# Camera Lucida™: AR Drawing — user reviews > 272 indexed App Store user reviews of Camera Lucida™ by Camera Lucida, rated 4.80/5 from 1,947 ratings. - Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/camera-lucida-ar-drawing/id362499096/reviews - App overview in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/camera-lucida-ar-drawing/id362499096.md - Rating breakdown: 5★ 1,750 · 4★ 117 · 3★ 23 · 2★ 17 · 1★ 40 ## What do users think of Camera Lucida™? Overall sentiment: positive **Pros** - 🚀 Great drawing aid - 👍 Easy to use - 💡 Helpful for improving drawing skills - 🚀 Saves time in drawing - 👍 Accurate proportions and perspective - 💡 Useful for cookie/cake decorating - 👍 Excellent customer support **Cons** - 🐛 Difficult to set up and use at first - 🐛 Occasional issues with image alignment - 🐛 Needs a stand or mount to work properly **Commonly reported bugs** - Compatibility issues with newer iOS versions - Occasional crashes or freezes **Most requested features** - Ability to draw larger images - More camera settings and controls - Integration with other art apps ## Newest reviews (15 of 272) ### 4/5 — Very Helpful (and smaller than the old machines!) *2025-04-12, version 17.1* I’ve used this kind of equipment years ago, but it was the size of a phone booth (if you know what that is). Haha. You do need some sort of tripod or bracket to use this but how else would you? I just transferred a sketch from a notebook to paper with it and it worked great. The app styling is very “early iPhone” and I’d like to see it updated but it works well and has been maintained. The in app purchase sounds helpful. I found the controls under the camera icon. You have to print out a paper for the camera to register its perspective. I admit I bought this one because the other apps were expensive subscriptions. 👍🏻 I’m not disappointed at all. ### 5/5 — Easily the best drawing aid on iOS *2024-11-07, version 17.1* The title says it all. Don’t be fooled by the imitators out there. This is the OG app and it has made my art easier to make and better than I could do without it. ### 5/5 — Fantastic tool! *2024-09-20, version 17.1* I have found this to be a FANTASTIC tool for my pencil drawings. I can get precise perspectives and placement of eyes and detail that can make or break a piece of art. I’m a BIG detail artist and find that this has been so helpful to me. I have used an opaque projector for years but this app has almost made that piece of equipment obsolete and has sure taken preparation steps away. No more printing a photo to use…just download and go! Its AWESOME!! ### 5/5 — Wonderful App *2024-08-15, version 17.1* I’ve had this app from the beginning , I teach beginning watercolors…my students love it….once they have used it for a while they begin to draw! ### 5/5 — Easier, good (idc if it cost money :>) *2024-08-13, version 17.1* i love this so much, i could use this everyday!! ### 5/5 — I love this app *2024-08-12, version 17.1* I have used this app for a number of year and it has always worked to get me exactly what I needed to complete my projects. Please don’t change a thing!! ### 3/5 — New iOS 17 frauds *2024-07-11, version 17.0* Removing multi camera function is a huge loss for me. Hope multi camera function will be available in future updates, thanks! ### 5/5 — nice, but….. *2024-07-10, version 17.1* i just downloaded this app. For me, to make this app useful, the phone must be on a stand… i cannot hold my phone steady enough to make a decent tracing onto paper. ### 5/5 — Love this App. *2024-06-17, version 17.0* This app is a great help in checking to see if your proportions are correct as you work to get a likeness. ### 5/5 — Worth every penny! *2024-04-10, version 17.0* I’ve never written reviews like this, but I have tried multiple apps like this, and nothing compares! I can tell a major difference in my drawings as a beginner using this app. Being able to zoom in for details without losing perspective on your paper has been an absolute game-changer! ### 5/5 — Very flexible drawing program *2024-02-26, version 16.1* I’ve used this program that makes drawing easy for several years . I primarily use it to get photos accurately drawn onto painting canvas or watercolor paper. Recently, I tried the hosting feature using an iPhone and iPad. Wow! I wish I had tried this years ago. It made every thing easier, more accurate and enlarging to bigger sizes simple. It’s the best system I’ve found to compensate for my imperfect drawing skills. Today, I was having a problem I couldn’t solve. I sent a question to Pete, the developer, from the program on a Sunday. He responded within two hours and gave direction to immediately resolve my issue. I’ve never before experienced such responsive customer service on any product. ### 4/5 — Lucida *2024-02-24, version 16.1* Really nice. ### 5/5 — Easy to use *2024-02-24, version 16.1* Downloaded and ran through the tutorials. Pretty easy to use. Was set up and drawing within 15 minutes. I’m sure I will learn more as I go but it’s a fantastic app. Thanks for not making using a subscription model. ### 5/5 — Spectacular customer service *2024-02-01, version 16.1* Have had the app for years. It’s a wonderful tool for transferring images, recording one’s own artwork, resizing images with precision, adding effects, etc. But what truly makes this app sensational is the customer service. Peter went out of his way to help me troubleshoot a technical issue with friendliness, patience and savvy. Best money ever spent on an app. ### 5/5 — Works Great *2023-12-19, version 16.1* I have only had the app for a weeks or so. Although I can’t use it well if I sit it on books or a blender, it works well since I got the stand. Still learning how it works and to get my hands to work in the right direction but I have accomplished a few drawings. The in-app manual and the tutorials are great to have access to. The Facebook group is very helpful to post and get help and comments. Looking forward to more exciting updates. ## Most critical reviews (10 lowest-rated) ### 1/5 — Kind of pointless *2026-02-24, version 17.1* Nothing works, doesn’t recognize the Apple Pencil. Does not allow you to draw on pictures. ### 1/5 — Alghdry *2026-01-29, version 17.1* Just stole money this program is not working 👎 ### 1/5 — how does it work? *2025-06-19, version 17.1* 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. ### 1/5 — Yuck! *2025-01-05, version 17.1* I had high hopes for this app. However, to be able to draw, you have to place the phone onto something next to the art paper. Most of the phone has to be over the paper. Which means you need to hold the phone down with one hand while drawing with the other to attempt to steady the image. You don’t get your full page to draw with. If you want to purchase an apparatus to hold the phone, that cost more; therefore, you are having to hold your phone, it is not steady and your image moves around as you draw. The controls to adjust are buried underneath small tabs. It does not make sense as to what these control. Even when you use the helps, it’s still not clear. I wish I could get my money back. I will move onto something different. ### 1/5 — Host camera *2024-07-10, version 17.1* Hey sir where is the host camera feature. İ cant find it ### 1/5 — Totally lost *2023-10-08, version 15.3* #1- Where do I get the “target image” to register alignment? #2 I bought an Osmo so I could see the iPad in front of me but can’t find instructions that help in using it. #3. I bought an in App add on to enable Automatic alignment, but all it does is say it can’t find the target image. Very frustrating after spending $ on software and hardware. ### 1/5 — Not for old iPad. *2022-10-24, version 14.0* Multi-device don’t work on old iPad and iOS 9.3. Contrary to store description. ### 1/5 — Impossible to anchor *2020-05-23, version 10.1* I’m really disappointed, I’m using my phone & have found it impossible to anchor it in a suitable position to enable sketching. Also it seems if you can manage to balance it on an ‘upside down vase’ you can only sketch a very small image & also the vase gets in the way! What I’d really like, is a refund please. ### 1/5 — Tela treme *2019-02-18, version 9.1* A tela do aparelho fica tremendo a imagem qd se trava o desenho no icone da maozinha. Deveria ser justamente para nao mexer. Fica impossivel desenhar deste jeito. ### 1/5 — Ne fonctionne pas *2019-01-27, version 9.1* Et c’est bien dommage car le concept est intéressant ! Les photos se téléchargent mais impossible de travailler dessus Les vidéos sont noires, rien n’est filmé Serait-il possible d’obtenir de l’aide ou une mise à jour s’il vous plaît ? Car payer pour rien est frustrant ! ## Most praised reviews (10 highest-rated) ### 5/5 — Love Camera Lucida! *2026-07-21, version 17.1* Very Easy to use and makes short work of big projects! ### 5/5 — The best *2026-02-15, version 17.1* I use this app frequently and it works perfectly. Excellent customer support and a great Facebook group ### 5/5 — Great find!! *2025-11-03, version 17.1* 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! ### 5/5 — Excited *2025-03-27, version 17.1* Thank you Pete for what looks like, in my observation of this app, to be something that will bring me tons of pleasure to my already artistic journey. ### 5/5 — Easy to Use *2025-03-14, version 17.1* Just what I needed to check my freehand drawing! So easy to use too ### 5/5 — Drawing *2025-03-10, version 17.1* Best app ever used ### 5/5 — The best *2025-02-01, version 17.1* Simply the best drawing too ever ### 5/5 — Práctica *2025-01-18, version 17.1* App, muy sencilla y práctica para dibujar. De gran ayuda para ilustraciones ### 5/5 — My great “secret” tool *2025-01-04, version 17.1* I love this tool! It allowed me to be a better and more confident artist. It’s genius. ### 5/5 — Best app ever *2024-11-19, version 17.1* I’m having so much fun tracing and painting. Its fantastic. --- *Data collected daily from the US App Store and indexed by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/). User reviews are verbatim App Store reviews. Ratings, prices and chart positions refresh continuously; this snapshot is from 2026-09-09.*