When you run out of memory, Concepts can’t process your input anymore and will crash. The warning system provides you with an advanced notice that a drawing is getting into the risky zone. If it’s working properly, a message will appear in the center of the status bar at the top of the screen.
 
To keep your drawing from getting too large, we suggest you avoid importing a lot of large images and try to delete strokes or erase using the Slice tool rather than mask them all. Our masks create strokes that hide things instead of permanently altering your drawing, so the data still takes up memory.
 
If you use these tricks and still see the memory warning, you have a few options:
  • Remove any unneeded elements of your drawing by using the Slice tool, or by selecting them and tapping delete.
  • Export your sketch as a transparent PNG, then import it as a background layer into a new sketch and continue drawing.
  • Split your drawing into multiple files by copying some of the elements and pasting them onto a new drawing.
Since Concepts is a vector drawing app, we save every stroke you draw to memory. More strokes = more memory used, and the amount of accessible memory we can save per drawing depends on what model iPad or iPhone you’re using:
  • iPad Air 2 - 2GB
  • iPad Pro 9.7" - 2GB
  • iPad Pro 10.5” - 4GB
  • iPad Pro 11" 1st gen - 4GB
  • iPad Pro 11" 2nd gen - 6GB
  • iPad Pro 11" 3rd gen (M1) - 6 GB (see our extended RAM notes here)
  • iPad Pro 12.9" 2nd gen - 4GB
  • iPad Pro 12.9" 3rd gen - 4GB
  • iPad Pro 12.9" 4th gen - 6GB
  • iPad Pro 12.9" 5th gen (M1) - 6GB (see our extended RAM notes here)
  • iPhone 6 - 1GB
  • iPhone 6s / 7 / 8 - 2GB
  • iPhone 8+ / X - 3GB
  • iPhone X / XR / SE 2nd gen - 3GB
  • iPhone XS / XS Max / 11 / 11 Pro/ 11 Pro Max - 4GB
  • iPhone 12 / 12 mini - 4GB
  • iPhone 12 Pro / Pro Max - 6GB
It's hard to put exact numbers on it, but on devices with less memory, you may have issues at around 5,000 strokes. On the higher-end devices like the 12.9" iPad Pro, you can usually draw more than 30,000 strokes.