Camera Lucida 4+

Masterful drawing in minutes‪!‬

Camera Lucida

    • $29.99
    • Offers In-App Purchases

Screenshots

Description

The Camera Lucida app allows you to project images onto paper, enabling you to trace through your camera, and draw better and faster, starting today!

Yes, this app will help you draw like a pro!
Still no subscriptions! Purchase it once and everyone in your family can run it on every device they own!
Whether you're drawing on paper with a pencil, or cookies with royal icing, Camera Lucida will help you become a better artist.

Be sure to read the reviews and the functionality you get with Camera Lucida! There are lots of competitors, but no other app comes anywhere close to matching the functionality you get with 12 years of software development and refinement!

Unlike hundreds of apps that enable you to create digital art, Camera Lucida instead enables you to create amazing physical art! Our app works by having your iPhone or iPad's camera pointed at your drawing surface. By watching your screen as you draw, you will be able to to see your reference image superimposed with your drawing - guiding your hand as little or as much as you want while you create your art. Better than a projector, easier to use than an expensive camera lucida, and more versatile than a light table, Camera Lucida has been fine-tuned for over a decade to provide artists with the features they need to be accurate and creative.

With our Camera Lucida iPhone/iPad application, artists and non-artists alike can now draw anything they have a photo of. When looking at your screen, you'll be able to simultaneously see the image you want to draw as well as your drawing surface as you create your work of art. Camera Lucida isn’t a projector, instead the app shows you a virtual image and you draw by watching your paper and hand on the screen as you draw! It’s really clever and cool!

With over 12 years of continuous development, Camera Lucida's functionality eclipses the competition. Check out these features:
- Advanced image filters to help you see with an artist's eye.
- Support for saving and restoring sessions, including automatically realigning your camera, sketch and reference image.
- Full color palette control, including using your own paints, markers, etc.
- Use any camera on your device and adjust for tilted and mirrored setups manually, or use an in-app purchase do do it automatically.
- Time-lapsed recordings of you creating your drawing you can share on social media.
- Support for external bluetooth keyboards to aid in creating large art through mirroring your display.
- Advanced tools such as vertical split screen sliders, timed image fading in and out, etc.
- A projector mode that can be used when you’re using the app with a projector.
- Video tutorials you can watch from within the app or from YouTube.
- A full user manual available from within the app.
- Customer support that you can count on and an active user community for inspiration.
- And now full support for external USB cameras when using a USB-C equipped iPad running iOS 17!

To use our application, you just place your iPhone or iPad between your drawing surface and your eyes and trace what you see on the screen!

IMPORTANT: To use Camera Lucida, you need to fix your iPhone or iPad in place above your drawing. We use a stack of books or a flower vase to do this. Tutorials are included in the app to help you get started.

Contact: lucidaPete@gmail.com

What’s New

Version 17.0

The professional choice for assisted drawing!

Version 17.0 has been recompiled to take advantage of the newest iOS 17 features.
To ensure operational interoperability of functionality dual-device support and "levelize" filtering has been removed from this version.

Ratings and Reviews

4.8 out of 5
62 Ratings

62 Ratings

mcbes ,

Very Useful Tool

I found several other apps that work like this, but this is the best. For comfort I use it with an iPad angled at 45 deg, as with my drawing surface. Test that the two are aligned correctly, otherwise the drawing will be distorted. Put a square shape on to drawing surface and check it aligns with the grid on the app. Once you develop good eye-to-hand co-ordination, it feels quite natural. It is brilliant for transposing shapes accurately. My advice to anyone just developing as an artist is to know when to switch the app off and finish/refine your drawing/painting looking directly at it.

moonmask2 ,

SO handy!

I have tried lots of apps and techniques but this is the best. I still have problems with getting the right sized image ie..not having to hold it way up with one hand and trying to trace with the other but I think that is me. Still learning how to negotiate the usability and mastery. I know I can zoom in and out but.. still can’t get the image large enough on my paper unless the camera is held WAY up.

Developer Response ,

Hi Moonmask2,
Thanks for the review! Feel free to contact me from within the app and we can chat about how to improve the user experience. I love making changes based on user feedback.
Although responding to a review isn't the best way to offer suggestions, I think in this case it might help others as well - so here are a couple of things that might help:
First, if you're trying to hold your phone in one hand while drawing in the other you're going to find it's practically impossible to do. Placing your iPhone or iPad on some kind of flat surface or stand is going to give you the best results. The videos in the app show some stand ideas that don't require you to spend any money. A board bridged between two stacks of books works just fine! Second, to create larger art, one of the tricks is to be sure and pinch your image to fill your screen before you hit the "draw" button. When you do this, you're enlarging your drawing and as you do so, you'll see the image fade so you can see your drawing surface below. If you're in the drawing mode, pinching the screen doesn't enlarge the image, it magnifies the view so you can get additional detail. Finally, don't forget to use the menu option in the upper left that says "Maximize drawing size" - depending upon the device you use, this can make a significant difference.
Thanks again for writing a review - and please don't hesitate to contact me! -Pete

DRSSG ,

AMAZING!!

I use this app for cookie decorating, I've been able to achieve so many amazing results that otherwise would have been very difficult. It's really easy to use once you get used to it. It has many options eg mirror image that help out with your end result. I've need customer help and the gentleman that created the app was so quick to respond and answer my question. As I mentioned in the title...AMAZING. get it, you won't regret it..

App Privacy

The developer, Camera Lucida, 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

Supports

  • Family Sharing

    Some in‑app purchases, including subscriptions, may be shareable with your family group when Family Sharing is enabled.

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