The digital paintbrush: discover the creative world of paintography

The 18/10/2023

Paintography is a hybrid artistic technique combining photography and digital painting. It transforms your photos into works of art using a virtual digital brush. If you're looking for a new way to create unique images, paintography will surprise you.

What is Paintography?

This practice consists of adding digital brushstrokes to a digital photo (or digitised silver photos) to give it a hand-painted look. Paintography allows you to create unique images by adding textural effects, detail and colour using digital paint. The final result is always astonishing!

What equipment do you need for paintography?

As with 'traditional' photography, you'll need a quality camera. A digital SLR or hybrid camera promises perfect image quality. It's also possible to digitise your prints to work on old family photos or archive photos.

You'll need photo editing software (Adobe Photoshop, GIMP, etc.) to adjust and modify your images. Most tools offer multiple effects with adjustable finesse, colours and textures.

If you have a digital tablet equipped with a pen, you'll be able to paint more precisely on your photos.

Our tips for photos suitable for paintography

Portraits, landscapes and still lifes all lend themselves to paintography. Choose photos with clear subjects and details that you can enhance with your digital brushstrokes, unless you invent them using your digital tools. Avoid images that are too busy, preferring a clear shot.

Import your photo into your retouching software and prepare it by adjusting brightness, saturation and sharpness. Remember to increase contrast and adjust colours. All that's left to do is unleash your creativity with your digital brush! If you make a mistake, you can always go back.

A personalised print like you've never seen before

Once you've created your digital paintography, you can have it printed by our photo laboratory. Our gloss Plexi finish magnifies colours and highlights contrasts, so it's the perfect way to show off your digitally created artwork. Other formats and finishes allow you to obtain a tailor-made result for your creation.