# Tracing Projector — Augmented Reality Drawing Tool

> Augmented reality drawing tool for tracing images onto paper. (iPhone/iPad app by Photility.)

- Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/tracing-projector/id1063062393 (this page in markdown: same URL + `.md`)
- Developer: [Photility](https://appshunter.io/developer/412694739)
- Category: Education, Lifestyle
- Price: Free with in-app purchases
- Rating: 3.80/5 from 2,234 App Store ratings · 318 written reviews indexed
- Age rating: 4+
- Requires: iOS 13.0 · 107 MB
- Languages: American English, French (France), German (Germany), Italian, Japanese, Korean, Russian, European Spanish
- Released: 2016-09-07
- Data updated: 2026-08-27
- Monetization: free with in-app purchases
- User reviews in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/tracing-projector/id1063062393/reviews.md

## What is Tracing Projector?

Tracing Projector is your personal portable drawing and composition tool.

Having Tracing Projector is like always having a sheet of tracing paper with you! Choose any image you'd like to draw, take a photo, or choose from hundreds of images supplied in the app; then look at your screen while you trace the image on paper!

- Learn to Draw! Learn proportions and important lines by tracing photos of anything! Use several filters to enhance your photo, making it easier to trace.

- Make real one-of-a-kind artwork you can hang on your wall! Send unique greetings on social media! Friends and family will love to see your animated drawings!

- Show off your skills! Record a video while you draw and share it on your favorite social network. Your friends will be amazed! Choose from time-lapse and regular speeds, and include a narrative if you want to. 

- Great for face painting or artistic makeup!

- Great for school projects! Need to draw an image from a book on a poster? Trace it!

- Kick-start your painting or portrait! Transfer your idea from a photo to your drawing canvas to get the proportions right.

- Match the Composition! Transfer your plan from a sketch to the scrapbook page or photo wall! 

- Challenge yourself to sketch the essence of the image before the timer runs out! Focus on composition and structure. Freehand the fine details afterward, or disable Quick Sketch and trace them directly. (Disabling requires a one-time purchase.)

Several tools make it really easy to trace your image:

- Light Table - lock your screen, turn up the brightness, and trace the image from your screen directly!

- Handheld Mode -- On supported devices, Augmented Reality keeps your tracing image steady while you hold your device at a comfortable angle. (demo video https://youtu.be/YJeK5Sjdi1Q). Requires iOS 11.3 or later on iPhone 6s/6s Plus or iPad Pro and later. Works best on stable horizontal and vertical surfaces with good light and some visible surface detail.

- Lock the camera focus to keep the image steady while you trace.

- Lock the canvas area to keep your layout and alignment while you zoom in to get a close look at your work in progress.

- Several Filter modes enhance your image, increasing contrast to give you a better result.

- Use the flashlight to light up your drawing. (requires Full Version)

- Use the selfie camera and draw on your face. (requires Full Version)


Other features make it fun and easy to share your creations with your friends.

- Video recording in Time Lapse mode to make things smaller and faster and cooler. You can enable normal-speed and audio on the Settings screen.

- The recorded video or snapshot includes a small thumbnail of the tracing image (with an option to turn that off).

- Your videos and snapshots are stored automatically and available to share later from within the app, the Files app, or iTunes.

- Sharing your videos and photos is easy with a preview screen and saved photos/videos!

- Interrupted while recording your drawing? No problem - Combine multiple videos to create a single video for sharing! Use the Edit feature on the Saved Files screen: select two movies and tap Join.


Tracing Projector is Enhanced For 3D Touch! Start right away from the camera or photo album from the home screen! Force-touch on the tracing image to peek at your progress while you draw!


Notes:
- For best results, stabilize your device above your drawing surface. A stack of books, drinking glass, or tripod works best.
- The app requires access to your camera in order to present its overlay for drawing.
- The app requires access to your photos in order to load an image to trace and to save the video of your drawing.
- The app optionally uses your microphone when recording a video while you draw.

## Key features

- Trace any image using augmented reality
- Enhance photos with filters for easier tracing
- Record drawing process in time-lapse or normal speed
- Suitable for face painting and makeup art
- Light Table mode for direct screen tracing
- Handheld Mode with AR for steady tracing

## Pricing and in-app purchases

Base price: Free.

**One-time purchases**

| Purchase | Price | Type |
| --- | --- | --- |
| High Quality Video | $2.99 | one-time |
| Full Functionality | $3.99 | one-time |
| Pro Bundle - Best Value! | $4.99 | one-time |


## What do users think of Tracing Projector?

Overall sentiment: negative

**Pros**

- 🚀 Helpful for tracing and sketching
- 👍 Good for beginners
- ⭐ Useful app overall
- 🎨 Improves drawing skills
- 💡 Innovative AR features

**Cons**

- 🐛 Image drifts and moves around
- ⏱️ Limited free drawing time
- 🔒 Difficult to lock image in place
- 💸 Forced to pay for full functionality
- 🤯 Frustrating and buggy

**Commonly reported bugs**

- Image constantly moving and shifting
- Handheld mode not working as expected
- App crashes or freezes
- Purchased features not working
- Difficulty aligning image with paper

**Most requested features**

- Longer free drawing time
- Better image stabilization
- Option to disable timer
- Improved handheld mode
- Ability to resize images

## Recent user reviews (10 of 318)

All indexed reviews: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/tracing-projector/id1063062393/reviews.md

### 1/5 — horrible

*2026-08-20, version 1.3.9*

at first i thought this was going to be completely free and easy until i realized ITS NOT. your on a 2 minute time limit and have to PAY just to get off of it, its glitchy leaves your photos upside down and overall not a good app. DONT DOWNLOAD IT. DONT WASTE YOUR TIME.

