Getting Started with Genetic Painter

This tutorial walks you through using Genetic Painter for the first time, from uploading an image to fine-tuning settings for the best results. No technical knowledge is required — if you can upload a photo, you can create evolutionary art.

Step 1: Choose Your Image

Click the Choose Image button on the homepage and select a photo from your device. The image will appear on the left canvas labeled "Original." A few tips for choosing a good source image:

• High contrast works best. Images with clear differences between light and dark areas produce recognizable results faster. Portraits, landscapes with bright skies, and images with bold colors are ideal.
• Simple compositions emerge faster. A single subject against a plain background will become recognizable in fewer generations than a busy scene with many small details.
• Keep the resolution reasonable. Images under 1000 pixels wide work best. Larger images are automatically resized, but smaller files mean faster processing since fewer pixels need to be compared each iteration.

Step 2: Set Your Shape and Radius

Before starting, consider which shape type and size range to use.

Shape Type

Each shape produces a different artistic style:

• Circles — Smooth, organic look. Creates results similar to pointillist paintings. This is the classic mode and a great starting point.
• Triangles — Angular, crystalline appearance. Produces a faceted, low-poly aesthetic that works well with geometric subjects.
• Squares — Mosaic-like result. Resembles pixel art or tile mosaics, especially with smaller radii.
• Stars — Decorative, ornamental feel. Adds a playful, artistic quality that's visually distinctive.
• Mixed — Randomly alternates between all shapes. Creates the most varied and organic textures.

Radius Settings

The min radius and max radius sliders control the size range of each randomly generated shape. This is the most important setting for controlling the quality and speed of your painting:

• Large radius (50–200 px): Shapes cover large areas and fill in the overall color composition quickly. Use this at the beginning to establish the broad structure of the image.
• Medium radius (10–50 px): A good balance between speed and detail. This range captures major features like faces, text, and distinct objects.
• Small radius (1–10 px): Fine detail mode. Individual features become sharper and more defined, but each shape covers less area, so progress is slower.

Step 3: Start the Algorithm

Click Start to begin the evolutionary process. You'll immediately see the "Painting" canvas begin to change as shapes are drawn and evaluated. Two counters track the progress:

• #Selected — The number of shapes that improved the painting and were kept. This is the "generation count" — each accepted shape represents one successful step of evolution.
• Attempts — The total number of shapes tried, including rejected ones. The gap between Attempts and #Selected shows you how selective the algorithm has become.

You can click Stop at any time to pause the algorithm, adjust settings, and click Start again to resume.

Step 4: Refine with Progressive Detail

The most effective strategy is called progressive refinement — start with large shapes and gradually reduce the radius as the painting develops. Here's a recommended workflow:

1. Set max radius to 100–200 px. Run until you have about 500–1,000 selected shapes. The image will look like blurry blobs of the right colors.
2. Reduce max radius to 30–50 px. Run until about 5,000 selected shapes. Major features should now be visible.
3. Reduce max radius to 10–20 px. Run until about 20,000 selected shapes. Fine details start to emerge.
4. For maximum detail, set max radius to 3–5 px and let it run as long as you like. At this point, each improvement is tiny but the cumulative effect is impressive.

There's no "wrong" way to do it — experiment with different approaches and see what produces the style you like best.

Step 5: Save Your Artwork

To save your evolutionary painting:

• On desktop: Right-click the "Painting" canvas and select "Save image as" to download a PNG file.
• On mobile: Long-press the painting canvas and select "Save image" or "Download image."

Your progress is also automatically saved every 500 accepted generations. If you close the browser and return later with the same image, the algorithm will pick up where it left off.

Advanced Tips

• Watch the acceptance rate. If attempts are climbing much faster than selected shapes, the algorithm is struggling to find improvements. This usually means it's time to reduce the radius so it can paint finer details.
• Try the same image with different shapes. The same photograph can look dramatically different when painted with circles versus triangles. Create multiple versions and compare them.
• Embrace the in-progress look. Many users find that paintings at 1,000–5,000 shapes are the most aesthetically interesting — they have an impressionistic, dreamlike quality that's lost as the painting becomes more photo-realistic.
• Use it as a teaching tool. Genetic Painter is an excellent way to explain evolution, natural selection, and optimization to students. The visual feedback makes abstract concepts tangible and immediate.

Ready to Start?

Head to the homepage to upload an image and begin your first evolutionary painting. If you want to understand the algorithm in more depth, check out How It Works. For common questions, visit the FAQ.