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Open Stencil Studio from the pencil-and-outline control or choose Layers → Add → Tracing Stencil.

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Built-in guides

Pixio Canvas includes 28 skill-building guides across animals, nature, people, objects, vehicles, and imagination. Search by subject or skill, filter by category, and use the difficulty indicators to move from simple contours to more advanced forms.
The Pixio Canvas catalog of built-in tracing guides
1

Choose a guide

Open Guides, search or filter the catalog, then tap a stencil.
2

Place it on the canvas

Move, resize, and rotate the guide until it fits your composition.
3

Lower the guide opacity

Make the linework faint enough to trace comfortably.
4

Trace on a drawing layer

Keep the guide locked beneath your drawing layer so your marks remain independently editable.
5

Hide or delete the guide

When the tracing is complete, turn off the guide’s visibility or remove only that layer.

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Photo-to-Stencil on this iPad

Use Custom → Upload Photo to convert a selected image into clean black-and-white tracing lines. This conversion runs on-device and does not use Pixio AI or credits.
A custom photo stencil saved and placed in Pixio Canvas
For the clearest result, choose a well-lit image with a distinct subject, simple background, and visible edges. Select Basic for essential outlines or Advanced for more detail. Name the finished result and save it in Custom Stencils for reuse.

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Generate Stencil with Pixio

Open Generate, describe what you want to trace, choose Basic or Advanced, then tap Generate Stencil.
Generate Stencil in Pixio Canvas with a fish prompt
Pixio Canvas adds strict stencil instructions to your description so the model produces strong black contours on a white background. Auto prefers Nano-Banana 2 when it is available in the live model catalog and falls back to another compatible image model when needed. Generated stencils require:
  • Whisper or Duet rather than Quiet
  • AI-processing permission
  • Your Pixio API key
  • Internet access and available Pixio credits
Preview the result before placing it. Name the result, then choose Save Only to keep it in Custom Stencils or Save & Place to save and add it to the canvas.
Photo-to-Stencil is local. Generate Stencil is an AI request: your description is sent through Pixio to the provider serving the selected model after you grant permission.