Can I use the app for murals and large work?

Yes. Because the reference is anchored to your real surface, you can scale a portrait up to a canvas or a design up to a wall and keep the proportions accurate. Muralists, sign painters, and tattoo artists use AR tracing for exactly this — getting a small reference onto a large surface without a projector.

Grid Maker Pro the AR app

Trace any photo straight onto real paper.

The free web tool gives you 82 composition grids in the browser. The app does the one thing a browser can't: it locks your reference photo over your real paper, canvas, or wall through the camera, so you can draw the proportions by hand. Built by a working artist of 15 years.

see how it works

Made by an artist, not a software company 82 pro grids no tracing app has Your photo, free every month

Android beta

The app is in testing, not on the store yet.

Grid Maker Pro AR is finished and in Google's closed-testing track. Play requires a 14-day run with at least 12 active testers before an app can go public, so the store listing is not live yet. Testers get it early and help decide what ships first.

Join the Android beta Android 8.0 or newer · takes a minute · no payment

Prefer to wait? The free web tool runs all 82 overlays in the browser today, and this page becomes the store link the day the app goes public.

Grid Maker Pro is an augmented-reality tracing app for artists. Point your phone at paper, canvas, or a wall, lock any reference photo over the surface, and draw the proportions by hand — no projector, no light box, no grid-by-grid copying. It carries all 82 of the composition overlays from the free web tool, and it's made by a working artist who needed them at the easel.

Illustration: a phone on a gooseneck arm held flat above an open sketchbook, its screen showing the Grid Maker Pro AR trace studio with a portrait reference locked over the page below — AR tracing at the desk: the app holds the reference so both hands stay on the drawing. Photos on this page are illustrations, not app screenshots.

From photo to paper in four moves

No calibration ritual. Open the app, point it at your surface, and start drawing.

Pick your reference

Choose a photo from your camera roll, or pick one of the 82 composition overlays to draw over.

Point at your paper

Aim the phone at paper, canvas, or a wall. The reference floats over the real surface in the camera view.

iii

Lock it in place

Tap to anchor the image. It stays pinned to your surface as you move, so the proportions hold true.

Draw by hand

Trace the outline straight onto your paper. Fade the opacity to check your marks, and record a time-lapse to share.

What this does that other tracing apps don't

The category is crowded with apps that lock the obvious things behind a paywall. We made different choices on purpose.

Your own photo, free

Three AR traces of a photo from your camera roll every month, at no cost. Most apps paywall importing your own image — the single most common complaint in the category.

82 professional grids

Golden ratio, Loomis head, dynamic symmetry, perspective, sacred geometry. No other tracing app ships a composition library this deep.

Built by a real artist

Fifteen years at the easel, not a software studio guessing at what artists need. The grids exist because the maker drew with them first.

Private by design

Your reference photos are processed on the device for the overlay. No account is required to start drawing.

Stays locked

The reference anchors to your surface and holds when you shift the phone or lean in — the part that makes tracing actually usable.

Record the process

Capture a time-lapse of the whole drawing as it comes together — ready to post to Reels, Shorts, or TikTok.

Illustration: a canvas on a studio easel with a phone clamped on an arm beside it, the AR trace studio screen showing the portrait reference aligned to the canvas — At the easel too: clamp the phone, lock the reference, draw at any scale.

Honest pricing

The web tool is free forever. The app adds AR tracing — and you can feel it on your own photo before you pay for anything.

Free

no account needed

3 AR traces of your own photo, every month
All 82 composition grids
On-device, private

Join the beta

Best value

Annual

$29.99 /year

about $2.50 a month

Unlimited AR tracing
Unlimited photo import
Time-lapse recording
All future overlays

Join the beta

Monthly

$6.99 /month

cancel any time

Unlimited AR tracing
Unlimited photo import
Time-lapse recording

Join the beta

Lifetime

$79 once

no subscription, ever

Everything in the paid plans
One payment, kept for good
For people who are done with subscriptions

Join the beta

Prices in US dollars. Monthly and annual plans are auto-renewing subscriptions billed through Google Play and can be cancelled any time — full detail on the subscription terms page.

How it sits next to the other AR tracing apps

The honest version. Every one of these apps puts a reference over your surface — the difference is what's free, and what's underneath.

Capability	Grid Maker Pro	Da Vinci Eye	SketchAR
Trace your own photo for free	Yes — 3 a month	Pro only	Limited
Professional composition grids	82 overlays	Basic templates	Lessons, not grids
One-time purchase option	$79 lifetime	Subscription	Lifetime ~$150
Made by a working artist	Yes — 15 years	Software company	Software company
Reference processed on-device	Yes	Community photo library	Cloud account

Competitor details reflect their published store listings as of June 2026 and can change — see the full Da Vinci Eye, SketchAR, and Morpholio Trace comparisons for sourced specifics.

What people trace with it

AR tracing earns its keep wherever a small reference has to become a large, accurate drawing.

Fig. AMurals — a phone reference scaled onto a whole wall

Fig. BPortrait commissions — likeness locked before the first stroke

Fig. CTattoo placement — design fitted to the body, in scale

Fig. DSign painting — letterforms set true to the layout

Muralists Tattoo artists Sign painters Portrait commissions

Questions, answered plainly

Is the web tool still free?

Yes. The Grid Maker Pro web tool stays free forever — all 82 overlays, no signup, no upload. The AR app is a separate product that adds something a browser physically cannot do: tracing a reference onto your real paper or canvas with the camera. We're adding a new capability, not paywalling the free one.

Can I trace my own photo for free?

Yes. The free tier includes three AR traces of your own photo every month, plus all 82 grids. Plenty of tracing apps lock importing your own photo behind the paywall on the very first open — we'd rather you feel the result on a real reference before deciding to subscribe.

How much does the app cost?

Free covers three AR traces of your own photo each month. Unlimited tracing is $29.99 per year or $6.99 per month, and there's a one-time Lifetime at $79 for anyone who'd rather not subscribe. See the pricing above.

Do I need special AR hardware?

No. It runs on a normal Android phone or tablet with a camera. No headset, no projector, no light box — the reference is held in place using the device camera and motion sensors.

Does the subscription renew automatically?

The monthly and annual plans are auto-renewing subscriptions managed through Google Play. They renew until you cancel, and you can cancel any time from the Play Store subscriptions screen. Lifetime is a single one-time purchase that never renews. Full detail is on the subscription terms page.

What happens to my reference photos?

They're processed on your device to build the overlay, and no account is required to start. The app privacy policy sets out exactly what is and isn't collected.

How is this different from Da Vinci Eye or SketchAR?

All three put a reference over your surface. The differences: Grid Maker Pro lets you trace your own photo free every month, ships all 82 professional composition overlays general tracing apps don't include, and is built by a working artist. The Da Vinci Eye and SketchAR comparisons go through it in detail.

Is there an iPhone version?

The app launches on Android through Google Play first; an iOS build is planned. In the meantime the free web tool runs in Safari on iPhone and iPad for the 82 overlays — only the AR tracing is app-only.

Can I use it for murals and large work?

Yes. Because the reference is anchored to your real surface, you can scale a portrait up to a canvas or a design up to a wall and keep the proportions accurate. That's exactly what muralists, sign painters, and tattoo artists use AR tracing for.

Who made the app?

Sujith Puthran, a working artist of more than 15 years. The grids exist because a real artist needed them at the easel — not because a software company guessed at what artists want.