Line Art effect

Draws the picture as a continuous line, with tone carried by its width, waver, spacing or dashes.

Made with the Trace filterWorks in

Line art effect on a portrait of a woman in headphones holding a CD, made with the Trace filter in Filter Archive (Broken Contours preset)

BeforeAfter

Trace redraws your photo as lines that ring and follow the subject, with the tone carried by how thick the line gets, how much it wavers, how tightly it packs or how it breaks into dashes. Presets include Broken Contours, Aura Rings, Ripple and Sonar.

4presets
30settings
3apps

Same effect, different presets.

8 photos, each with its own preset. Try it on yours

Line art effect on a portrait of a woman in white sunglasses with a lollipop, made with the Trace filter in Filter Archive (Aura Rings preset) — Aura Rings

Line art effect on a portrait of a woman in sunglasses against a blue sky, made with the Trace filter in Filter Archive (Ripple preset) — Ripple

Line art effect on a portrait of a man with spiky red hair on a blue background, made with the Trace filter in Filter Archive (Sonar preset) — Sonar

Line art effect on a portrait of a man in sunglasses on a red background, made with the Trace filter in Filter Archive (Broken Contours preset) — Broken Contours

Line art effect on a portrait of a man with silver hair and red sunglasses, made with the Trace filter in Filter Archive (Ripple preset) — Ripple

Line art effect on a portrait of a woman with a nose strip on a white background, made with the Trace filter in Filter Archive (Aura Rings preset) — Aura Rings

Line art effect on a portrait of a woman with red hair in chrome sunglasses, made with the Trace filter in Filter Archive (Sonar preset) — Sonar

Use the line art effect in Photoshop, Affinity or Figma.

One licence covers all three: $9.99 a month or $59.99 once. See pricing

Photoshop

Open Filter Archive from the Plugins menu, pick Trace and press Apply. The result lands on a new layer above your original.

Mac & Windows · Photoshop 2024+

Affinity

Choose Filters, Plugins, Filter Archive on a pixel layer, pick Trace and apply it to that layer.

Mac & Windows · Affinity 3

Figma

Select an image, frame or shape, run Filter Archive and apply Trace as a new layer or in place.

Figma Community

Settings worth touching.

Subject EdgePath: Where the subject ends and the background begins. The rings wrap whatever falls inside.
SmoothTone: How broadly the line reads the picture. More smoothing gives calmer, rounder lines.
WaverWaver: How far the line strays from its course, like a hand-drawn line.

Plus 27 more in the panel, all editable after you pick a preset.

Line Art Effect questions.

What is a line art effect?

A line art effect turns a photo into a drawing made only of lines. Instead of shading, the thickness, spacing or wobble of the lines shows light and dark.

How do I make a line art effect in Photoshop?

Open Filter Archive from the Plugins menu and choose Trace. Start from a preset such as Broken Contours or Aura Rings, adjust the settings while the preview updates, then press Apply. The result goes on a new layer and your original stays untouched.

Can I use it in Affinity or Figma?

Yes. The same Trace filter runs in Affinity 3 on Mac and Windows, from Filters, then Plugins, then Filter Archive on a pixel layer, and in Figma on an image, frame or shape. One licence covers Photoshop, Affinity and Figma.

Which presets come with Trace?

4 presets: Broken Contours, Aura Rings, Ripple and Sonar. Every setting stays editable after you pick one, and you can save a stack of filters to use again.