,630 of 718,701 by ratings on Apple · #3,909 of 5,789 in Graphics & Design

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Category: Graphics & Design

Description

App Description
Simple Sketchbook is a distraction-free sketchbook for iPad, designed around the Apple Pencil but will also work with your finger. No subscription. No social features. Just a clean, fast place to draw.
Create as many sketchbooks as you like, each with its own paper style — blank, lined, grid, dotted, or a range of specialty templates. Every sketchbook fills your screen edge to edge, and the canvas stays fixed in space when you rotate your iPad, so your drawing never moves out from under your hand. There is no zoom by design on iPad (iPhone users can double-tap to zoom), just a regular sketchbook page in digital space.

Layers, done simply
Each page supports multiple layers with individual opacity, blend mode, and visibility controls. Bring in photos from your library or drag and drop images directly onto the canvas to use as reference or compose with your work. Reposition, scale, and rotate images freely before committing them to the page.

Export your work
Export any page as a high-resolution PNG — with or without the background — or export an entire sketchbook as a PDF. Generate a timelapse video of your drawing process, perfect for sharing how a piece came together.

Your sketchbooks, backed up
Back up any sketchbook to a single file and restore it on any of your iPads. Backups scale automatically to fit the screen, so moving from an iPad mini to an iPad Pro keeps everything looking right. Lock individual sketchbooks with Face ID or Touch ID.





Simple Sketchbook is a distraction-free drawing notebook for iPad and iPhone, built for the feel of putting pencil to paper, with just enough digital magic to make every page more useful than a physical one.

Draw naturally
A slim, always-out-of-the-way tool strip puts your pen, sizes, opacity and colours one tap away, no picker popovers, no hunting through menus. Double-tap or squeeze your Apple Pencil to switch tools instantly, or rest two fingers on the page to pull up the full tool grid without ever putting your pencil down.

Layer it up
Sketch, ink, and shade on separate layers. Drop in a photo and arrange it (move, scale, rotate) right on the canvas. Add a storyboard frame template for comic panels and animatics. Blend, reorder, and merge layers exactly like a design tool, but built for a sketchbook workflow.

Paper that feels right
Choose plain, lined, grid, dotted, or textured paper for every notebook, whatever the page is for, to structured notes.

Watch your drawing come to life
Every stroke is quietly recorded as you draw. Export a timelapse video of any page, or a whole run of pages, and watch a sketch build itself from first line to finished piece.

Say what you're thinking
Record a voice reflection on any page, your process, your intent, what you'd change next time, and Simple Sketchbook transcribes it on-device, completely privately. Reflections play back alongside your timelapse, or export as Markdown for a portfolio or journal.

Yours, and only yours
Lock any notebook with Face ID or Touch ID. Back up and restore your entire sketchbook library whenever you like. Nothing leaves your device unless you choose to share it.

Whether you're a student building a visual journal, an artist studying your own process, or just someone who likes to draw — Simple Sketchbook gets out of your way and lets the page do the work.

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History

Tracking since 09/05/2026. History accumulates as changes are observed — check back soon.