The versions of colors, before colorslive had an export bottom that you could use to import images onto colors 3d and sometimes people would trace fanart, there are some examples of this on the MLP tags if you scroll down far enough. There is a pc version of colors, you can get it for free if you are on discord and are a "patreon". (I think that is what it is called, idk. I am a "patreon" as well.) I tried to use the pc version but it won't download for me

xD ive been on colors for a few months now and im still confused! ... although for the tracing, theres a cra.py technique where you hold ur sketch onto the front of your screen and draw over the lines.. (honestly i might be the only person who does that xD idk...) otherwise i think theres some way to trace on the DS? but im not sure either qwq

im just as confused as u tbh lol

@Hailsss @UnknownFilters Oohhhhhhhhh ok. yeah that helped. MANY THANKS COMRADS. *salutes internally*

1. It's basically when people draw over a reference photo. I've never had that option on my ipod but I think it's possible on some other versions.
2. There is a colors website for PCto view the gallery and comment but no way to draw on a computer.

Hailsss @mcollins @UnknownFilters

Unknown Filters is correct. The 3ds allows you to import photo reference, and to trace on top of it. You can see when someone has imported a photo reference by the camera icon on the tools used. The introduction of tracing apparently was quite contorversial:
http://collectingsmiles.com/news/colors-3d-and-our-thoughts-on-tracing/

This is a quote, but you can read the whole thing from the collecting smiles blog:
----quote----I’ve mentioned tracing in a few of my previous development post, but I’ve never really gone into details on it. Tracing is probably the single most controversial issue in Colors! 3D. Half the gallery hates traced paintings, since they get so many likes and therefore drown out a lot of original works. On the other hand, the other half very much enjoys watching 3Difed copies of popular images.-----end quote----

As to PC, @mcollins is only partly correct. You can go to colorslive.com and see the gallery, comment, etc. I use this most of the time rather than looking at paintings on the 3ds, etc. It also seems to allow comments with a bit more characters! I like it because I can type a lot better on a keyboard than on a phone.
However, there is also a windows beta program that allows you to draw on PC. It is a perk that you can get if you become a patron as @UnknownFilters referenced. Becoming a patron also allows you to access the patron only Discord section, gives two superlikes, etc.
If you bought the retail versoin you can still get a 15 dollar digital patron upgrade that includes the Windows beta.
However, it requires Windows 10 (not sure about 11). It also runs through Discord. And they are eventually shutting down Discord launched games, and I have also had an issue lately running the Beta. Per Jens the eventual plan is to put the Windows version on Steam, which would be great.
The Windows version allows you to utilize Wacom and Huion tablets (and perhaps others, but those are specifically referenced). I have used my Huion tablet with it, and it works well. It uses pressure. Madwurmz has used his Wacom Cintiq with it as well, with good results.
Currently the Beta essentially mirrors the Switch. in fact, when you load the game you work within a switch emulator, including a picture of the switch. You can change between classic switch, lite, and OLED versions, or do a windowed version (which I prefer). I has assignable keyboard shortcuts.
You also have access to the gallery features of the Switch such as the featured tutorial section, the superliked paintings section, etc.
I checked with Jens and Johannes and they allowed me to purchase the digital upgrade even though I don't have a switch in order to support the company, and to get the benefit of the windows Beta.
The Windows version is a big deal to me because many young folks first learned digital painting on Colors3d, and now colorslive. But then sometimes they feel they would do better art with better tools, and upgrade to a windows tablet, or windows pen enabled monitor for drawing. With the windows version they can still contribute to the colors gallery and use the higher end tools.
My understanding is that they hope to update the Android and IOS versions as well in the future. That would be fantastice because then people can continue to use the program they are accustomed to on the platforms they move to, and it moves the program beyond the limitations of the 3ds, Switch, Vita, etc.
Right now the Android and IOS versions are out of date, so they are not pushing them, and some devices might not be supported properly, etc. But I still find that the Android verison works great on the devices I have tried.

The Android version allows 720p video export, which is a huge feature if someone wanted to start a youtube channel. One of my Android devices does require a workaround for the video export to work. It was billed as experimental when they implimented it. But I did get it to work with some tweaks. My other Androids run it fine.

It also supports pressure sensitivity, and folks like Gaz Bell report great results with the Note series phones from Samsung, which uses all the pressure features. I use a Stylo 5 by LG (because it was cheap!) and I love the integrated stylus, but it does not support pressure.
If someone tries out the Moto G series with it, let me know, as that is now going to be one of the cheaper stylus options with LG getting out of the phone business.

The Android version also allows larger export than the 3ds, as it is based on hardware capabilities. From what I have seen so far the more ram and power the larger export is possible.
This is because Colors uses a vector based re-draw method to export, which is fantastic. Because that means that paintings done on the relatively low capability 3ds can then be exported at larger sizes without pixelation. you still have the limitation of the smaller screen to start with, but I have exported phots and displayed them in a local art galllery without issue. Which is mind-blowing when you consider the hardware of the 3ds.

By the way, the select and move, and the fill tool appear to work at the pixel level, and may make larger export impossible, per what I understood from the development team.
However, since the Switch works at a larger defaul canvass you still get a pretty good size for prints. But if you want to make sure you can take advantage of later exports with better hardware you might want to stick to classic tools such as the hard round, soft round, and bristle, and their Switch equivalents.

@tall73 WOW. Thanks for the full explanation! XD
(I wouldn't have the patience to write that so tysm) :3

tbh I don't have the patience to read that! i have answers but i assume its already explained here :)

@UnknownFilters did you succeed installing pc version yet?
message me or get on the chat on the discord maybe we can assist?

@madwurmz.com

I did not, but I did see the message about it being moved to dropbox (I think that is what it is called) I plan on trying that soon.