---
{
  "title": "Tracing Guides: How to Trace and Draw on Paper | Pencilbloom",
  "description": "Practical guides for drawing with your phone: how to trace a picture, set up a phone stand, get good light, and turn a tracing into your own drawing.",
  "url": "https://pencilbloom.com/guides",
  "lang": "en",
  "kind": "pages",
  "dateModified": "2026-10-26T22:35:53.136Z",
  "publisher": "iHux"
}
---

# Guides to tracing and drawing on paper

Tracing guides

Short, practical guides to setting up, tracing cleanly and turning traces into your own drawings. Read them in any order or search for a topic, and keep a pencil nearby: every tip is meant to be tried out on real paper.

Updated October 27, 2026

## All guides

- Guide

  ### [How to Turn a Photo into a Line Drawing You Can Trace](https://pencilbloom.com/guides/turn-a-photo-into-a-line-drawing)

  Three ways to turn a photo into a clean line drawing, how to pick a photo that works, and how to trace the result onto real paper.
- Guide

  ### [Tracing with kids, an easy setup for fun drawing time](https://pencilbloom.com/guides/tracing-with-kids)

  A simple way to set up tracing for kids with a phone or tablet, plus picture ideas and tips that keep drawing time fun.
- Guide

  ### [How to Set Up a Phone Stand for Tracing (or Build One)](https://pencilbloom.com/guides/phone-stand-for-tracing)

  A phone stand for tracing holds your phone above the paper so both hands are free. Build one from a mug or books, or pick a holder that won't wobble.
- Guide

  ### [Is Tracing Cheating? When It Helps and When It Doesn't](https://pencilbloom.com/guides/is-tracing-cheating)

  Tracing isn't cheating when you use it to practice or as a step in your own art. Here's when it's fine, when it isn't, and how to learn from it.
- Guide

  ### [How to Trace a Picture onto Paper (6 Easy Methods)](https://pencilbloom.com/guides/how-to-trace-a-picture-onto-paper)

  Six ways to trace a picture onto paper, what each one needs, and how to get clean lines with any of them.
- Guide

  ### [From tracing to drawing on your own, step by step](https://pencilbloom.com/guides/from-tracing-to-drawing)

  A simple practice plan that takes you from tracing a picture to drawing it on your own, one small step at a time.
- Guide

  ### [How to color a coloring page on paper](https://pencilbloom.com/guides/coloring-on-paper)

  Print a page, pick a few colors and work from light to dark. Simple tips for coloring on real paper with pencils, crayons or markers.
- Guide

  ### [Best paper and pencils for tracing and drawing](https://pencilbloom.com/guides/best-paper-and-pencils-for-tracing)

  The paper, pencils and small extras that make tracing easier, and which ones fit each way of tracing with your phone.

## Every lesson, traced on real paper.

Open any lesson in Pencilbloom and your phone shows each step right on your page.

Made by [iHux](https://ihux.co).