---
{
  "title": "Photo to Line Drawing: Trace Your Own Photos | Pencilbloom",
  "description": "Pick a photo in the Pencilbloom app and it becomes clean lines, ready to trace onto paper. See before-and-after examples here.",
  "url": "https://pencilbloom.com/photo-to-line-drawing",
  "lang": "en",
  "kind": "lessons",
  "dateModified": "2026-10-29",
  "publisher": "iHux"
}
---

# Turn any photo into a line drawing

Photo to line drawing

Try it on our sample photos below. Pencilbloom does the same with your own photo in the app.

This page never uploads anything: the demo uses our sample photos.

Updated October 29, 2026

![Sample photo of a beagle in profile](https://pencilbloom.com/_astro/dog.q4nRFspJ_Z13yvy.webp)

![Sample photo of a Siamese kitten](https://pencilbloom.com/_astro/cat.CNLuPtg9_1DTewi.webp)

![Sample photo of a red and yellow tulip](https://pencilbloom.com/_astro/tulip.CuKqhda-_Z11cxIQ.webp)

slide the tracing paper

Try a sample

## How it works

1. ### Get Pencilbloom

   Free on iPhone and Android. The demo above uses our sample photos only.
2. ### Pick your photo

   Pets, people and flowers work best. The app turns it into clean lines for you.
3. ### Trace it on paper

   Put your phone on a stand and follow the lines with your pencil, or save the outline.

## Tips for a photo that traces well

Your line drawing can only be as clear as the photo it comes from. A few small choices when you take or pick a photo give you cleaner lines that are easier to follow on paper.

- Use soft, even light, such as daylight from a window or a cloudy sky outdoors. Hard shadows across a face or a pet turn into extra lines.
- Look for strong contrast between your subject and what is behind it: a dark cat on a light sofa traces far better than a dark cat on a dark rug.
- Keep the background plain. A busy room, a crowd or a patterned wall adds lines you don’t need.
- Choose one clear subject instead of a group of small things, so the drawing has a single main shape.
- Shoot straight on and fill the frame, so the subject is big and its proportions are not stretched.
- Pick a sharp photo, not a blurry one. If the details are soft, the lines will be too.

## Ideas to try

Not sure which photo to start with? These make good first drawings:

- Your pet, asleep or sitting still
- A portrait of a friend or someone in your family
- A favorite building, bridge or street corner
- Flowers and house plants
- A child’s favorite toy or teddy bear
- A photo from a holiday you want to remember

Pick one in the Pencilbloom app, and the app turns it into a line drawing. Then put your phone on a stand and follow the lines with your pencil on real paper, or save the outline. Either way, you end up with a drawing of a photo that means something to you.

## Keep exploring

- [Learn to draw](https://pencilbloom.com/learn)
- [Coloring pages](https://pencilbloom.com/coloring-pages)
- [Tracing guides](https://pencilbloom.com/guides)

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