TraceCam: Sketch Overlay

Trace a photo, a template or a word onto real paper: line-art filter, grid method, 35 templates, lettering in 22 typefaces, camera zoom and progress snapshots.

TraceCam turns your iPhone or iPad into a tracing overlay. Pick a photo, a built-in template or your own text, point the camera at a blank sheet of paper, and the image appears over the paper as a translucent layer — ready to trace with a pencil.

No printing, no light box, no transfer paper. Just your device, your reference and a sheet of paper.

HOW IT WORKS

1. Choose a photo, pick a template or type a word.
2. Point the camera at a blank sheet.
3. Line the image up with the paper — pinch to scale, drag to move, twist to rotate.
4. Set the opacity, choose a filter, add a grid if you like.
5. Lock it, and trace.

FILTERS THAT MAKE TRACING EASIER • Line art keeps only the edges of a photo on a transparent background • Sketch, Grayscale and Ink turn a busy photo into clean strokes • Invert for light lines on dark paper • Flip horizontally or vertically

GRID METHOD • Square grid over the camera view or attached to the reference, from 2×2 to 12×12 • Copy the drawing cell by cell, the way artists have done for centuries

BUILT-IN TEMPLATES • 35 templates: basic shapes and solids, face and figure proportions, one- and two-point perspective, golden spiral, mandala, ellipse guide, isometric and dot grids, lettering lines, calligraphy slant, comic panels and patterns

LETTERING • Type any word or name, choose one of 22 typefaces and get an outline to trace — for cards, signs, posters and calligraphy practice

CAMERA TOOLS • Zoom in on the paper, switch the torch on, freeze the frame • Save a snapshot of the paper with the overlay to Photos to compare your progress

YOUR PROJECTS • Every image is kept with its position, opacity and filter, so you can pick up where you left off • Reopen recent projects from the library, or paste an image from the clipboard

AND MORE • Opacity slider from 10% to 90% • Lock the image so a stray touch cannot move it while you trace • The screen stays awake while you draw • The control panel folds away so nothing covers the paper • Portrait and landscape, iPhone and iPad

PRIVATE BY DESIGN TraceCam has no networking features at all. The camera feed is only shown on screen — never recorded, never saved, never uploaded. A snapshot is written to Photos only when you tap the button. No accounts, no analytics, no ads, no tracking.

Free. Requires iOS 17 or later.