Image editor

The image editor lets you paint and retouch pictures directly on the board:

• Edit pixels: paint, erase, blur, liquify, fill areas, or project board elements into the picture.
• Select areas: pick part of the picture to copy and paste it, or to move and transform it. A selection also limits painting and pixel edits to the selected area.
• Work with layers: stack layers, and give each one its own opacity, mask, and filters.

Opening the editor

Opens the editor on the selected picture or shape.

• Operation: in Creation mode, choose Open image editor in the Actions panel.
• Needs: one selected element. It can be:
  • A picture: any image except an SVG. The editor paints on the picture itself.
  • A vector shape: a geometry shape, path, freehand shape, or polyline. The editor paints inside it, on its fill.
• Result: the editor's modes and commands take over the Actions panel, and its controls appear in the Attributes panel.
  • When a vector shape is filled with a color, a gradient, or a pattern, that fill is first turned into a picture so you can paint on it. Its resolution follows Settings.
• Tip: an SVG is made of vector shapes, not pixels. To paint on it, first turn it into a pixel image with Edit asset. See Turning an SVG into a pixel image.
• Tip: for an image linked from a website, use Save a copy first, so the board keeps its own copy of the picture.

Leaving the editor

Saves your changes and returns to the board.

• Operation: choose Exit image editor in the Actions panel.
• Result: the picture is saved as a PNG, keeping its transparent areas. Its size and crop on the board stay the same, and the layers stay editable for next time.
  • Anything you were still moving or resizing is set in place first.
• Tip: if saving fails, the editor stays open with an error so you can try again.

Modes

A mode decides what drawing on the image does.

• Use color mode: paints on the layer or mask you are editing.
• Use erase mode: erases parts of the layer.
• Use blur mode: blurs the parts you paint over.
• Use liquify mode: pushes the parts you paint over, like smudging wet paint.
• Use selection mode: selects the area you draw around.
• Use paint-selection mode: paints the selection with the brush.
• Use semantic selection: finds an object from markers you place.
• Use projection mode: uses selected board elements to paint, erase, or select in the image.

Painting

Painting changes the pixels of the layer you are editing or, with a mask active, what that mask shows and hides.

• Operation:
  1. Choose a painting mode: Use color mode, Use erase mode, Use blur mode, or Use liquify mode.
  2. Set the brush in the Attributes panel.
  3. Draw over the image.
• Needs: a layer, not a mask, when erasing.
• Result: your strokes change the layer or mask. When there is a selection, they only change what's inside it.

Brush settings

The controls you see depend on the mode, the stroke shape, and the stroke style.

• Size: how big the brush is. A preview shows it while you adjust.
• Color: the paint color.
• Color opacity: how see-through the paint is.
• Constant opacity: a stroke that crosses itself doesn't get darker. Separate strokes still build up.
• Erase opacity: how much a stroke erases.
• Mask opacity: on a mask, how much a stroke shows the layer, from 0 (hidden) to 1 (fully shown). When painting a selection, values near 1 select and values near 0 remove from the selection.
• Blur: softens the edges of a stroke or of a selection.
• Lazy radius: the brush follows the pointer at a distance, which smooths out shaky lines. A bigger value smooths more.
• Use pressure: lines respond to how hard you press with a pen.
• All visible layers: makes fill, blur, AI selection, and copying selected pixels look at all visible layers together, not only the one you are editing. Painting still changes only that layer or mask, and copying or blurring a mask uses only that mask.

Stroke shape

The stroke shape decides what a drag draws.

• Freehand: follows the pointer. Pause before releasing to turn the stroke into a clean shape, such as a circle or a rectangle, which you can still adjust.
• Line: a straight line from where you press to where you release.
• Rectangle: a rectangle from where you press to where you release.
• Set corner radius: rounds the rectangle's corners.
• Ellipse: an ellipse from where you press to where you release.
• Fill area: paints, erases, or selects an area of similar color. See Filling an area.

Stroke style

The stroke style decides how a line looks: made of stamps, freehand, solid, or pixel art.

Stamp stroke

Freehand stroke

Solid stroke

Pixel stroke

Textures

A texture is the picture each stamp of a Stamp stroke paints.

• Operation: choose a texture source:
  • Open texture library: a built-in texture.
  • Alpha: an image from your device.
  • Paste from clipboard: an image you copied.
• Result: stamps paint the texture's colors. With Alpha mask, they paint the brush color instead: light opaque areas paint more, and dark or transparent areas paint less. Invert reverses that stencil, or, with Alpha mask off, reverses the texture's brightness.
• Tip: textures you add are kept in this browser, not with the board. Clearing the browser's data removes them.

