Things You'll Need

Instructions

1

Lay the picture you want to trace, illustration side up, on a flat surface. Make sure there are no bumps or dirt underneath the picture, because they will make an indent on the page and show up in your tracing. Make sure the ink in the picture you're tracing is dark enough to see through the tracing paper.
2

Place the tracing paper evenly over the paper you're tracing, making sure that it completely covers the picture. Be sure that the tracing paper is flat and even so that your picture won't be crooked on the page when you're done tracing.
3

Use a pencil to carefully begin tracing the picture. A pencil allows you to easily correct your mistakes. The pencil needs to be sharp so that you'll get thin, dark lines for your tracing. Begin slowly at the simplest point you can find to trace. Start simple and go on to designs that are more complex later. This is a method used in freehand art and drawing as well.
4

Make small, steady strokes when you're tracing. This helps in two ways: your hand will be more steady and you'll avoid tearing the tracing paper. It's thin and doesn't take much pressure to tear. When you let up several times per line, you can get a more precise trace. The lines will be straighter, more even, shaded more similarly and closer to the picture itself.
5

Finish tracing. Be careful not to smudge the paper. Some tracing paper smudges easily, and smudges are impossible to get off. If and when you erase to make corrections, do it lightly and slowly. If the eraser catches the paper and pulls, it may tear, so use extreme caution when erasing. Lift the tracing paper off your picture once you are done with your project.