LightPad: Tracing Light Box
Light box for paper tracing
Free
Turn your iPad or iPhone into a tracing light box: true-to-size cm/inch grids, warm-to-cool light, and a touch lock so resting paper never presses a button.
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.
Ratings & Reviews
- This app hasn’t received enough ratings or reviews to display an overview.
Support for iPhone Duo: the true-size grid and ruler now render at correct physical scale on both the inner and outer displays.
The developer, Mingwei Cui, 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.
Accessibility
The developer has not yet indicated which accessibility features this app supports. Learn More
Information
- Seller
- Mingwei Cui
- Size
- 7.9 MB
- Category
- Graphics & Design
- Compatibility
Requires iOS 16.0 or later.
- iPhone
Requires iOS 16.0 or later. - iPad
Requires iPadOS 16.0 or later.
- iPhone
- Languages
- English
- Age Rating
4+
- 4+
- Copyright
- © 2026 Mingwei Cui