Many users have the misconception that Chromebooks lack quality apps when it comes to creative work. But that is far from the truth. We recently wrote about the best photo editors available on Chromebook to prove the same point. And in this article, we are going to list some of the best drawing apps for Chromebooks that are free. These drawing apps not only work flawlessly but also bring full-screen touch controls with an incredible range of tools and features. We have, in fact, carefully chosen the applications that have offline support and offer the lowest latency while drawing or painting on a Chromebook. So on that note, let’s go ahead and check out the best drawing apps for Chromebook in 2022.
Here, we have mentioned the 14 best drawing apps for Chromebook which include Android, Linux, Web, and Chrome apps. I have tested all the mentioned apps and they run pretty well on my Chromebook without any touch latency issues. I have also included animation drawing apps for Chromebook along with some excellent painting apps for Chrome OS. So without any delay, let’s go through the list.
- Sketchbook by Autodesk
- Adobe Illustrator Draw / Adobe Photoshop Sketch
- Sumopaint
- Aggie.io
- Infinite Painter
- ibis Paint X
- Concepts
- ArtFlow
- Sketchpad
- Boxy SVG
- Krita
- Inkscape
- Gravit
- Chrome Canvas
1. Sketchbook by Autodesk
Sketchbook is a widely popular program for digital drawing and it’s recommended for both professionals and beginners alike. And the best part is that this powerful program is now available on Chromebooks thanks to the Android support. Sketchbook runs phenomenally well in full-screen mode with a huge canvas, multiple tools, and layers.
Simply put, Sketchbook by Autodesk does not need much introduction when it comes to drawing and sketching. The only thing you need to know is that you can install Sketchbook on Chromebook without any hacks and it has offline support too since you are using an Android app.
Cons
Install: Sketchbook (Free)
Similar to Sketchbook, Adobe’s Illustrator and Sketch are two of the best drawing programs available on Windows and macOS and now you can use them on Chromebook as well. The app is directly available through the Play Store and it works in full-screen mode with touchscreen, mouse, and keyboard controls.
Cons
Some UI elements are smaller
Requires Play Store support
Install: Adobe Illustrator Draw (Free)
Install: Adobe Photoshop Sketch (Free)
3. Sumopaint
Not every Chromebook user has access to the Play Store, especially students who have been issued a machine by their schools. In such cases, installing a drawing app from the Play Store becomes impossible. So if you are looking for a drawing app for Chromebook that requires no downloads then Sumopaint is for you. It’s a web-based drawing tool that lets you access all the advanced features and for absolutely free. The best part is that you can install Sumopaint as a PWA and use it while you are offline. That’s amazing, right?
- No palm rejection
Check Out Sumopaint (Free)
Aggie.io is another browser-based animation and drawing app for Chromebooks. It has been developed by the popular Magma Studio group, best known for building an online art collaboration platform. And Aggie.io is the free version of the same platform that lets you create a new canvas and draw together with your friends online. If you are not into collaboration, you can use it as a standalone drawing app on your Chromebook.
- Best for online collaboration
- Web-based drawing tool
- Import GIF
- No input latency
Check Out Aggie.io (Free)
Infinite Painter is not among the top apps on the Play Store, but it works incredibly well on Chromebooks. It’s a basic drawing app, but the latency is surprisingly low and the canvas handling is much better because of free panning from all sides. In fact, in my testing, I found the touch input better than the Adobe apps.
Pros
Install: Infinite Painter (Free, Offers in-app purchases)
If you are looking for a feature-packed drawing app for Chromebook then I would highly recommend ibis Paint X. It’s a versatile drawing app that brings more than 800 fonts, 381 brushed, 71 filters, and many blending modes. The best part is that while drawing, the app can stabilize pen strokes as well making your experience much smoother and accurate.