Filling an area

A fill changes the connected area of similar color around the point where you start.

• Operation:
  1. Choose a fill mode:
     • Use color mode: paints the area.
     • Use erase mode: erases the area.
     • Use paint-selection mode: selects the area.
  2. Choose Fill area. Start inside the area and drag to make the color match looser or stricter while you preview it, then release.
• Result: the area is painted, erased, or selected. An existing selection limits painting and erasing; selecting can go beyond it.

Blurring and liquifying

Blur and liquify soften pixels or push them around with freehand strokes, using Size and Use pressure.

• Operation: use Painting with Use blur mode or Use liquify mode.
• Result: the stroke changes pixels according to these controls:
  • Blur strength: how much the stroke softens. All visible layers blurs using all visible layers together.
  • Liquify strength: how far the stroke pushes pixels. Pen pressure changes it when Use pressure is on.
  • Liquify hardness: how sharply the effect fades from the brush center to its edge.

Layers

Layers keep parts of the picture separate, so you can paint, fade, or filter one without touching the others. The list shows the top layer first. Select a layer's thumbnail to edit it, and drag the handle to change the order.

Layer commands

These commands add, copy, merge, or move whole layers.

• Operation: choose a command in the Actions panel.
• Needs: merging needs the layer you are editing to be visible, with another layer below it. Transforming needs no selection.
• Result:
  • Add layer: adds an empty layer above the one you are editing.
  • Duplicate layer: adds a copy above the layer you are editing.
  • Merge layer down: joins the layer you are editing with the one below, so the result looks the same.
  • Transform layer: lets you move, resize, or rotate the whole layer, or its mask when the mask is active. See Using a selection.
• Tip: to delete a layer, use Remove layer on its row in the list. At least one image layer must remain.

Layer controls

• Set layer name: the layer's name in the list.
• Set layer opacity: how see-through the layer is.
• Show or hide layer: shows or hides the layer in the picture.
• Lock or unlock layer: a locked layer can't be painted on. Its name, opacity, visibility, and filters can still be changed.
• Layer settings: opens the layer's mask and filters.

Layer masks

A layer mask hides pixels without deleting them.

• Operation:
  1. Choose Add layer mask in the Actions panel, or select an existing mask's thumbnail in Layer settings.
  2. Paint with Use color mode and Mask opacity.
• Needs: to add a mask, a layer that doesn't have one yet.
• Result: you are now editing the mask. Painting with Mask opacity near 1 shows the layer and near 0 hides it. Select the layer's image thumbnail to go back to its pixels.
• Show or hide layer mask: turns the mask off without deleting it.
• Lock or unlock layer mask: a locked mask can't be painted on.
• Remove layer mask: deletes the mask without changing the layer's pixels.

Layer filters

Layer filters change how a layer looks, one after another, without changing its pixels until you apply them.

• Operation:
  1. If the layer has no filter list yet, choose Add layer filter in the Actions panel.
  2. Choose an effect with Add filter in Filters, then adjust it with the controls below.
• Result: the effect is added to the layer's filter list. Drag its handle to change the order.
• Apply this filter and the enabled filters above it: writes those filters into the layer's pixels and removes them from the list.
• Apply enabled filters to the layer pixels: does the same with every enabled filter and keeps the disabled ones. Applying filters also writes the layer opacity into the pixels and resets it to 1.
• Enable this filter / Disable this filter: turns one filter on or off.
• Activate all filters / Deactivate all filters: turns all filters off and back on, remembering which ones were off.
• Show filter list / Hide filter list: shows or hides the filter list. Each filter keeps its own settings shown or hidden.
• Show this filter's settings / Hide this filter's settings: shows or hides the settings of one filter.
• Remove this filter / Remove all filters: removes one filter, or all of them.

Global settings

Global Settings adds a mask and filters that apply to the whole image, all layers together.

• Operation: choose Add global mask or Add global filter in the Actions panel.
• Result: a mask you can paint, or a filter list where Add filter adds effects. Only layer filters can be applied to the layer's pixels.

Selecting

A selection is an area of the picture you pick to copy, paste, move, or transform. It also limits painting and pixel edits to the selected area; layer opacity, masks, and filters still affect the whole layer. Set selection mask opacity sets how strong the tint marking the selection is.

Drawing a selection

Selects the area inside a shape you draw.

