EchoDraw blends any reference photo into your phone's live camera feed as a see-through overlay. Point your camera at your paper, and your reference appears layered right on top of your hand and pencil, on screen, in real time — no lightbox, no projector, no subscription.
EchoDraw doesn't shine light through your paper like a physical lightbox — it uses your camera instead. The app blends a semi-transparent version of your reference photo into the live camera feed, right on your screen, so you see your hand, your pencil, and your reference all at once. Built by an artist who got tired of bulky lightboxes and expensive projectors, it fits in your pocket and works anywhere — café table, studio desk, or your kitchen counter at midnight.
Watch your hand, pencil, and paper move in real time, with your reference blended on top, right on screen.
Dial the opacity to exactly how bright you want your reference to appear against the page.
Turn on proportion and perspective grids to keep every trace accurate and balanced.
Pull in any image from your gallery instantly — no importing, converting, or extra steps.
Lock your reference in place so it never slips or drifts mid-trace, even if your hand bumps the phone.
Your photos never leave your device. No account, no cloud, no data collected. Ever.
Choose any image from your library as your reference.
Your camera shows what's beneath — hand, pencil, and page.
Adjust transparency until it's comfortable to see and trace.
Lock the position and start drawing. That's it.
"As an artist, I have often been frustrated by the amount of time it takes to lay out the framework of a drawing. This app makes it so quick and easy to get to the good part! The app creators must be artists themselves — they knew exactly what I needed."
EchoDraw is built and maintained by one developer — a working artist who wanted a tool that gets out of the way. Every update ships because someone asked for it, including AI-assisted drawing support, position lock, and rotation fixes that came straight from user emails.
Get EchoDraw3-day free trial, then a one-time purchase. No subscription, ever. Works on iPhone and iPad, iOS 17.6+.