The Breakroom

Linea Adds Tilt Support for Apple Pencil & More

February 24, 2017

By Ged Maheux

Linea portrait of Motoko by David A. Brasgalla

Today we’re pleased to announce an important update to Linea, our new simplified sketching application for the iPad. Version 1.0.2 adds several awesome new features, chief among them is tilt support for the Apple Pencil while drawing with any of the tools, including the eraser. By tilting the pencil towards the drawing surface, you can achieve some stunning results. Here’s a quick rundown of how tilt support affects each of Linea’s tools:

  • Technical Pencil – A smooth, faded stroke along the edge of hard lead
  • Art Pencil – Soft, wide shading that varies with both size settings & pressure
  • Pen – Flat nib great for hard edges or calligraphic writing
  • Marker – Wide flat stroke perfect for coloring large areas of the screen
  • Eraser – Flat oval instead of a round tip for erasing

Linea pencil strokes

We’ve worked hard to make Linea’s tilt support work as well as (or better than) Apple Notes and we hope you’ll be pleased with the results. Whether you’re a seasoned artist or an aspiring novice, you’ll find drawing and shading in Linea is both fun and inspiring.

Project popover showing the new

The new version also adds several other important improvements such as the ability to move sketches from one project folder to another. Simply long-press on a drawing in the Project view and tap Move… to re-assign it to a different folder or select multiple drawings and move them all at once.

You can also create a new sketch directly from within the canvas without having to leave your current drawing. Just tap the More Actions icon (…) at the upper left of the canvas and then tap New Sketch. This action creates a new, blank canvas that is preset with your current grid and background settings. It’s very handy when storyboarding or doing interface work!

Other improvements include hexagonal grid templates and the ability to double-tap the eraser as a shortcut to clear the current layer.

Finally, Linea now has a presentation mode that can be used with AirPlay in Control Center or a Lightning-to-HDMI adapter. This lets you display the current sketch full screen without tool palettes, zoom, and rotation. It’s perfect for showing off your work or for educators in the classroom.

We invite you to download Linea 1.0.2 for the iPad today and explore the creative possibilities of sketching simply. Enjoy!