Simplify the value structure
Compare the full-color reference with grayscale, grouped-value, and value-map views. The goal is not to copy every detail. It is to see whether the large light, middle, and dark shapes still read clearly at a glance.
Image editor
Choose a ratio, refine the crop, and set the final canvas size. Your image stays on this device from first edit to export.
Crop workspace
Add an image to beginFree painting reference tool
PaintValues is a private, browser-based painting reference image editor. It helps painters reduce a busy photograph into a practical plan for composition, value, color, and canvas proportion before committing paint to a surface.
Compare the full-color reference with grayscale, grouped-value, and value-map views. The goal is not to copy every detail. It is to see whether the large light, middle, and dark shapes still read clearly at a glance.
Crop to common ratios or enter the measurements of your real canvas. Add grids, diagonals, and perspective guides to check placement, balance, and directional flow before transferring the drawing.
Sample important colors, isolate related passages, and compare the image with limited artist-paint palettes. Use the result as a starting point for mixing—not as a substitute for observation.
A simple workflow