Camera Lucida™: AR Drawing

Camera Lucida™: AR Drawing

Masterful drawing in minutes!

1.8K ratings
251 reviews
#8 in paid Graphics & Design
📚 Education
🎨 Graphics & Design
$14.99
In-App Purchases

Details

  • Released
  • Updated
  • March 20, 2010
  • July 6, 2024

Features

Camera Lucida™: AR Drawing video #1 for iPhone
Camera Lucida™: AR Drawing screenshot #2 for iPhone
Camera Lucida™: AR Drawing screenshot #3 for iPhone
Camera Lucida™: AR Drawing screenshot #4 for iPhone
Camera Lucida™: AR Drawing screenshot #5 for iPhone
Camera Lucida™: AR Drawing screenshot #6 for iPhone
iphone
ipad
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About

This app uses your device's camera to superimpose a reference image onto your drawing surface, guiding your hand to create detailed art. It offers advanced features and tools to enhance your sketching and painting skills, making art creation easy and fun.

AR image superposition for drawing
Advanced image filters
Zoom lock for detail
Session save and restore
Time-lapsed recording
External USB camera support
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What users say

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What's New in Camera Lucida™

17.1

July 6, 2024

The professional choice for assisted drawing! Version 17.1 has been recompiled to take advantage of the newest iOS 17 features, and some minor graphic designs have been updated including a new app icon.

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In-App Purchases

$4.99

Auto-Correct For Perspective

Adjust camera view for tilted or mirrored use

Charts

Top Paid

This app dropped -1 position in Graphics & Design chart.

Last updated on July 22, 2026.

User reviews

Kind of pointless

Nothing works, doesn’t recognize the Apple Pencil. Does not allow you to draw on pictures.

The best

I use this app frequently and it works perfectly. Excellent customer support and a great Facebook group

Alghdry

Just stole money this program is not working 👎

Great find!!

I am a watercolor/colored pencil artist who has always “eyeballed” my drawings for painting. I’m not too bad at it but had to spend long hours getting dimensions and perspectives right on buildings and other mechanical or architectural structures. Recently, I was commissioned for the first time to paint a house which took hours just to draw making my pay next to nothing for the work I put in. I was really pleased with the painting and did another as a gift for a friend. This time I purchased an art projector to make the drawing go faster but the projected image was terrible for detail and again I spent way too much time hand drawing the house. I searched for a faster way to draw these types of images to sell and to give more gifts like these and discovered Camera Lucida. Wow! After watching the training videos and purchasing a $17 iPad bed stand from Amazon to hold the iPad above the canvas, I had a great tool! I finished drawing the third house for painting with every small detail perfect in about an hour and a half instead of five or six hours going back and forth with a small ruler from a blown up photo to my canvas (on an 12x16” piece of watercolor paper). Now I feel like I can make money by spending much less time drawing these. Thank you, Camera Lucida, for such a great tool!
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how does it work?

Either higher learning curve than expected or doesn’t work as advertised. Can’t get the mirror trick to work and flashlight doesn’t seem to work. Also so far haven’t gotten it to connect with my laptop.

User experience

🐞

Reported Bugs

2 issues

Compatibility issues with newer iOS versions

Bug

Occasional crashes or freezes

Bug

Requested Features

3 requests

Ability to draw larger images

Feature

More camera settings and controls

Feature

Integration with other art apps

Feature

FAQ

What does Camera Lucida™: AR Drawing do?

Camera Lucida™: AR Drawing uses your device's camera to project a reference image onto your drawing surface. This allows you to trace or draw along with the superimposed image, helping you create detailed artwork with ease.

What are the key features of this app?

Key features include AR image superposition, advanced image filters, zoom lock for detailed work, session saving and restoring, time-lapsed recordings of your drawing process, and support for external USB cameras on compatible devices.

How much does Camera Lucida™: AR Drawing cost?

The app is a one-time purchase, meaning you buy it once and have lifetime use across your devices. There are no subscriptions involved. Some advanced camera adjustments may require an in-app purchase.

What devices is Camera Lucida™: AR Drawing compatible with?

The app is designed for iPhone and iPad. It specifically mentions support for USB-C equipped iPads running iOS 17 for external USB camera functionality.

Who would benefit from using this app?

This app is ideal for anyone looking to enhance their drawing and painting skills, from beginners to experienced artists. It's particularly useful for those who want a modern, easy-to-use alternative to traditional drawing aids like light tables or projectors.