Ghost Canvas — Support

Trace & draw with your iPhone or iPad as a camera lucida.

The camera view is black

Ghost Canvas needs camera access to show the live view you trace over. Open the iOS Settings app → Ghost Canvas → Camera and turn it on, then return to the app. If the preview freezes after a phone call or switching apps, it resumes automatically — if it ever doesn't, closing and reopening the app fixes it.

How does AR anchoring work?

The Anchor tool pins your reference image to the real surface in front of you, so it stays in place even when you move your device. Point the camera at your paper on a textured surface (a wooden table works great), then use the corner handles to pin the image where you want it. Anchoring requires a device with ARKit support; without it, all other features still work.

How do I turn iCloud sync on or off?

Projects sync automatically through your private iCloud when you're signed in to iCloud. To turn syncing off, open the iOS Settings app → your name → iCloud → Saved to iCloud and disable Ghost Canvas. The app works fully without iCloud — projects are then stored only on the device.

My imported photo looks too busy to trace

Try Outline mode to convert the photo into clean contour lines, or the Posterize and Monochrome effects to simplify colors. The Grid overlay helps with classic grid-method drawing.

Where are my timelapse videos?

After you stop recording, the share sheet lets you save the video to your photo library or share it directly. Videos are recorded on device and are not uploaded anywhere.

Privacy

Your photos never leave your device. See the full privacy policy.