How To Use The Program

AKVIS OilPaint is photo to painting software that creates oil paintings from photographs. It can work independently as a standalone program and as a plugin to a photo editor.

Follow the instructions below:

• Step 1. Open an image.

  - If you work with the standalone edition:

  The dialog box Select File to Open appears if you double-click on the empty workspace of the program or if you click on then on . Use the hot-keys: Ctrl+O on Windows, ⌘+O on Mac. You can also drag the required image into the workspace of the program.
  The standalone program supports JPEG, RAW, PNG, BMP, and TIFF file formats.

  - If you work with the plugin:

  Open an image in your photo editor by calling the command File -> Open.

  Call the plugin from the menu of the editor:

  In AliveColors: Effects -> AKVIS -> OilPaint;
  in Adobe Photoshop: Filter -> AKVIS -> OilPaint;
  in Corel Paint Shop Pro: Effects -> Plugins -> AKVIS -> OilPaint;
  in Corel Photo-Paint: Effects -> AKVIS -> OilPaint.

  
  AKVIS OilPaint Window

• Step 2. Before applying the effect, in the standalone version, you can use the Crop tool to trim a part of the picture. If you use the plugin, you can do this in your image editor.
  
  Crop Tool
• Step 3. Adjust the oil painting settings in the Painting tab.

  Using the Abstract Art tab you can change the shape and color of objects, giving them a unique and fantastic look.

  You can use one of the ready-to-use presets or set the parameters to your liking.

  The result of image processing will be immediately shown in the Preview Window which is visible in the Before tab if the button in the Toolbar is pressed.

  
  Preview Window
• Step 4. Press the button to convert the entire image into a painting with the selected settings. To interrupt the process, click on the Stop button right to the progress bar.

  If you have not adjusted the values, the program will process the image with the last used settings.

  
  Oil Painting Effect
• Step 5. For the advanced licenses (Home Deluxe/Business), it is possible to improve the result using the Stroke Direction tool . It changes the direction of the brush strokes created during the automatic conversion.

  Automatic Brush Strokes	Reoriented Brush Strokes

• Step 6. To make your oil painting even more impressive, you can use the Decoration options: adjust the canvas, apply a frame, and add text to your image.

  Hint: The order of the application of Canvas/Frame/Text depends on the position of the tabs. Drag the tabs to change the order.

  
  Oil Painting on Canvas with Signature
• Step 7. If you like the settings, you can save them as a preset and use them later. All the tabs in the Settings Panel have the common list of presets. When a new preset is created, it will be available in all tabs and will contain their settings.
• Step 8. You can also make final touches and correct the result using the Post-Processing Tools , , , on the After tab. These brushes are only available under the Home Deluxe/Business licenses.

  Attention! Use these tools at the final step. If you run the processing again, the changes made with the tools will be lost!

• Step 9. You can share your work of art by clicking on . It lets you publish the image from the program to the social networks: Twitter, Flickr, Tumblr, Google+.

  In the standalone version you can also print your oil painting with .

• Step 10. Save the processed image.

  - If you work with the standalone edition:

  Click on then on to open the Save As dialog box. You can use the hot-keys: Ctrl+S on Windows, ⌘+S on Mac. Enter a name for the file, choose the format (TIFF, BMP, JPEG or PNG) and indicate the target folder.

  - If you work with the plugin:

  Press the button to apply the result and close the plugin window. The AKVIS OilPaint plugin will close and the picture will appear in the workspace of the photo editor.

  Call the Save As dialog box using the command File -> Save As, enter a name for the file, choose the format and indicate the target folder.

  
  Result