Common questions and issues

Key point #1

PaintAssist just takes an image as input and produces images as output. So any questions about how the outline looks when printed, or about what to do with the outline, or about your business idea, is beyond the scope of PaintAssist.

Key point #2

There are no hidden options or alternative versions of PaintAssist (that I have made).

Key point #3

PaintAssist runs on your computer, not on a server. It works fine on typical browsers on PCs/laptops. If it isn't working on your device, that is beyond my control.

I can almost guarantee one of those points addresses your issue, but here are some more detailed answers.

PaintAssist isn't running at all.

If you try selecting a palette and clicking "PBN" and it doesn't start computing, then there could be a compatibility issue with your device or browser. Try running it from a different computer.

It's stuck on "identifying color regions..."

Usually it finishes within a minute, but it could take longer depending on the computer speed, having a lot of colors chosen for the palette, or having a very tall image. Hopefully changing one or more of those will get it to finish.

Is there an installable version / Can I run PaintAssist offline?

I do not have an installable version since it's written in web languages and would require substantial rewriting.

How do I get better resolution in the outline?

You can use the slider to set the width before loading an image, and a higher number results in a more detailed outline.

How do I use a custom palette instead of choosing colors from the image?

There are two ways of doing this. You could use another program to recolor the image to include the colors you want, and then load that version into PaintAssist. Or, you can run PaintAssist with the original image, and then just replace the output palette with one containing substituted colors of your choosing.

What does all this color info mean and how do I use it to buy paints?

Those are different ways of specifying a color as used with computers and printers. The hex code (e.g. #386e97) and RGB give red/green/blue components, HSL gives hue/saturation/lightness, HSV/HSB gives hue/saturation/value(brightness), and CMYK gives cyan/magenta/yellow/black, which is used for printers. I included all of them in case they are helpful in obtaining paints for the palette colors, but I'm not sure which ones are actually used for that, if any. When I've done PBNs I've only mixed basic paints to approximate the colors.

How do I print the outline onto canvas?

I haven't tried printing onto anything except regular paper. But one way to get the outline onto canvas is to print it onto regular paper, place that on the canvas with graphite or carbon paper in between, and trace along the outlines and numbers.

Can I get the outline as vector graphics?

PaintAssist cannot provide a vector graphic because its algorithms are based on a pixel grid and directly create a raster image.

I don't know how to save the results.

This step can vary because different devices and browsers handle it differently. After clicking any of the "save" buttons, you should be able to right-click on the image and save it to file. If that doesn't work, try the "print to PDF" option when printing the page, which saves it as a PDF file. As a last resort you can screenshot and crop. You can do that from the main page if the tab that opens is blank.