The Shaper Trace lets you quickly turn hand-drawn lines into vectors. It’s a physical frame that you place around your sketch; you then use your phone to photograph the frame and your sketch, and the SVG file is captured in Shaper’s app, where you can smooth and tweak it. You can then send it to your digital fabrication machine of choice, whether it’s Shaper’s own Origin router, a lasercutter, a CNC mill, et cetera.
Because the physical frame carries reference markings, you can shoot the sketch from any angle—no need to line your camera up dead overhead—and the software compensates. Additionally, it preserves the exact scale of your drawing. (This is handy if, for example, you’re tracing a tool that you want to make a cutout for.) The applications are numerous:
Here’s how it looks in action:
Shaper Kickstarted the Trace last year, and found strong demand: $1.1 million in pledges from 13,000-plus backers.
The Trace retails for $100 and, pleasingly, the app is included (there are no subscription fees).
