View
Stack up to three artworks under simulated tracing paper — real bleed-through, depth blur and paper stock, with live transform on every layer.
The three slots are FRONT, REVERSE and BENEATH. Front is your artwork on the top sheet. Reverse is the same artwork seen through the paper from the other side — it auto-fills, flipped, the moment you fill the front slot. Beneath is a separate sheet sitting under the first one.
Click a slot to select it; the selected layer gets a blue outline and its transform handles appear on canvas.
Paper weight is the control that does the most work. Low values give near-clear 40gsm tracing where everything beneath reads clearly; high values give milky 110gsm where the lower layers barely surface. It drives opacity falloff and light scatter across all three layers at once.
Sheet separation sets how far the bottom sheet sits below the top one, which drives its blur. It doesn’t affect the reverse layer, because that’s the same physical sheet.
Transform — drag any selected layer to move it, use the corner handles to scale, and the handle above the top edge to rotate. Numeric fields in the sidebar stay in sync. Misalign applies a small random rotation and offset to the lower layers, which is worth doing on almost every composition: real sheets are never perfectly square to each other, and a degree of drift is what stops it looking digitally stacked.
Paper — set the stock tone for warmth and the texture strength for fibre. Grain, sheet edge, corner curl and vignette are in Finish.
Canvas presets cover A4, A3, square and 4:5, since this kind of work is usually to a page size. Set the background to transparent if you’re compositing the result elsewhere.
Here the reverse layer links to the front automatically and flips itself. One drop gives you a full stack.
If you actually drew something different on the back of the sheet — which happens — unlink slot two and upload it separately. The link is a default, not a constraint.
Depth reduces opacity — each thickness of paper you look through takes light away.
Depth adds blur — paper scatters light, so anything behind it loses edge definition. The bottom sheet gets more than the reverse layer because there’s an air gap as well as the paper.
Depth removes saturation, disproportionately. This is the part most simulations miss. Ink seen through paper doesn’t just get fainter — it goes grey and vague. If you only reduce opacity you get something that reads as a ghost duplicate of the top layer rather than as ink showing through a sheet. The reverse layer here desaturates and softens harder than its opacity alone would suggest, because that’s what actually happens.
The per-slot unlock toggle exposes opacity, blur and desaturation individually if you want a look rather than the physics.
Vary the paper weight and tone and you have a set: bright white 40gsm, warm 90gsm, a heavier natural stock. Note the seed and you can regenerate any of them at a different size later.
Export with a transparent background if you want the texture and edge without the paper fill, so it can sit over existing artwork rather than replacing it.
The browser tool is faster and it’s included with a subscription. But if you want the file on your drive with every layer exposed — to build on, to hand to a client, or to work offline — the Tracing Paper Simulator PSD is a one-time purchase at 300 DPI, 2000 × 2500px, and it’s yours permanently.
Same effect, different workflow. Use the tool for speed and iteration; buy the PSD when you need the layers themselves.
Because light still scatters a little on its way through, anything behind the sheet loses edge definition before it loses brightness. That’s why a design under tracing paper looks soft and present rather than dim and sharp. Add distance between the sheets and the scattering compounds.
And because the sheet is thin, ink on its reverse shows through — flipped, grey, and softer than the same ink on the front. Architects and animators built entire working methods on that property: layout pads, onion skinning, light boxes. The reason it still reads as considered rather than merely retro is that it’s the visual signature of iteration — of one drawing being developed on top of another.
The generator is free to play with. Uploading your own image and exporting is part of a Studio Innate subscription — which also includes the Scene Editor, the 3D Editor, 250+ mockup templates and every other generator in the suite.
Get a feel for the core features
No credit card required
AI Scene & Video Studio
Cancel anytime / Secure payment
Get a feel for the core features
No credit card required
AI Scene & Video Studio
Cancel anytime / Secure payment
No. Drop artwork into the front slot and the reverse layer fills itself automatically, flipped, because it is the other side of the same sheet. One upload gives you a full three-layer stack. Unlink the reverse slot if you want different artwork on the back.
It sets how translucent the tracing paper is, and every layer's opacity and blur is derived from it. Low values give near-clear 40gsm where everything beneath reads clearly; high values give milky 110gsm where the lower layers barely surface. Changing it restyles the whole stack at once.
Because that is what ink seen through paper actually looks like. Light scattering removes saturation and edge definition faster than it removes brightness, so bleed-through goes soft and grey. Simply lowering opacity produces a ghost duplicate rather than something that reads as being behind the sheet.
Yes. Select a slot and its transform handles appear on canvas — drag to move, corner handles to scale, and the handle above the top edge to rotate. Numeric fields in the sidebar stay in sync. The Misalign button applies a small random rotation and offset to the lower layers, which is worth using because real sheets are never perfectly aligned.
Yes. Leave the artwork slots empty, set the paper stock and texture, and export. Choose a transparent background if you want the texture and sheet edge without the paper fill, so it can sit over your existing artwork rather than replacing it.
The browser tool is faster, included with a subscription, and links the reverse layer automatically. The PSD is a one-time purchase you keep permanently, with every layer exposed for you to build on or hand to a client. Use the tool for speed and iteration; buy the PSD when you need the layers themselves.
PNG, JPG and SVG. Transparent PNGs are handled correctly, which matters here because the paper shows through wherever your artwork does not cover it.
Yes. Every export on a paid plan carries a full commercial licence, with no watermarks and no per-use fees.
Get instant access to the Scene Editor and 3D Editor. No credit card required.
Scene Pro feature
Play with the sample image as much as you like. Scene Members can run the effect on their own artwork and export the finished file plus print-ready separations.
See membership plans Already a member? Log in
