Frequently asked questions

Every picture is more than a tracing page. You can trace it onto real paper, color it in on screen, turn it into a jigsaw puzzle, or print it out to color by hand. There's also a Mandala maker that blooms any scribble into a symmetric pattern, a sticker album that fills in as you finish drawings, and four family board games — Chess, Connect 4, Snakes & Ladders and Tic-Tac-Toe.

Prop your phone above a sheet of paper on a stand (or a stack of books). Pick a picture in the app — it appears as a faded overlay on the live camera view of your page. Trace along the lines with a pencil, adjusting the size and image strength until it feels right. Step-by-step instructions are in our guide: How to trace a picture with your phone.

A phone or tablet, a sheet of paper, a pencil, and something to hold the phone a few inches above the page — a phone stand, a stack of books, or two mugs with the phone resting across them all work. Good room light helps the camera see the paper.

It's rated 4+ and designed for kids, but it's genuinely fun for all ages. Little ones love tap-to-fill coloring and the 6-piece puzzles; older kids and grown-ups use tracing to learn proportions and the Mandala maker to unwind.

Yes. DoodlePlot is on the App Store for iPhone and iPad, and on Google Play for Android phones and tablets. The core features — tracing, coloring, puzzles, mandalas, stickers and the games — are on both.

No. DoodlePlot works with no account and no sign-in. Drawings and progress are kept on your device.

DoodlePlot is designed with families in mind: no ads, no accounts, and it doesn't ask for personal information. The camera's live view is shown on screen and isn't designed to be recorded or uploaded. Draw your photo makes its outline on your device, without uploading the photo. Our Privacy Policy has the details.

There are no ads in the app: no banners, video ads or ad networks. The only thing the app offers is its own optional DoodlePlot Pro unlock, and it's designed not to interrupt a child mid-drawing.

The camera is used as a live window onto your paper so the picture can be laid over it, and the app isn't designed to record or send that view. If you choose to snap a photo of a finished drawing for the gallery, it's saved on your device.

Draw your photo makes the outline right on your device, so the photo isn't uploaded. Photo Caricature has been retired. The Privacy Policy explains more.

Mostly. Tracing, coloring, puzzles, the Mandala maker, the games and the bundled packs work offline. Downloading new packs needs a connection.

Drawings live on the device they were made on. Optional, parent-controlled cross-device sync is something we may add in the future.

Yes. Print any picture — blank to color by hand, or a finished creation — straight from the app: AirPrint on iPhone and iPad, and the system print service on Android. Make My Book even bundles several pictures into one printable coloring book.

Yes. Doodle mode lets you draw directly on the screen over a faint guide with a finger or Apple Pencil, and then watch your doodle redraw itself stroke by stroke.

The app is free to start, with an optional one-time purchase, DoodlePlot Pro, that unlocks the Pro packs and lessons. Purchases are handled by the App Store or Google Play, and your usual purchase confirmation (Face ID, Touch ID, a password, or Ask to Buy on a child's device) guards any spending.

Pro unlocks the Pro picture packs and Learn lessons. It's a one-time purchase of $9.99 in the US, with no subscription; your local price is shown in the App Store or Google Play before you confirm. Where Family Sharing is available, your family can share it. Some new packs may be offered later as separate add-ons.

Refunds go through Apple (reportaproblem.apple.com) or Google Play. To get Pro back on a new device, use Restore purchases in Settings. If you have an older Pro subscription, you can manage or cancel it in your Apple ID or Google Play settings.

Accessibility is a first-class part of the app. It works with VoiceOver and TalkBack — you can navigate everywhere, color a picture area-by-area, solve puzzles, and build mandalas. It supports Larger Text (Dynamic Type), honors Reduce Motion, and adapts to Differentiate Without Color by giving each crayon its own texture as well as its color. On iPhone and iPad there's also an optional “Say color names aloud” setting that speaks each color as your child picks it — a fun way for pre-readers to learn their colors.