Color Study is a tool for artists to simplify images, study color and value, and accurately match colors through paint mixing. Load any photo and reduce it to clear shapes and essential color information.
Color Study generates a clear color map of your reference and provides guidance for mixing paints to match the colors you see, giving you a practical guide you can use at the easel or in study. Focus on the fundamentals that matter in drawing and painting.
Made for artists
Core tools:
• Accurate color picker with magnification and pixel averaging options
• Place and customize color markers directly on your reference
• Inspect value, saturation, and color codes (RGB, HSV, HSL, CMYK, LAB)
• Automatically extract key colors and accents in an image, and mark their locations
• Compare colors to assess value, relative temperature, saturation, and perceptual difference
• Customizable grid overlay for precise alignment
Advanced tools:
• Interactive value maps, shape simplification, temperature maps and notan controls
• Paint-mixing guidance designed for opaque paints, with real-time feedback from photographed mixes
• Export analysis views and color maps as images for reference or study
• Advanced grid controls for precision alignment and subdivision
• Generate simplified line drawings and contour maps to clarify structure, edges, and major shapes
• Organize your work into projects with images, paint palettes, and artwork details
• iCloud sync keeps your projects and palettes in sync across all your Apple devices
Advanced tools available with subscription.
Train your artistic eye
Color Study is not a design tool or palette generator. It is a learning tool for painters, illustrators, and art students who want to analyze what they see and make better decisions in their artwork.
Study master paintings, analyze your own photos, and deepen your understanding of value structure, color harmony, and visual design.
Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/
But this app has seriously improved my painting. Onlynote ( and I don’t think this is the apps fault ) is that although it has a vast library of paint colors ( I work in oil ) , some are not there. This is to be expected, I assume there is just such a vast variety of color out there that it’s impossible to capture everything (looking at you turquoise cobolt). Easy solution is to find the closest color to that in which is missing. Would be cool if you can add color to the library yourself, maybe this already is a feature that I have not discovered yet. This app fills that gap I have that would have most likely been filled with years of formal training. Also the yearly subscription fee of $25 is kind of a steal, if you’re using as I do. Really great, one of the few instances an ad got me and I was impressed.
Just What I Need
rlaws2
My main learning focus right now is color mixing with oils. What i most appreciate with Color Study is that i can choose my starting palette using my preferred primaries and favorites. The other thing i like is that there are 2 or 3 options for mixing, accurate, simple and sometimes a 3rd. So i can set up my basic palette colors then when i choose a color in my reference image there is consistency with the generated mixes because i chose the base colors and the suggested mixes have so far been pretty accurate. I also appreciate the app will reload the reference image with all my color selections after closing the app or the image. I love that! Just keep going with the updates and whatever. It is a solid app for its essential simplicity. There are many more tools for me to appreciate in this app over time. Thank you!
Developer Response
Thanks for your detailed review! -- and mentioning the feature to show multiple paint mixes to match a color. That feature was added recently, so I'm happy you are finding it useful. Thanks also for noticing the auto-save/restore of the color selections for images - glad that allows you to keep going and continue working with an image.
Great resource!
BRNCNana
Although I have always mixed my own colors, this app allows me to set the colors on my palette, choose a color on my reference photo to match, then it gives me the mix and percentage of each color to achieve a match. Love it, however, what would make this app really stand out would be the ability to choose the brand of paints that an artist is using, as hues tend to be a bit different between brands, and then be able to choose the exact colors on your palette. Otherwise, a wonderful resource for artists!
Developer Response
Thank you for the thoughtful review! I’m really glad picking the color from a reference and getting the mixing recipes have been helpful in your process. Being able to choose specific paint brands is a great suggestion as well — I appreciate you sharing that idea. Thanks for taking the time to leave such kind feedback!
Where have you been
kittycando
I cannot tell you how fantastic this program is if you’re an artist, I don’t care if you got years behind you or you’re an expert on color this program is absolutely fantastic for helping it to isolate and ascertain exactly what a mix in a color is not to mention the other valuable valuable parts of the app color temperature no tan and my favorite posterized. I don’t know who wrote this program. I love you forever. I would pay you for this program. I’d love to make a donation.
• Gouache paint mixing and other additional paints
• Include grid in exports
Version 2.0.12
The developer, BrushLabs LLC, 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 Used to Track You
The following data may be used to track you across apps and websites owned by other companies:
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Data Not Linked to You
The following data may be collected but it is not linked to your identity:
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Privacy practices may vary, for example, based on the features you use or your age. Learn More
Accessibility
The developer has not yet indicated which accessibility features this app supports. Learn More
