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How to use Block-In

Block-In reduces a photo to the information you need at the start of a painting: the biggest light and dark masses, broad colour families, or simple shapes. It is a planning aid, not a finished version of the image. The AI styles are especially useful when you can see a promising scene but are not yet sure how to organise it on the canvas.

Add the image you want to simplify

Open Block-In and tap Attach. You can take a new photo or choose one from your library. If you framed the image in Viewfinder, choose Block-In this photo there and it will arrive already attached.

Start with the exact crop you intend to paint. A block-in is most useful when every later decision refers back to the same frame.

Reframe once in Viewfinder, then carry the exact crop into a Gesture Block-In without attaching it again.

Pick the kind of simplification you need

Choose a style based on the question you are trying to answer.

Notan makes a greyscale value study. Use it to see the large light and dark pattern before colour distracts you.
Posterise groups the image into flat colour blocks. Use it to identify the main colour families and avoid over-mixing early on.
Geometric uses AI to create a clean block-in from the scene. Use it when you want to concentrate on composition—placement, scale and the large shapes—without all the visual noise of the original photo.
Gesture uses AI to make a loose gesture sketch. Use it to explore what the scene could become before you commit to one arrangement or begin a more finished drawing.

Notan and Posterise run on your device and are free to use. Geometric and Gesture are AI styles that use a credit. Your first credit is on us, so sign up and give either one a try.

Generate, then adjust only what helps

Tap Generate. For Notan, choose two, three or four values; fewer values make the main design easier to see. For Posterise, choose two, three or four colours. The Noise control smooths small, distracting detail—raise it when you want cleaner masses, and lower it when an important small shape disappears.

The same city scene at different value counts and noise settings. Fewer shapes make the large design easier to read.

Use the AI result to make a composition decision

With Geometric, look first at the big design: where the subject sits, which shapes carry the image, and how the empty space is divided. It is meant to clear the way for those questions, not to decide them for you. If the result makes the composition easier to read, use it as the basis for your own block-in.

With Gesture, look for a direction you want to develop—a dominant sweep, a useful rhythm, or a stronger relationship between the main masses. Regenerate if you want another starting point. Treat each sketch as a possibility to respond to, rather than a prescription for the final painting.

Do not chase a setting that reproduces every feature. The best block-in usually leaves out information. Ask whether you can still identify the largest shadow, light and silhouette—or, with an AI style, whether the composition is now easier to understand. If so, it is doing its job.

The clip above shows this trade-off directly: extra values recover structure, while a higher Noise setting removes small interruptions from the large masses.

Take the study into paint

Save or share the result when it gives you a clear starting plan. You can also regenerate with the same photo, or select a new photo without losing time trying to repair an unhelpful result. From the result screen, Continue to Overlay carries the block-in into Overlay as Your artwork. Attach the original reference separately before you compare; if it came from Viewfinder, save that framed image to your library first.