Concepts App: Infinite Canvas Vector Sketching for Designers and Artists

Concepts is one of the most sophisticated and versatile sketching and design applications available for iPad and Windows, offering an infinite canvas, precise vector-based drawing tools, and a flexible brush engine that makes it equally useful for quick creative sketches and precise technical drawings. Developed by TopHatch and available since 2012, the application has built a devoted following among designers, architects, product designers, illustrators, and concept artists who need a sketching tool that combines the fluidity of freehand drawing with the precision and scalability of vector graphics.

The application's infinite canvas is one of its most distinctive and practically useful features, providing a workspace that expands in any direction without limit. This infinite canvas is particularly valuable for designers and architects who work on complex projects that require multiple views, iterations, and reference materials to be visible simultaneously, and for illustrators who work on large, complex compositions that benefit from being able to zoom out to see the full picture while maintaining the ability to zoom in for fine detail work.

The Vector-Based Drawing Engine

The vector-based drawing engine is the technical foundation of Concepts, and it is what most clearly distinguishes the application from raster-based drawing applications like Procreate. Vector drawings are defined by mathematical curves rather than by pixels, which means that they can be scaled to any size without loss of quality and that individual elements can be selected, moved, and modified after they have been drawn.

This vector foundation makes Concepts particularly well-suited to design work, where the ability to modify and refine drawings after the fact is essential. Designers who use Concepts can sketch freely with the confidence that their drawings can be refined and modified as the design develops, without the commitment to specific marks that raster drawing requires.

The precision tools built on this vector foundation include straight lines, perfect circles and ellipses, and other geometric forms that can be drawn with the same fluid gesture as freehand marks. The precision tools are particularly valuable for architects and product designers who need to create accurate technical drawings alongside their freehand sketches.

The Brush Engine

The brush engine in Concepts is flexible and well-designed, offering a range of brush types that cover the most important sketching and drawing needs. The brushes include pencil, pen, marker, and other traditional media simulations, alongside more specialised brushes for specific design applications.

The Apple Pencil integration is excellent, with full pressure and tilt sensitivity that makes drawing with the Pencil feel natural and responsive. The combination of Apple Pencil sensitivity and the vector-based drawing engine produces a sketching experience that feels fluid and natural while maintaining the precision and scalability of vector graphics.

The flexible brush engine allows artists to customise brush behaviour to suit their specific needs, adjusting parameters including size, opacity, pressure response, and other characteristics. This flexibility makes it possible to create brushes that behave exactly as needed for specific applications, from loose, expressive sketching through precise technical drawing.

The Infinite Canvas Workflow

The infinite canvas workflow is one of the most distinctive aspects of the Concepts experience, allowing artists and designers to work on multiple related drawings or iterations simultaneously without the constraints of a fixed canvas size. This workflow is particularly valuable for design processes that involve multiple iterations and comparisons, allowing designers to keep all of their work visible and accessible without the need to switch between separate files.

The infinite canvas also makes Concepts particularly well-suited to storyboarding, where multiple panels need to be visible simultaneously and where the ability to zoom out to see the full storyboard while maintaining the ability to zoom in for detail work is essential. The application is used by professional storyboard artists at animation and film studios who appreciate the combination of fluid sketching and infinite canvas that Concepts provides.

Export Options

The export options in Concepts cover the full range of formats that professional design work requires, including SVG, PDF, DXF (for CAD applications), PNG, and JPEG. The DXF export is particularly valuable for architects and product designers who need to import their Concepts sketches into CAD applications for further development.

The SVG export produces clean, well-structured vector files that can be opened and edited in Adobe Illustrator, Affinity Designer, and other vector design applications, making it practical to use Concepts as part of a professional design workflow that involves multiple applications.

The Free and Subscription Models

The free version of Concepts provides access to the core drawing tools and a limited selection of brushes, which is sufficient for exploring the application's capabilities and for basic sketching work. The free version includes the infinite canvas and the vector-based drawing engine, which are the most important features of the application.

The subscription provides access to the full brush library, additional export options, and other features that are useful for professional work. The subscription is available at $4.99 per month or $24.99 per year, which is competitive with other professional design applications.

Who Uses Concepts

Concepts is used by a wide range of creative professionals, from industrial designers who use it for product sketching through architects who use it for design exploration and client presentations. Concept artists in the games and film industries use it for quick ideation sketches, while illustrators use it for both rough sketching and finished illustration work.

The application is particularly popular in design education, where its combination of fluid sketching and precise vector tools makes it well-suited to the design process that students are taught in architecture and design schools. Many design schools now recommend or require Concepts as part of their digital design curriculum.

The Bottom Line

Concepts is one of the most sophisticated and versatile sketching and design applications available for iPad and Windows, offering an infinite canvas, precise vector-based drawing tools, and a flexible brush engine that makes it equally useful for quick creative sketches and precise technical drawings. For designers, architects, product designers, and concept artists who need a professional sketching tool that combines the fluidity of freehand drawing with the precision and scalability of vector graphics, Concepts is one of the most compelling and capable options available.