what it is
ghost lines is a phone tool for tracing a picture onto a wall, or any surface, at full size. It holds your design over the live camera as see-through outlines, so you can paint or draw along them, and it runs in the phone’s browser.
- Your design on the wall, full size
- Add a design, hold the phone up to the wall, and ghost lines lays it over the camera at whatever size the job needs. Drag to place it, pinch to scale and turn it, then lock it so it holds still while you work. See it as a photo you look through, or as clean outlines drawn from the picture.
- Made for daylight
- Pick an outline colour and thickness to suit the wall, set how much detail the edges show, add a reference grid, invert for a dark surface, and let the opacity lift itself in bright sun.
- Square to any wall
- If the wall isn’t square-on, drag the four corners until the design sits flat.
- Pick it up another day
- Save a wall and ghost lines keeps the design, your settings and where the wall is, with a faded snapshot of your last view to line it up again. A world-lock mode, which pins the design to the wall in 3D as you move, is built and has yet to be tested on a real wall.
It is for artists, hobbyists and makers: a mural, a motif on a pot, a layout marked out to scale for a project at home. It runs in the browser, so there is nothing to install, and it can sit on your Home Screen like an app. It isn’t open to the public yet.
how it differs
Da Vinci Eye
what Da Vinci Eye does well
An established tracing app for iPhone and iPad. You set the phone on a stand over paper or canvas, and its AR mode keeps the image aligned if the page or the phone moves. It also teaches, with lessons and video tutorials. Free to download, with paid upgrades.
where ghost lines differs
ghost lines is aimed at walls and other big surfaces you hold the phone up to, with outline and daylight controls, and it runs in the browser rather than from the App Store. Pick Da Vinci Eye for drawing on paper or an easel, and for lessons, today.
Mural Maker by Da Vinci Eye
what Mural Maker by Da Vinci Eye does well
Built for painting murals. Its AR tracking keeps the image aligned with the wall and remembers where a project sits, so a mural can run over several days. It works outdoors in bright daylight, splits an image into stencils by colour value, and lets several painters work from one camera.
where ghost lines differs
Mural Maker needs two iOS devices, one as the camera and one in your hand. ghost lines is built around one phone. Pick Mural Maker for a large mural today, especially with a crew: its AR tracking ships now, and ours has yet to be tested on a real wall.
SketchAR
what SketchAR does well
An AR drawing app that projects sketches onto paper, walls and murals, on iOS, Android, Meta Quest 3 and Pico. On a phone its Wall View puts a sketch on a wall, column or corner. It has more than a thousand courses and templates; projecting your own photos is part of its paid tier.
where ghost lines differs
SketchAR is built around learning to draw, from its own lessons and templates. ghost lines starts from the design you bring and is set up for tracing it onto a surface: outlines, daylight controls, corner-pinning and saved walls. Pick SketchAR if you want structured lessons, a headset, or a phone app you can use on a wall today.
questions
is there an app to trace a picture onto a wall with my phone?
That is what ghost lines does. Add the picture, hold the phone up to the wall, size and place it over the camera, lock it and trace. It isn't open to the public yet; write to tomspanx@entrees.live to ask. If you need wall tracing today, Mural Maker by Da Vinci Eye does it with two iPhones or iPads, and SketchAR's Wall View puts a sketch on a wall from one phone.
is there an AR tracing app that works in the browser, with no download?
ghost lines runs in the phone’s browser, so there is nothing to install from an app store, and you can add it to your Home Screen. It isn’t open to the public yet. Da Vinci Eye and Mural Maker are free to download from the App Store, with paid upgrades.
what is an alternative to Da Vinci Eye?
Da Vinci Eye is the better pick for paper or a canvas on a stand, and for lessons. ghost lines differs where the surface is a wall: one phone held up to it, outlines and daylight controls so the design stays readable in sun, and saved walls you come back to. It is still in the works and not open to the public.
is there a mural tracing app that only needs one phone?
ghost lines is built around one phone: hold it up, lock the design on screen and trace. A world-lock mode that pins the design to the wall in 3D as you move, still on one phone, is built and has yet to be tested on a real wall. Mural Maker, the established mural app, needs two devices. SketchAR’s Wall View works from one phone today. ghost lines isn’t open to the public yet.
can I trace a design onto a pot with my phone camera?
Yes, within limits. Bring the pot into view, scale the design onto it, lock it and trace, with the phone held steady or on a stand. The design is laid flat on the screen, so it suits a small motif or a gentle curve; ghost lines does not wrap a design around a round form. It isn’t open to the public yet.
how do I see tracing lines on a wall in bright sun?
Switch the design to outlines and make them bold: black and thick on a sunlit white wall, white and thin on a dark one. ghost lines adds an auto-boost that lifts the opacity in bright light, an exposure lock where the phone allows it, and brightness and contrast sliders where it doesn’t. These are built and still to be checked on a sunlit wall, and the app isn’t open to the public yet.
where it stands
status in the works
built, and still to be tested on a real wall. not open to the public yet; write to tomspanx@entrees.live to ask.