Sketching and Drawing
Some of your best design ideas are probably thought of while on-the-go, right? This is why it’s great to have a sketching and/or drawing app handy so that you can draw up a quick sketch or more detailed if you prefer. If you use public transportation to get to work, this is one of the best ways to pass the time – by doodling or drawing.
ArtStudio for iPad
With ArtStudio for iPad you can draw, paint, and even edit your photos – all while on-the-go. It uses advanced mathematics to attain the highest level of quality. ArtStudio is great for beginners and pros, and includes drawing lessons with step-by-step instructions.
Sketch Club
Sketch Club combines standard digital painting and drawing tools, vector art, old school pixel art, and new procedural tools. It even supports VGA and HDMI output so that you can display your design ideas on an external monitor or projector to clients.
Inspire Pro
Inspire Pro is an advanced painting app with numerous features. Its key feature is the ability to simulate wet oil paint on a canvas. This is great for giving your web designs a unique look. It also has some of the best color blending capabilities that you’ll find on an iPad app.
iDraw
iDraw is known as the most feature-packed vector drawing and illustration app on the iPad. There are numerous tools that can be used to create simple to complex designs quickly and easily. If you have 3G or 4G on your iPad, you can use the Dropbox integration to share your drawings with colleagues or clients while on-the-go.
Inkpad
Inkpad is a professional vector illustration app that supports paths, text, images, groups, masks, gradient fills, and layers. If you use and love Adobe Illustrator, you’ll love this app, which is very similar. It also includes Dropbox integration for quick and easy file sharing.
Code Editors
As I mentioned above, no longer do you need your computer or laptop to do any Web coding, since you can do this on the iPad as well. Even if you need edit a file on the fly, some of these editing apps even include FTP integration so that you can access a file, edit it, and save it all while on-the-go from your iPad.
PR0C0D1N6
PR0C0D1N6 has a clean interface that is optimized for the best coding experience on the iPad. It includes a syntax highlighting editor and reference index with a syntax snippet inserter. There is also a basic error log and console.
Textastic Code Editor
Textastic is a fast code and markup editor that supports syntax highlighting and over 80 programming and markup languages. You can also use it to connect to FTP, SFTP, WebDAV, Dropbox, and iDisk. This means that you can easily transfer files back and forth to your server, to colleagues, or to clients.
FTP On The Go Pro
As the name suggests, this app is an FTP client to go. You can use it to view HTML, CSS, JavaScript, PHP, and ASP files on your server. It has a built-in editor so that you can edit these files as well. So whether you need to quickly edit a page on your website or create a new page, FTP On The Go is extremely capable.
CodeToGo
CodeToGo lets you write and run code in any programming language, right from your iPad. This is great for testing while programs and pieces of code on-the-go. FTP access is not included, but you can connect to your Dropbox account or export files to your computer via iTunes (once you’re back home or at the office).
Gusto
Gusto is the perfect website manager for Web designers on-the-go. You can even connect to your FTP or SFTP server to download and transfer files and folders. It includes syntax highlighting, tabbed editing, line numbering, built-in local and remote site previews, autosaving of projects, and much more.
Photo Editors
If you’re a designer that loves to take and use your own pictures in your designs, here are some photo editing apps to help you enhance those images. Not only will you find that these apps let you take pictures from within them, eliminating the need for the default iPad camera app, but you’ll also be able to add various filters and effects for a unique look.
PhotoToaster
PhotoToaster is the best of the best when it comes to editor photos on the iPad. It includes a noise reduction tool, professional level lighting adjustments, intensity and midtone controls, and 60 built-in presets. There are numerous other features as well. If you want your photos to look professional, this is the app for you.
Top Camera
Top Camera is designed for advanced photographers as well as beginners. It includes an HDR (High Dynamic Range) feature, video recording, slow shutter mode, and the use of folders. The folders feature is great for keeping your images organized by project and/or client; you can also share your images via Dropbox, Facebook, Twitter, Picasa, or Flickr.
Paint FX
With Paint FX you can add filters, effects, colors, and enhancements to your photos with just the swipe of a finger. It’s one of the few photo editing apps that lets you adjust just a certain part of an image, instead of the entire thing at once. This allows for many unique looks and interesting effects, which are sure to make your designs stand out.
iBrush
iBrush includes basic features like flipping your images and cutting segments. It also includes advanced features like adjusting the exposure, saturation, contrast, and hue as well as adding or reducing noise, color filtering, color inverting, and more.
FX Photo Studio HD
FX Photo Studio has the best variety of features with over 190 photo effects, filters, overlays and frames. Each effect is customizable so that you can create a unique look; plus you can apply as many effects as you want on one image. It also includes a color splash tool, the ability to add effects to different parts of an image, and the ability to share your creations.
Color Schemes and Palettes
If you’re looking for a little design inspiration while on-the-color, these color scheme apps are sure to help. With the ability to create color palettes, you’ll never again have to worry about which colors to use for your websites.
Discover a Color
Discover a Color is great for discovering new colors and creating color schemes with up to 6 colors. Once you’re done you can email your schemes to colleagues and/or clients.
Color Companion
Color Companion is a color analyzer and converter. You can also use it to create palettes from images, photos, and Web pages.
Onyx
Onyx lets you build palettes based on color relationships. You can create one scheme and then watch it transform into countless other schemes. You can also use iCloud to sync, share, and import your schemes.
Color Cache HD
Color Cache is a color matching app that will help you create and save color palettes with up to 8 colors. The Sample HTML feature allows you to use the currently loaded color palette to generate textbox and gradient codes.
Color Oven
Color Oven includes a color scheme style generator for creating palettes. You can then view these schemes on different mediums, including Web pages. Your schemes can then be saved and emailed to colleagues and/or clients.
Honorable Mentions
If you’re looking for more iPad apps for building and planning websites, you may want to check out the following.
- HTML Egg Web Page Creator – A Web page maker with a WYSIWYG editor with included website templates and FTP access.
- Moodboard – A simple app for creating mood and inspiration for your Websites; you can add photos, text, color swatches, and special elements to your boards.
- Simpl – Build a website using your own information, photos, news, and links; you can then use in included theme from Simpl to make it complete.
- TapPages Web Builder – The easiest way to build your own website on the iPad, via drag-and-drop; add photos, YouTube videos, text, maps, and more.
- Website Maker with Dropbox Upload Integration – Create and edit websites while on-the-go and then save to your Dropbox; it includes a drag-and-drop editor and templates.
As a Web designer on-the-go, which iPad apps do you use to help you stay productive and get things done from wherever you are?