A Free DIY More-Than-Just-Paint Visualizer

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Debating between two different paint colors? There’s an app for that! A paint visualizer is a great way to start out your color hunt without lifting a brush or trying out sample paint. That’s great and all when you are just painting, but what if you are looking for something slightly more complicated?

For instance, what if you want to put a stacked stone skirt on the exterior of a house?

Or how would Venetian plaster look on a dining room wall?

Or if you want to steal the look of your friend’s fabulous kitchen?

How do you try an idea out BEFORE you makeup your mind and regret it later?

Boom! Warning: these are most definitely not award winning and none of these pictures will ever make it into a magazine, but it gets the job done.

Visualizing stacked stone and paint.

Visualizing Venetian plaster. Even this hack job overlaying “Venetian plaster” looks better than the faux window…

Visualizing a backsplash. I could totally steal my friend’s backsplash if I didn’t have a stand alone range and an overhead microwave. Unfortunately it does not work with the style of my house, but it looks fantastic in her home.

How did I create these semi-decent/hackish representations of my house in under FIVE minutes?

Paint.*

Installed on every Windows** machine by default, Paint is an uber simple application where you can copy and paste pieces from any picture and/or website.

1. Open up the picture you want to mock-up in Paint.

2. Next grab a screen capture of the product page.

Here’s one of the contender paint colors.

Here is a picture of the stacked stone.

3. Liberally punch the ‘print screen’ button on your keyboard…

A powerful, yet seldom used button on your keyboard.

4. Bring up a second session of Paint and paste the screenshot.

5. Then copy and paste a snippet of the products or paint onto your home picture on the first Paint session.

Note I copied and pasted the stone image off the product page more than a few times to create the idea of a stacked stone skirt.

A couple more tips before starting off on this all inclusive visualizer

There’s nothing like looking at the real product in the store and bringing home paint swatches. Likewise, it is always best to touch and see the other finishing touches–stacked stone, wood, tile, venetian plaster, etc.–ensuring you like what you see. The real thing may look entirely different in person than on a computer monitor.

I drove my color wheel across town to MS International to verify my intended color choices against the real deal. The sample stacked stone showed hints of deep green, matching perfectly with Behr’s Spanish Galleon.

Personally, I like waving around the paint samples and comparing the color in different types of lighting. What does the color look like in the morning, at high noon, and in the evening? You aren’t going to get that with any kind of color visualizer.

The following photos are definitely more than just a sample color, but it illustrates the idea that your intended color will change throughout the day.

Once you get down to a few choices, it is easier to create a couple different scenarios using color visualizers. If you have more than a couple colors you might go mad trying to visualize so many different variations.

Are there other more-than-just-paint visualizers on the web?

Yes.

To be fair, I tried looking for online visualizer applications for stack stone and other wall finishes. Each one has a learning curve as well as its own set of limitations. For instance, one application did not handle a vertical picture. If I wanted to capture the entire front walkway I need a horizontal version of the photo.

Another application made it easy enough to box off a wall for stack stone, but it does not have MS International’s California Gold as an option. However, it nicely aligns the stone so it goes in the right direction. This tool is a great choice if you are using the brands it is selling.

Having played with Paint for previous posts here on this blog:

• There is not much of a learning curve. It is incredibly intuitive.
• The picture comes up whether it’s vertically or horizontally laid out.
• I’ve narrowed down my choices already and I can pull up pictures of the product off of the website.

Whether or not you use an online paint visualizer or Paint, the main point is to make your remodel easier. It gives you the confidence you made the right choice ahead of time.

The rudimentary version using Paint doesn’t look so different than a polished preview! By using Paint as your own DIY paint visualizer you are using the exact colors and products you want to try on your own home pictures.

Happy visualizing!

*I have to laugh at the name. Here I am going off on how to visualize more than just paint when the application name is simply “paint.” Deceptively undersold by it’s own name, it is so much more! It is a stacked stone visualizer. A tile visualizer. A venetian plaster visualizer. If you can imagine it and capture a photo, it is the visualizer for your next project!

**I live in the Windows side of the world. You can use Paintbrush on a Mac. Help me out here and please reply in the comments if this is outdated.