Turn any photo in your camera roll into a guided drawing lesson — one step at a time.
Got a photo? SketchLab can teach you how to draw it — literally. Pull any picture from your camera roll, and SketchLab turns it into a personal, step-by-step drawing lesson built just for that image. It doesn't matter what's in the photo or what style it's in — photorealistic portraits, anime, cartoons, landscapes, pets, your own artwork, anything. If you've got a picture of it, SketchLab can show you how to draw it.
SketchLab breaks your photo down into a clean, guided outline you trace stroke by stroke, then teaches you how to build up color the way real artists do — layer by layer, one color at a time, until the full picture comes together.
HOW IT WORKS
-Choose any photo from your camera roll
-SketchLab automatically converts it into a clean line-art outline
-Watch the outline draw itself stroke by stroke in real time, or scrub through it manually at your own pace with the progress slider
-Step forward and backward through the drawing one stroke at a time whenever you want to slow down
-Turn on the grid overlay to keep your proportions accurate, with a standard grid or a finer 2x grid for detailed work — the classic grid drawing method artists have used for centuries
A REAL CANVAS, NOT JUST A TRACING LAYER
The canvas is yours to use however you want — it's not locked to just tracing over the reference sketch. Freehand a sketch from scratch, add your own shading and details on top of a guided drawing, or use it as a standalone space to draw whatever you want. Your full toolset includes:
-Pen — two tip styles, including a tapered fountain-pen stroke
-Pencil — two tip styles, including a soft, fuzzy-edge realistic pencil texture
-Marker
-Highlighter
-Paint bucket — flood-fill any enclosed area with a single tap
-Eraser
Every tool supports adjustable stroke width and full color selection, so you're never locked into one look.
TRACE OVER YOUR OWN CAMERA
Switch on the live camera view and trace your outline directly over a real-time feed — perfect for working on paper or another physical surface while SketchLab guides your hand in real time.
LEARN COLOR LIKE AN ARTIST
SketchLab extracts every color from your source photo and walks you through applying them one at a time. Sort your color steps the way that makes sense to you:
-Light to dark
-Dark to light
-By dominance (biggest color areas first)
-By hue family
Each layer builds on the last, so you see exactly how real depth, shading, and blending come together — the same way traditional layered coloring works.
BUILT-IN DRAWING COACH
Stuck on a step? SketchLab's on-device coach gives short, specific tips for exactly what you're drawing right now — pressure, blending, and edge control tailored to the exact color and region you're working on, not generic advice.
SAVE AND DOWNLOAD YOUR WORK
Every project saves automatically, so your canvas, color progress, and tool choices are all exactly where you left them next time you open the app. When you're ready, download your original sketch or your finished canvas artwork straight to Photos — completely free, no limits, no watermarks.
Free to start: turn any photo into a guided grayscale sketch and use the full drawing canvas, completely free.
SketchLab Pro ($4.99, one-time): unlock full color sketching — extract, sort, and layer every color from your photos, forever. One purchase, no subscription, yours for good.
The developer, Connor Champane, indicated that the app’s privacy practices may include handling of data as described below. For more information, see the developer’s privacy policy .
Data Not Collected
The developer does not collect any data from this app.
Privacy practices may vary, for example, based on the features you use or your age. Learn More
The developer indicated that this app supports the following accessibility features. Learn More
Supported Features
Dark Interface
Information
Seller
Connor Champane
Size
19 MB
Category
Graphics & Design
Compatibility
Requires iOS 18.5 or later.
iPhone Requires iOS 18.5 or later.
iPad Requires iPadOS 18.5 or later.
Mac Requires macOS 15.5 or later and a Mac with Apple M1 chip or later.