InkForge vs Limner
InkForge
inkforge.ilans.net
Limner
limnerart.comSide by side
| Figure | InkForge | Limner |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | Free |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | — | Yes |
| Open source | — | — |
| Windows | Yes | Yes |
| macOS | Yes | Yes |
| Linux | Yes | — |
| iOS | — | Yes |
| Plans published | 1 | 6 |
| Spec score · Digital Painting Software | 7.7 (#26) | 8.4 (#9) |
| Animation | Its frame-by-frame timeline supports duplication, onion-skinning, adjustable FPS, and GIF or WebM export. | Animation mode supports cel timelines, onion skinning, keyframed cameras, motion curves, parenting, audio, and GIF, APNG, MP4, PSD, and PNG-sequence output. |
| Brushes | The brush engine has six procedural texture tips and maps pen pressure to size and opacity. | Brush Studio lets users create brushes and exchange Photoshop ABR files and Limner LBRUSH presets. |
| File formats | Native .inkforge projects preserve layers and frames, and the app exports PNG, JPEG, and TIFF. | The documented formats include Limner, limnerbook, PSD, OpenRaster, SVG, PNG, JPEG, and CMYK TIFF. |
| Layers | The app supports unlimited layers, twelve blend modes, clipping masks, and non-destructive layer effects. | It includes layers, masks, and live adjustments. |
| What it does | InkForge is a GPU-backed raster drawing app with a stamp-based brush engine, layers, selection tools, animation, and an AI panel. | Limner is a creative application combining raster illustration, vector design, animation, and comic or manga workspaces. |
Plans
Limner
- Free tierFree
- iPad betaFree
- iPad betaFree
- Limner FreeFree
- Limner PlusFree
- Limner PlusPriced on request
In their own words
InkForge
InkForge is a GPU-backed raster drawing app with a stamp-based brush engine, layers, selection tools, animation and an AI panel. Its six procedural texture tips support pressure control of brush size and opacity. The app offers unlimited layers, twelve blend modes, clipping masks and non-destructive layer effects. Its frame-by-frame timeline supports duplication, onion-skinning and adjustable FPS, with GIF or WebM export. Native .inkforge projects preserve layers and frames; export formats include PNG, JPEG and TIFF. The AI panel lists fourteen modes, including style transfer, sketch-to-painting, inpainting and background removal. Generation can use Gemini or Replicate with the user's own key, or a local ComfyUI graph. The maker says keys are stored locally and the ComfyUI path stays on the machine. InkForge is free and open source under the MIT license. It lists Windows, macOS and Linux support, while download requirements specify Windows 10+ and macOS 13+. The maker describes cross-platform development as active and the native macOS build as the original Swift implementation.
Limner
Limner is an app for painting, illustration, vector work, animation, and comics, with desktop versions for Windows and macOS and support for iPadOS. Drawing tools include pressure and tilt input, stroke stabilization, custom brushes, and Photoshop ABR brush importing. Layers, masks, and live adjustments support image editing. Animation mode provides frame-by-frame work with onion skin and exports to GIF, MP4, or numbered PNG sequences. The app can record drawing sessions and export timelapse videos up to 4K; the manual also lists PSD import and SVG export. The download page specifies Windows 10 or 11 64-bit, macOS 13 Ventura or later, and iPadOS 16 or later. Windows minimum requirements include a dual-core CPU, 4 GB RAM, and a GPU with a working Direct3D 12 or Vulkan driver. The desktop free tier needs no account or key, while vector, animation, and book projects on desktop are Limner Plus features. All features are unlocked during the iPad beta. Limner says artwork, documents, and settings stay on the device, and that the app has no analytics, telemetry, or crash reporting. The license permits personal and commercial creative work.