Origami Art: learn paper folding one photo at a time

Origami Art is a step-by-step guide to paper folding. Instead of diagrams, every step of every model is a photo, so you can see exactly where the paper bends and which corner meets which edge. It works in your browser and as an app on iPhone, iPad, Mac and Android.

What's inside

The current catalog has 31 models, from classics like the crane, the heart and the boat to more ambitious pieces such as a dragon, a scorpion and an F-15 jet. Each card shows a thumbnail and the number of steps, so you can tell how involved a model is before you start. There are no timers, lives or scores: you fold at your own pace.

How a guide works

• Open a model and the step viewer fills the screen with the first photo.
• Swipe left or right, tap the arrows, or use the keyboard arrow keys on iPad and Mac to move between steps.
• A progress bar and a "Step X of Y" label show how far along you are, so you can put the device down, make the fold and pick up where you left off.
• On the last step, Done takes you back to the catalog.

Tap sounds can be muted with one tap, and the interface is available in eight languages.

Tips for clean folds

• Use square paper. Origami paper is easiest; ordinary printer paper works once you cut it into a square.
• Start with a model that has few steps (the count is on each card) and work up to the long ones.
• Line up edges and corners exactly before you press a crease, then run a fingernail along it. Sharp creases make every later step easier.
• If a step is confusing, go back one photo and compare the two: the difference between them is the fold.
• Folding with a child? Pick a short model, let them hold the paper, and turn the steps together.

Where to get it

See the Origami Art page for screenshots, or open it in your browser. The store buttons below always point to the stores where it is live right now. Web and store versions are updated at different times, so the catalog can differ slightly between platforms.