See your reference more clearly. Study values, simplify light and shadow, use custom grids and palettes, and focus on the shapes that matter.
If you’re learning to draw or paint, understanding value (how light or dark something appears), is one of the most important art fundamentals. Good shading, realistic form and confident drawing all begin with value.
Value Study is an artist’s reference tool that helps you learn how to draw, improve your shading and understand light and shadow through clearer value studies. Instead of a simple greyscale filter (or squinting!), the app breaks any reference photo into clean tonal steps so you can focus on shapes, structure and depth without getting overwhelmed by detail or colour.
Start with pure black and white to block in the biggest shapes (Notans are one of the classic exercises when learning to draw) then gradually add more values to refine your study. You can also highlight every area that shares the same value, making subtle shifts in shadow and highlight much easier to see. This is especially useful for portrait drawing where small tonal differences matter.
Value Study also includes a flexible drawing grid for working with the Grid Method. Choose the number of rows and columns you need and use either square or rectangular cells. The grid sits directly over your value study, so you can combine proportion checking with greyscale, simplified values and the other reference tools in the app.
Tap a grid cell to concentrate on one small part of your reference. You can hide everything outside that cell or zoom directly into it, making complicated subjects easier to work through one section at a time. You can also add diagonals inside each cell to find centre points and create extra landmarks for judging the position of shapes and features.
When you want to work away from the screen, print your reference with the grid included.
There are plenty of other ways to look at a reference too. Simplify shapes, show outlines, check tonal balance with the histogram, flip the image, explore different palettes or use the live camera to study value and shape before you even take a photo.
Value Study is designed to sit alongside your drawing or painting process. It helps you make sense of your reference, spotting shapes, tones and proportions more easily, whether you’re working traditionally or in apps like Procreate and ibis Paint. It’s a small, focused tool made by a solo indie developer who is always keen to help make the app better for all artists.
Whether you’re a complete beginner learning how to draw or an experienced artist refining your fundamentals, Value Study helps you see your reference more clearly so you can draw it more confidently.
Try it for free, then unlock everything for just a few pounds a year or with a low-cost lifetime purchase. Your purchase works across iPhone, iPad and Mac automatically. To use your purchase on Android too, sign in to the same optional Value Study account from the Settings menu on your Apple device and Android.
Annual: Renews yearly
Lifetime: One time purchase
Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/
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This update should fix the crashes some of you have been experiencing.
It also brings back the Combine Values tool. I underestimated how useful it was, particularly for linocut and block printing. While the histogram offers more control, Combine Values is often quicker and more convenient to use, so it is back!
Don't forget, you can star it from the Tools menu to add it to the toolbar at the bottom of the screen.
Questions, feedback or bugs? Email shane@valuestudy.app
Version 4.1.2
The developer, Diem Limited, indicated that the app’s privacy practices may include handling of data as described below. For more information, see the developer’s privacy policy .
Data Not Linked to You
The following data may be collected but it is not linked to your identity:
Usage Data
Diagnostics
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The developer indicated that this app supports the following accessibility features. Learn More
Supported Features
Dark Interface
Information
Provider
Diem Limited
Size
34.2 MB
Category
Graphics & Design
Compatibility
Requires iOS 16.6 or later.
iPhone Requires iOS 16.6 or later.
iPad Requires iPadOS 16.6 or later.
Mac Requires macOS 14.0 or later.
Apple Vision Requires visionOS 1.0 or later.
Languages
English and 12 more
English, Dutch, French, German, Hindi, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Polish, Portuguese, Simplified Chinese, Spanish, Traditional Chinese
