Free printable tracing worksheets as PDF

Things to Trace

Choose easy, cute or cool drawings and print them as dotted pictures to trace, up to four on a page.

Things to trace are simple pictures printed as dotted outlines that you follow with a pencil. This free tool makes them in your web browser, with no sign-up needed. Choose a picture such as a star, an ice cream or a car, and your page is ready to print or download as a PDF.

The pictures are friendly, rounded cartoon outlines drawn for this site, so they work as easy things to trace and cute things to trace for young children, or as a quick activity when bored. Older kids looking for cool things to trace can switch to the more detailed drawings with every detail line. You can print one big picture per page, up to four per sheet, or a whole category as a pack, one picture per page.

Nothing you make is uploaded or sent to a server.

Things to trace example

How to make a page of things to trace

  1. Set the Paper size to US Letter or A4, and choose Portrait or Landscape.
  2. In the Pictures box, pick a Category such as Easy pictures, then click a thumbnail to choose it. Tick Select several pictures to click more than one, or press Random picture to let the tool choose.
  3. Pick a layout: One big picture per page, Two pictures per page, Four pictures per page, Trace it, then draw it yourself, or Draw the other half (symmetry) for symmetric pictures.
  4. Choose a Tracing style: Dots, Dashes, Light grey line or Solid black.
  5. Choose a Detail level: Simple for ages 3 to 5, or Full for older children.
  6. Optionally, add a Word under the picture, turn on Thick lines, or tick Small model picture in the corner.
  7. To make a set, tick Whole pack and, if you like, Shuffle the pack order.
  8. Edit the title if you like (with one picture it reads “Trace the” plus the picture’s name), and switch off the Name and date line if you don’t need it.
  9. Check the preview, which updates as you change settings, then press Print or Download PDF.

Copy link copies a link with your settings you can reopen later. Print opens your browser’s print dialog with only the worksheet pages. Download PDF builds a vector file that prints at true size.

What are easy things to trace?

Easy things to trace (and the best first drawings for tracing) are simple shapes with big, round outlines and only a few parts, such as a sun, a star, an ice cream, an apple, a balloon or a car. Each line is long and smooth, so you can practise steady control without the paper becoming crowded. The Easy pictures category holds about 75 of these, and Simple detail leaves out tiny lines so the outline stays clear.

Start with the biggest shapes and work toward the smaller ones. A balloon, for example, is one large curve, while a car adds wheels and windows afterwards. Taking it in stages keeps each line short enough to follow well. When an easy drawing to trace goes well twice, try “Trace it, then draw it yourself”: draw and trace practice on one sheet, where the child copies the same picture in an empty box. That step from easy drawing tracing to drawing alone is the point of tracing pictures.

The page opens with four easy drawings to trace on one sheet: an ice cream, a car, a star and a fish. Every traceable drawing comes from the same set of about 190 pictures, so a page of tracing art for a toddler and a cool drawing to trace for a ten-year-old are made the same way.

How do you trace a drawing neatly?

To trace a drawing neatly, use a sharp pencil, hold the paper still with your other hand, and trace the big outlines before the small details. A sharp point keeps the line thin, so the copy looks as clean as the original. Holding the paper still stops it from sliding and leaving marks where you did not mean to draw.

Go slowly on curves and turn the paper rather than twisting your wrist. Wrists are good at short, straight strokes but not at long arcs, so turning the sheet lets you draw each curve with the easiest movement. If you are following dots, aim for the middle of each dot and keep your pace even. Quick, jerky lines are the most common reason tracings look messy.

Finally, lift the pencil between sections rather than dragging it through the gaps. This keeps the joins sharp, especially where two shapes meet, such as a flower’s petals and its center.

The pictures are our own drawings, so you can use the sheets at home, in class or in products you sell, such as Etsy printables or KDP activity books.

Frequently asked questions

What are cool things to trace for older kids?

The Cool (more detail) category has 24 detailed drawings for older kids and teens, including a rose, a sunflower, a lion, a T. rex, a dragon, a unicorn and a helicopter. Choose Full (every detail) for these, so the extra detail lines appear, and use One big picture per page so the fine lines have room.

Can I trace my own photo?

This tool only uses its own built-in drawings. For your own picture or a photo, use the Image tracer page, which turns any picture into a dotted outline you can then print.

Is it free?

Yes. The tool is free, needs no sign-up, and runs in your browser. Nothing you make is uploaded or sent to a server.

Can I print several pictures on one page?

Yes. Choose Two pictures per page or Four pictures per page as your layout, then tick Select several pictures and click the thumbnails you want. The preview shows exactly how they will sit on the sheet.

Can I sell the things-to-trace sheets on Etsy or in a KDP book?

Yes. The pictures are our own drawings, and the sheets you make are royalty-free for personal, classroom and commercial use, including Etsy printables, Teachers Pay Teachers, KDP books and print-on-demand. No credit is required, and the only thing you may not do is copy the generator itself to run a competing service.

Can I practise drawing after tracing?

Yes. Choose the layout Trace it, then draw it yourself, which places the dotted picture beside an empty dashed box labelled “Now draw it yourself”. For symmetric pictures, Draw the other half (symmetry) gives you a dotted left half and a blank grid for the right half.