• Operation:
  1. Choose Use selection mode.
  2. Choose the selection's shape:
     • Rectangular selection: a rectangle.
     • Circular selection: an ellipse.
     • Lasso selection: any shape you draw by hand.
  3. Choose how it combines with the current selection:
     • Single selection: replaces it.
     • Add to selection: adds to it.
     • Subtract from selection: takes the new area out of it.
  4. Drag over the image.
• Result: the selection changes as chosen. Selecting without dragging clears the selection.
• Tip: hold Shift during the drag to add, or Alt to take out. The combination buttons show which one is in use.

Painting a selection

Selects the areas you paint over.

• Operation: paint in Use paint-selection mode with the brush settings and Mask opacity.
• Result: strokes add to or remove from the selection.

Refining a selection

Refining changes the size or the edge of the current selection.

• Operation: in selection mode, paint-selection mode, or AI selection, choose a control:
  • Grow or shrink selection: makes the selection bigger or smaller by a number of pixels.
  • Blur: softens the selection's edge.
  • Invert selection: selects everything that wasn't selected, from the Actions panel.
  • Clear selection: removes the selection, from the same panel.
• Result: the selection changes without changing image pixels.

Using a selection

These commands change, move, or copy the selected part of the image.

• Operation:
  1. Choose a command in the Actions panel:
     • Transform selection: lets you move, resize, or rotate the selected pixels with handles.
     • Erase selection: erases the selected pixels of a layer, or shows the selected area again on a mask. Erase the selection being transformed throws away the pixels you are moving.
     • Copy selection / Cut selection: copies selected pixels to the clipboard. Cutting also erases them from the layer or mask you are editing.
     • Paste selection: places a copied image at the mouse or pen pointer when it's over the image, otherwise, including on touch screens, in the center of the visible part of the image. Paste selection at the screen center always uses that center.
  2. For moved or pasted pixels, adjust the handles, then select a spot inside the image but outside them to set the pixels in place. Selecting outside the image saves and closes the editor.
• Needs: a selection, for erasing, transforming, copying, or cutting. Exchanging images with other apps needs clipboard access; a selection copied in the editor can be pasted without it.
• Result: with All visible layers, copying, cutting, and transforming use all visible layers together. Erasing still changes only the layer or mask you are editing.
• Tip: hold Shift while resizing to keep the proportions, or Shift and Alt to resize evenly around the center.

Semantic selection

Semantic selection finds an object's outline from markers you place on it, using an AI model that runs in your browser.

• Operation:
  1. Choose Use semantic selection.
  2. Choose a Model; each one shows its download size. The first time, use Download model; a downloaded model stays available for later.
  3. Choose Add to selection to mark parts of the object, or Subtract from selection to mark parts that aren't, then place the markers on the image.
• Needs: a browser able to run the model. You must be editing a layer, not a mask.
• Result: placing or moving markers updates the selection. All visible layers makes the model look at all visible layers together. Refine the result with Blur and Grow or shrink selection.
• Invert selected semantic markers: turns include markers into exclude markers and back, in the Actions panel. Remove selected semantic markers removes them and updates the selection.
• Select new area: starts on another object. It clears the markers and keeps what is already selected.

Projecting board shapes

Projection lets you draw with board elements: elements lying over the image are painted into it, erase it, or become a selection.

• Operation:
  1. Choose Use projection mode and select elements individually or with a selection box. Selecting an included element again removes it.
  2. Choose a projection type below.
  3. Choose Project shapes on the canvas in the Actions panel.
     • With Remove source on, the board elements you used are deleted afterwards.
• Needs: elements lying over the image.
• Result: color and erase projections stay inside the selection. Selection projection adds to the selection: white selects and black is ignored.
• Color projection: paints the layer or, with a mask active, paints the mask in shades of gray.
• Erase projection: light areas erase more, dark areas less. It works on a layer, not on a mask.
• Selection projection: adds to the selection: white selects and black is ignored.

Settings

See Settings for how sharp pictures are when they first open in the editor, and for Image editor history size, the most undo steps the editor keeps. Its lowest setting is 3, and devices with little memory can keep fewer.

Limits

• Files: the edited picture is saved as a PNG, which can make the file bigger, and an animated image becomes still. To make the file smaller or download it, use Edit asset (see Media optimization). A downloaded picture is flat: its layers are merged.
• Resolution: the first time an image opens in the editor, it can be scaled down, and a vector fill is turned into pixels, following Settings. After that, its size stays. To enlarge pictures, see Media optimization.
• Layer storage: each saved layer image is its own file with the board. With several, Image layers size in Fill shows their total size, masks excluded.
• Editing history: while the editor is open, undo steps back through your edits. After you leave, one board undo reverts the whole session. On devices with little memory, fewer steps are kept.