Your First Painting | Painted Docs

1. Load an Image

Drag a PNG, JPG, WebP, GIF, or BMP file onto the panel. The canvas outline lights up and the caption changes to Drop to paint.

You can also click the empty canvas. If a still image is selected in the Project panel, or a layer that uses one is selected in the active comp, Painted uses it. Otherwise a file dialog opens.

The empty Painted panel with a landscape card and the words Drop an image.

2. Let the Paint Mix

A Mixing paint chip appears in the corner while Painted works out the strokes. Coarse brushes show up first and finer ones follow, usually within a second or two.

The preview then rests on the finished painting, so you judge the final look first. The playhead waits at the start.

Painted showing a finished portrait painting with the playhead at the start of the scrub bar.

3. Preview the Reveal

Click the play button next to the scrub bar, or click the painting itself, to play the reveal. Drag along the scrub bar to scrub it by hand. The preview loops with a short hold on the finished frame.

4. Adjust the Look

Click a brush chip to change how many brushes paint the picture, and drag the Detail knob up or down. Painted remixes the paint after each change. Not keen on the strokes? Click the dice button to reroll them with the same settings. See Brushes & Detail for what each control does.

5. Paint It

Click Paint. A Painting in After Effects overlay shows the stroke count while the button fills up with progress. When it finishes, a new comp named Painted · your image name opens in a Painted folder, parked on the finished frame.

Big paintings take a while to build. Click the button again while it builds to stop. Everything built so far stays in the comp. See Painting into After Effects for what the comp contains.