TraceOverlay vs Drawluma
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side ā with what reviewers say about each.
TraceOverlay
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Trace images onto paper with the camera you already carry. TraceOverlay places a reference over your live camera view, turning your iPhone or iPad into a practical tracing lightbox for drawing, painting, lettering, murals, and art study. TRY THE INCLUDED DEMO TraceOverlay includes a Mona Lisa tracing demo so you can use the live camera and every precision tool without an account or purchase. TRACE WITH PRECISION ⢠Move, scale, and rotate the reference over your drawing surface ⢠Adjust image and camera opacity independently ⢠Lock the layout to prevent accidental movement ⢠Use the alignment grid to check proportions ⢠Mirror a reference when needed ⢠Hide the controls for a clean tracing view FIND THE LINES THAT MATTER Use edge detection, grayscale, contrast, brightness, saturation, and invert controls to create a clearer guide. UPGRADE FOR YOUR OWN REFERENCES The optional one-time Unlock upgrade adds personal photo import and a private on-device reference shelf. It is not a subscription and does not renew. The App Store shows the localized price before purchase. PRIVATE BY DESIGN Camera frames and selected reference images are processed on your device and are not uploaded to TraceOverlay. No TraceOverlay account is required. MADE FOR CREATIVE WORK TraceOverlay is designed for artists, illustrators, lettering practitioners, muralists, art students, and hobbyists who want a portable tracing aid without extra projection hardware. Open the included demo, frame your paper, and start tracing.
Drawluma
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Drawluma is a drawing assistant that lets you draw on real paper while following a reference. Import your photo, let the app turn it into a clean contour drawing, then draw it on your own paper. THREE WAYS TO DRAW ⢠Draw with Camera Rest your phone on a glass, tripod, or stack of books. The template overlays the live camera feed; you watch the screen and draw on paper. This is the most stable method. ⢠Draw with AR Hold your phone. The template is anchored to the paper on your table and stays in place as you move. ⢠Draw with Screen No camera at all. Lay your phone flat, place thin or tracing paper directly on the screen. The screen works like a light box and you trace the glowing lines. This mode asks for no permissions. PHOTO TO LINE ART Import your own photo and the app extracts a traceable contour using edge detection. Adjust detail, threshold, contrast, line weight, and noise reduction live ā see the change instantly. Presets for portrait, general, and graphic subjects. WHILE YOU DRAW ⢠Drag the template with one finger, pinch and rotate with two ⢠Lock it once aligned ā your hand can rest on the screen without shifting it ⢠Set opacity so you can see both your paper and your hand ⢠In camera mode: toggle the torch, switch to 0.5x ultra-wide, lock focus and exposure ⢠True size: draw at an exact centimetre width ⢠Change the line color ā red reads far better over an existing pencil sketch ⢠Left-handed mode moves the controls out of your drawing hand's way DON'T LOSE YOUR WORK Every drawing is saved. A portrait can take days; resume from your gallery whenever you want. ADS AND DRAWLUMA PRO Drawluma is free and the number of drawings is unlimited. In the free version you see one full-screen ad after you finish a drawing and leave the canvas ā never while you are drawing. Drawluma PRO removes the ads. It locks nothing else: all three drawing methods, unlimited drawings and every setting are open in the free version. ⢠Drawluma PRO ā $0.99 per month (charged in your local currency) ⢠Auto-renews; it renews unless you cancel before the period ends ⢠Cancel in iPhone Settings ā Apple Account ā Subscriptions ⢠Payment is charged to your Apple Account on confirmation Terms of Use (Apple standard EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy Policy: https://alperensaglam.github.io/drawluma-site/privacy.html PRIVACY Your photos and the line art you create stay on your device ā they are never sent to a server. No account needed. The app itself collects nothing. Google AdMob, which serves the ads, processes a device identifier, advertising data and coarse location derived from your IP in order to show them. Before the advertising identifier (IDFA) is accessed, the app asks for your permission through App Tracking Transparency: if you allow it, ads are personalised; if you don't, you see non-personalised ads and nothing else changes. You can change your choice anytime in Settings ā Privacy & Security ā Tracking. Going PRO disables the ad layer entirely. NOTES ⢠AR mode requires an ARKit-capable device. On unsupported devices, camera mode gives the same result. ⢠In screen mode, don't press hard on the display; use thin or tracing paper.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Drawluma at none against TraceOverlay's 1. TraceOverlay's advantage is ads (none vs shown). On price, update cadence, device support and iOS requirement there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price Ā· Rating Ā· Positive reviews Ā· Number of ratings Ā· Update frequency Ā· Ads Ā· In-app purchases Ā· Monetization Ā· Best chart rank Ā· Devices Ā· Requires iOS
Both are free to download. TraceOverlay sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Drawluma asks for nothing beyond the download.
TraceOverlay ships an update every 4 days, Drawluma every 8 days. The most recent releases landed on October 9, 2026 and October 11, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | TraceOverlay | Drawluma |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Update frequency | Every 4 days ā better | Every 8 days |
| Ads | No ā better | Yes |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No ā better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad ā better | iPhone |
| Requires iOS | 17.0 | 17.0 |
| Further details ā not scored | ||
| Size | 10 MB | 5 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | ThoughtBubble Development, LLC | Alperen Saglam |
In-app purchases
TraceOverlay
- Unlock$6.99
Drawluma
No in-app purchases









