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Logoist 4 is a vector design program that helps you create unique art for logos, business cards, and more. In this project-based tutorial, Allison Sheridan shows how she used the software to create the cover for the Taming the Terminal book, available in Apple's Books Store. She explains how the templates in Logoist 4 give inspiration and walk you through the vast array of modification options available that allow the user to customize their design.

This week, Allison dives deep into screenshots and the Markup tools on iOS and iPadOS.

After going over the various ways to take screenshots on iOS devices, you learn how to annotate them together using the various tools Markup has available. Allison also shows you how to take screenshots of long-form content, like webpages or Keynote documents, and save them as PDFs.

draw.io is a fantastic diagramming app that runs either through your web browser or as a standalone desktop app. It's cross-platform and easy to use, but with a lot of depth. It also has great resources to get help. On top of all this, it's free and open source. The developers have their own enterprise business model incorporating draw.io, so they don't sell or store your data.

This week, Allison is your guide on a draw.io expedition, where you learn how you can use this app for various types of diagrams. She also shares a few real-world examples of her own.

Update: August 2023 - Vectornator Pro has been rebranded as Linearity Curve.

Adobe Illustrator and Affinity Designer are the big names in vector design programs. These are highly capable, but highly complex programs. Affinity Designer for iPad just came out and it's also highly capable but with a steep learning curve. If you want to learn to design with vectors, or you only need to make simple designs, these programs can be overkill.

The free Vectornator Pro for iOS might be just what you need. While an Apple Pencil with an iPad Pro is a fantastic way to create artwork with Vectornator Pro, it also works well on the small screens of the iPhone.

Don't be fooled into thinking Vectornator Pro can't be used for more advanced design. Allison demonstrates Bezier curves, gradients, layers, and more. Vectornator Pro even integrates with Adobe's Creative Cloud and has built-in assets for building artwork for mobile applications. And did we mention that it's free?

This week I take a look at two stunning iOS Apps: Linea and Plotagraph+ Photo Animator

Linea is a simple but powerful sketching package for the iPad. There's no need to learn lots of controls or gestures; just fire it up and start sketching. I also show you Linea Link for the Mac, a companion app that gives you access to your iPad sketches on your Mac and export them in different formats or handoff to more complex apps.

Plotagraph+ Photo Animator is a unique application for the iPad and iPhone that allows you to animate static images. Create amazing effects and add life and dimension to your still photos. You can animate any image in seconds to produce some really spectacular results. Once animated, Plotagraph+ allows you to export your masterpiece in up to 8 different formats.

Although both apps are optimised for use with the Apple Pencil on the iPad, your can use both apps with touch only.