### 5/5 — Review of app

*2026-08-16, version 1.3.9*

I have so much fun with this app and my art has improved greatly thank god this app saved me

### 5/5 — Love it

*2026-08-13, version 1.3.9*

I love this app and how simple it is yet offers everything I was looking for and even more… love that only pay once for it not monthly more than worth it, it’s been great tool to give me confidence and helped me get better just having this app to as a guide when needed

### 3/5 — Whoever said it’s free lied

*2026-08-11, version 1.3.9*

You can only trace for 3 minutes, but then after it makes you upgrade. Good app but definitely not free.

### 1/5 — Absolute garbage

*2026-08-06, version 1.3.9*

I would like a full refund this was a complete waste of money.

### 3/5 — Decent, but Video saving won't work.

*2026-07-27, version 1.3.9*

This app worked quite well for tracing, once I caved and paid for Pro to remove the annoying quick sketch feature that was on by default. 
HOWEVER, 'Automatically Record Video' does not save any recordings. Enabling 'Automatically Save Photos & Videos to Camera Roll' doesn't help. The Videos folder is empty, and tapping it causes the app to crash every time.
Because of this, the app gets three stars from me.

### 1/5 — Frustrating… image keeps jumping

*2026-07-25, version 1.3.9*

The idea is genius… but the image completely shifts on me mid tracing. It took me so long to get it perfect and halfway through tracing the image jumped up. I didn’t even touch the screen! I erased my progress thinking it was a glitch and started over. Did the exact same thing!!!! So frustrating! I even paid the $5 for the app.

### 1/5 — Waste of an app

*2026-07-18, version 1.3.9*

I would absolutely NOT recommend anyone to use this app if you are doing any project larger than a post it note drawing. I was going to use this for a banner and it limits you to approximately 3 minutes of “free sketch time”. Whoever decided to make unlimited time a premium feature genuinely has the type of greed spoken about in the Bible. 0/10 would not recommend.

### 1/5 — Handled option is a total waste of time.

*2026-07-18, version 1.3.9*

I tried using the handheld option, but the image didn’t work properly. Even after finally locking it in, the image that “wasn’t going to move” moved in less than 10 seconds. Not everyone has a tripod, you know…

### 1/5 — Annoyed

*2026-07-18, version 1.3.9*

I keep locking the image to trace and IT KEEPS MOVING WHEN I GO TO THE NEXT LETTER.

## Frequently asked questions about Tracing Projector

### What does the Tracing Projector app do?

This app functions as a portable drawing and composition tool. It allows users to project any image onto a surface for tracing, similar to using a sheet of tracing paper. You can choose images from the app's library, take a photo, or use your own images to trace onto paper.

### What are the key features of the Tracing Projector app?

Key features include tracing any image using augmented reality, applying filters to enhance photos for easier tracing, and recording your drawing process in time-lapse or normal speed. It also offers a 'Light Table' mode for direct screen tracing and a 'Handheld Mode' with AR for steady tracing on supported devices.

### Is the Tracing Projector app free to use?

The app is free to download and use with many features. However, some advanced features, such as using the flashlight to light up your drawing and using the selfie camera for drawing on your face, require a one-time purchase to unlock the full version.

### What are the compatibility requirements for the Handheld Mode?

The Handheld Mode, which utilizes Augmented Reality, requires iOS 11.3 or later on iPhone 6s/6s Plus or iPad Pro and later. It works best on stable horizontal and vertical surfaces with good lighting and some visible surface detail.

### How can I use this app for school projects or artistic makeup?

For school projects, you can easily trace images from books onto posters or other materials. The app is also great for artistic makeup and face painting, allowing you to trace designs directly onto your face using the selfie camera (requires full version).

## Version history (last 5 releases)

### 1.3.9 — 2021-10-22

- Hone your sketching skills in quick sketch mode. Challenge yourself to capture the essence of the image before the timer runs out! Focus on composition and structure and freehand the fine details afterward. Access the mode on the settings screen.
- As always, this release includes other usability improvements and bug fixes.

### 1.3.8 — 2021-08-22

- Includes new emoji released with iOS 14.5.
- New Grid Overlay option helps with realigniing your image using a 4x4 grid. Find it on the Filters panel or the Settings screen.
- As always, this release includes other usability improvements and bug fixes .

### 1.3.7 — 2021-02-16

- This update brings more drawing inspiration! Enjoy the rich library of emoji on your device, more than a thousand images including variations for skin tones!
- As always, this release includes other usability improvements and bug fixes .

### 1.3.6 — 2021-02-08

- General usability and stability improvements

### 1.3.5 — 2021-01-25

- Fixed an issue in light-table mode, which caused the drawing image to respond to touch pressure on devices that support force-touch. The image should no longer disappear while drawing.
- Improved drawing mode selection experience
- General usability and stability improvements

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## More apps by Photility

- [RPG: Random Password Generator](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/rpg-random-password-generator/id412694736)

All apps by Photility: https://appshunter.io/developer/412694739

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*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 2026-08-27.*