
Free
About
Lay a source sheet and a blank sheet on the display: a bright, evenly lit surface shines through both, and you trace on real paper with confidence.
Built for how tracing actually works:
LIGHT YOU CAN TUNE
- A light surface that never sleeps or dims on its own mid-trace
- Color temperature from 2700 K (warm) to 6500 K (daylight), rendered from real black-body values — warm light keeps thin pencil lines readable
- Brightness from a soft low glow up to your display’s true peak — on HDR displays the slider goes beyond regular screen white
- Dimming happens in the light surface itself, never by pushing the panel low — no added flicker in the dark range
TRUE-TO-SIZE GRIDS
- Metric 1 cm grid, or imperial 1-inch grid with 1/4-inch subdivisions
- Physically accurate on every supported iPhone and iPad — 1 cm on screen is 1 cm on paper
- Center crosshair for squaring up your sheets
- Pure black lines with adjustable line width, so grids stay visible through paper
MADE FOR PAPER ON GLASS
- Touch lock: one tap locks the screen so resting palms and paper press nothing; hold to unlock
- Controls fade away and return with a tap — while you work, it is all light
- Works in any orientation and window size
PRIVATE BY DESIGN
- No account, no ads, no tracking, no analytics
- Requests zero permissions and never connects to the network
- Works completely offline
For illustrators inking and refining sketches, animators flipping between drawings, calligraphy and lettering practice, embroidery and quilting pattern transfer, and anyone who traces on real paper.
Show more
What's New in LightPad
1.0.0
September 8, 2026