Not to mention, you have tools like Radial Line rulers, clipping masks, SNS feature where you can learn new drawing techniques, and more. And if you are wondering how is the latency, well, on my Intel-based Chromebook, the latency is almost zero which is great. If you have an ARM-based Chromebook then you will have even better performance. All in all, I can say that ibis Paint X is one of my favorite drawing apps on Chromebook and you can give it a try.
Install: ibis Paint X (Free, Offers in-app purchases)
Concepts is one of the most popular drawing apps on iOS and iPadOS and it’s available on Chromebook too via the Play Store. The app has been specially optimized for Chromebooks. The latency is almost zero and offers an infinite canvas where you can create illustrations, sketches, and design plans.
- Learning curve is high
Install: Concepts (Free, Offers in-app purchases)
Sketchbook and other apps are surely professional-grade apps for drawing and painting, but beginners might get overwhelmed by the huge range of features and tools. In that case, I would recommend ArtFlow, an excellent Android app for digital drawing and sketching. You can easily install this app on your Chromebook and it runs like a charm.
Install: ArtFlow (Free, Offers in-app purchases)
So far, I have mentioned drawing apps for Chromebooks which are available on the Play Store. However, some users don’t have Play Store support on their Chromebook so in that case, you can use Sketchpad on the web. If you are wondering if Sketchpad has offline support, well it does and you can install it as a PWA app too. After that, you will be able to use all the features without requiring internet access or changing any settings.
Apart from that, Sketchpad brings all the standard features like several brush styles, color picker, and of course the most important, layers. You can also do a bit of vector drawing on Sketchpad so if you have a penchant for that, go ahead. All in all, Sketchpad is a solid drawing app for Chromebooks that don’t have Play Store support.
Check Out Sketchpad
Boxy SVG is an excellent vector graphics editor that runs on the browser. It lets you edit SVG files and it’s also an awesome vector drawing app for Chromebook which lets you create vector-based images in no time. What I like about Boxy SVG is that unlike other drawing apps for Chromebooks, the UI here is quite clean and organized. You won’t be overwhelmed by crowded menus and endless toolbars.
Check Out Boxy SVG (Free, Paid plan starts at $9.99 per year )
11. Krita
If you want a proper desktop app for painting and sketching, you can get the powerful Linux app, Krita on your Chromebook. It’s a professional-grade drawing program that is completely free and open-source. Of course, you need to set up Linux on your Chromebook for this to work. As for the program, you can create conceptual art, comics and complex illustrations using many of its powerful tools.
Requires Linux support
How to Install: First of all, set up Linux and Flatpak on your Chromebook and then execute the below commands. After installation, you will find the app in the app drawer inside the Linux apps folder. You can also install this app through the GUI app store mentioned in the above-linked guide.
sudo su flatpak install flathub org.kde.krita
12. Inkscape
Inkscape is another Linux app for Chromebook that you can use for vector drawing on Chromebook. Unlike Android apps, it’s a full-fledged desktop program so you will get advanced tools like flyout, anchor and smart navigate. You can easily say that it’s an alternative to the desktop version of Adobe Illustrator on Chrome OS.
Desktop-grade program for vector drawing
Features powerful tools
Best for banners, arts and logos
How to Install: Open the Linux Terminal and execute the below command. After installation, you will find the program in the app drawer inside the Linux apps folder.
sudo apt-get install inkscape
13. Gravit
Gravit is an excellent vector drawing app on Chromebook which is neither an Android app nor a Linux app. In fact, it’s a well-developed Chrome app that allows you to draw and design various graphic elements. You can create objects like logos and icons, vectorized graphics; define them using many design elements, and more. Besides that, it also supports raster graphics illustration so you can freely create characters, animations, etc.
- Excellent vector drawing app
- Supports Raster graphics illustration
- Best for professionals
Check Out Gravit (Free)
Chrome Canvas is our final painting app for Chromebook on this list. It’s a very basic drawing app that comes with a handful of brush options and a huge canvas to boot. If you are a beginner or want your kid to start practicing doodling or painting, this is the best app to learn digital painting.
Check Out Chrome Canvas (Free)
