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Turn photo into
watercolour

Soft diffuse edges, paper grain texture, and authentic colour bleed. The most delicate of the artistic effects — beautiful on landscapes and portraits alike.

Paper texture Colour bleed Soft edges

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How the watercolour effect works

The watercolour effect combines OpenCV's stylization filter with bilateral smoothing, subtle paper grain noise, and edge darkening to simulate the look of pigment bleeding into wet paper. The result has the characteristic soft edges and slightly desaturated, luminous quality of real watercolour paintings.

Landscapes with sky, water, and foliage tend to look particularly beautiful. The "Diffuse" setting produces very soft, impressionistic results. "Crisp" keeps more detail from the original photo while still giving it a painted quality.

FAQ

What's the difference between watercolour and oil painting?
Watercolour produces soft, diffuse edges with slight desaturation and a paper grain texture — it looks luminous and delicate. Oil painting produces richer, more saturated colours with visible brushstroke texture and thicker, more opaque colour areas. Watercolour suits portraits and landscapes; oil painting is great for bold, dramatic subjects.
Can I print the watercolour result?
Yes — the output is a high-quality JPEG at 93% quality. For print, a 1200px output works well up to about A5 size at 300dpi. For larger prints, start with the highest resolution photo you have and the output will scale accordingly.