"Online paint by number" gets used for two completely different things, and the reviews and recommendations you find are usually mixing them together. One is a coloring app on a phone or tablet. The other is an ordinary physical kit you buy over the internet. They suit different evenings and different people, so it is worth being clear which one you are looking for.
in stores or online is the other version of that question, and the answer is mostly about what you can inspect before buying.
Digital coloring: painting on a screen
App-based paint by number gives you a numbered image on a tablet or phone. You tap a color, tap a region, and the region fills. Most of these apps are free with advertising, with a subscription to remove it.
What they are genuinely good for:
- Nothing to buy and nothing to store. You can start in the time it takes to install an app.
- No mess and no drying time. Fifteen minutes on a train works fine.
- Endless supply. Finish one and there is another.
- No fine motor demand. If a brush is difficult to hold, tapping is not.
What they are not good for:
- You end up with nothing. No object, nothing on a wall, nothing to give anybody. For a lot of people this turns out to be the whole point of the hobby.
- There is no craft in it. The app decides the edge, the coverage and the color. You are choosing which region to fill, and that is all.
- It is still a screen. If the reason you wanted a hobby was to spend an evening off one, this does not do that.
A reasonable use for them is as a trial. Spend a week on an app, and if you find yourself wanting the result to exist, buy a canvas.
Buying a physical kit online
The second meaning is simply ordering a real kit rather than finding one in a craft store, which is how most adult kits are bought now. Here the questions worth asking are about what actually arrives.
- How does the canvas ship? This is the single most common complaint in the category. A canvas folded into a flat envelope arrives with creases printed across it that never fully come out. Ledgebay canvases ship rolled in a tube.
- Are the paints sealed? Acrylic dries in the pot. Vacuum-sealed paints arrive moist. Unsealed ones sometimes arrive as a solid disc.
- Is there a reference you can actually see? A thumbnail on the box is not enough. An 11x17 printout of the design is, especially for the fine sections.
- Framed or unframed? Framed canvases arrive pre-stretched on a wooden frame and are ready to hang the moment you finish. Unframed costs less and is trimmed close to the printed edge, so it suits mounting to a board rather than stretching over your own bars.
You can browse the range in the online paint by numbers collection or see everything in the full catalog. The designs are licensed original artwork rather than stock images, mostly Americana, wildlife, cabins and florals.
The third option: your own photograph
Neither of the above lets you paint something that is yours. A custom paint by numbers kit does: you upload a photograph, and it comes back as a printed canvas with every section numbered and a set of paints matched to it. Sizes are 12x16, 16x20 and 18x24, framed or unframed, and it is printed in the USA rather than drop-shipped from overseas.
What people send is usually a house, a dog, a wedding photograph or a parent. Two honest notes: it comes back looking like a painting of your photo rather than a photocopy of it, and photographs with clear light and one clear subject convert far better than group shots. If there are several faces, go up a size.
Which one to choose
If you want something to do with fifteen spare minutes and no commitment, use an app. If you want an evening away from a screen that leaves an object behind, buy a canvas. If the point is the specific image, whether that is your own house or a dog that is gone, only the custom route gets you there.
If you have never worked on a numbered canvas, the beginner's guide covers how the sections and paints work, and other customers' finished canvases are in the customer gallery.
