Christmas projection mapping app: wrap your house, windows and presents in light

Christmas projection mapping app EasyMapper Studio turns the things around your house into a holiday display from the iPhone in your hand. In the clip beside this page, two plain cardboard boxes become wrapped presents: each face is mapped from a phone, then filled with the Christmas Baubles shader, with ornaments swinging between holly sprigs across the "paper". No laptop, no desktop software, and the same steps work on a window, a garage door or the whole front of the house.

1. Connect the projector. Plug your iPhone or iPad into any projector with a USB-C or Lightning to HDMI adapter, or use AirPlay. The connection guide covers every combination, and the new connection screen shows your projector's resolution and plays a live visual on the wall the moment you connect.
2. Map each surface. Add a layer for each window, door, wall or box face, then drag its corners onto the real edges until the light fits.
3. Play Christmas content. Pick a Christmas shader, then tap every surface you want it on. Or play your own videos and photos from the camera roll.

The latest update adds a set of Christmas shaders. They're live animations rather than video files, so they fit any shape, never show a seam where a loop restarts, and stay sharp on any projector:

• Christmas Trees. A scrolling red and green checkerboard of cream fir trees, cycling through festive colour sets.
• Christmas Baubles. Red, gold, blue and silver ornaments swinging between holly sprigs on midnight-blue paper dusted with snow. It's the one in the clip.
• Christmas Tartan Stars. A woven red, green and navy tartan with gold stars rocking at every crossing.
• Candy Snowflakes. Red and cream candy stripes with gold pinstripes, spinning snowflakes and a slow foil shimmer.

Each one has its own controls, such as scroll speed, zoom or how much the ornaments sway, and every visual's opacity, speed and colour can be adjusted. You can also stack several visuals on one surface and let them blend, for example snowflakes over tartan.

• Presents and boxes. Map each visible face of a box and the pattern wraps it like paper. The projection mapping box guide shows the setup.
• Windows. Project from inside onto a sheet or blind and the street sees a lit Christmas window.
• The house front. Windows, door and garage, each with its own content. See the Christmas projection mapping house guide.
• A mantel, a wall or a tree skirt area indoors. Any surface the projector can see.

For more surfaces to try, read Christmas projection mapping ideas.

• No laptop by the window or out in the cold. The whole show runs from the phone.
• You stand at the surface while you fit it, instead of walking back and forth to a computer.
• Scenes switch live. Duplicate a scene, swap the content, and move between them from the scene menu during the evening.
• One map, every holiday. Save the mapping in October for Halloween, then change only the content for Christmas.

EasyMapper Studio is free to download, and you can try visuals free straight from the connection screen, with no mapping needed. Premium ($7.99 a month or $39.99 a year, with a trial) unlocks unlimited layers and the full shader library. One month covers the Christmas season.

Get EasyMapper Studio, find a box, and wrap your first present in light tonight.