Frequently Asked Questions from the Fresh Paint team, we will update this as needed.

How do I save my paintings?

Fresh Paint automatically saves your paintings-in-progress automatically every five minutes, every time you return to the Fresh Paint home page, and whenever you move from Fresh Paint to another app or program. You can also export a painting as a PNG file. Just click the Export button and choose a location to save the painting.

What does the Dry button do?

The Dry button instantly dries all of the paint on your canvas. If you continue painting after clicking the dry button, new paint will cover paint that’s already there rather than blend with it.

Can I apply paint on top of paint already on the canvas without having the new paint blend with what’s already there?

Yes. Before you apply paint over paint already on the canvas, click the Dry button. That will dry the paint on the canvas so it won’t blend with new paint you apply over it.

If I accidentally clear my painting while I’m working on it with the Clear button, can I get it back?

Yes. Just click the Undo button at the bottom middle of the canvas and your painting will reappear right where you left off.

How do I get the pallete and brushes back? They disappeared from my screen, and I can’t remember how to get them back.

If you’re using a tablet or touchscreen PC, just swipe your finger down across the top edge of the screen or up across the bottom edge of the screen to reveal the app bar. (That works on just about all Windows RT and Windows 8 apps.) If you’re using a mouse, just right click to reveal the app bar.

When I save a painting, the file name ends with .png. What’s that?

PNG stands for Portable Network Graphics. It’s an industry standard file format for images that works with almost all image and photo software programs, so you can view your Fresh Paint paintings on most devices that don’t have the Fresh Paint app installed (including most mobile phones). You can also share your paintings online or by email with the saved PNG file version.

If I uninstall Fresh Paint, will I lose my paintings?

If you uninstall Fresh Paint, you’ll lose all of the paintings saved in the Fresh Paint Gallery. If you plan to uninstall Fresh Paint and want to keep your paintings, use the Export button to save them to another location, like a folder on your hard drive or an external drive. You’ll need to save your paintings one-by-one. Paintings are saved in a file format called PNG and can be viewed opened by most photo and image programs and apps files.

If I uninstall Fresh Paint, will I need to buy that activity packs I’ve already purchased again?

No, you won’t need to repurchase activity packs you’ve purchased if you uninstall Fresh Paint. Just log in to the Windows Store with your Microsoft account and reinstall Fresh Paint. Then click the Buy button in the Fresh Paint gallery for the activity packs you own. Windows Store will confirm that you’ve already purchased the packs and unlock them free of charge.

What can I do to make Fresh Paint run faster on my computer?

Although it’s very simple to use, Fresh Paint is a pretty sophisticated app, and it uses quite a bit of computing power to be so realistic. It runs best on more recent tablets and PCs designed for Windows RT or Windows 8, and it runs fastest on devices with discrete graphics cards. The performance on your tablet or PC will depends on the graphics capabilities of that device.

What if I accidentally delete a painting from the home page gallery? Can I get it back?

Sorry. A painting deleted from the home page gallery is gone for good.

Is there a fill bucket in Fresh Paint like the one in the Paint application in Windows?

Fresh Paint works like real paint on a canvas; as such, there’s no fill bucket in Fresh Paint. Fill in large areas of your paintings with a large brush. You can also changing the color of the background canvas -- click the Surface button and then pick a background color.

When I mix paint in the palette I get brown squares instead of paint. What is happening?

It is likely you need an updated graphics driver. Devices using Intel® HD 4000 graphics will need to be updated to 9.17.10.2849 or newer. You can check your graphics driver by doing the following:

Right Click on Desktop -> Screen Resolution

From Screen Resolution -> Click Advanced settings

From Display Adapter page -> under Adapter Type, click Properties

From Intel ® HD Graphics 4000 Properties -> click Driver

Please contact Intel or your device manufacturer for information on the latest graphics driver.

How do I print?

Fresh Paint uses the Windows print capabilities, just swipe from the right edge of your screen to reveal the menu. From there click or touch the "Devices" button, and then select the printer you want to print to.

How do I delete a painting?

Windows uses what is called “edgy” commands to access menus and similar commands to select files. In Fresh Paint click the Back button to go to your gallery, then click My Paintings and the month to access all the paintings in that month. To select a painting to delete give the painting a quick swipe down. This will select a panting and bring up the bottom menu bar. From there click Delete.

Brush stroke opacity adjustment

(Fresh Paint on a Win 8.1 touchscreen laptop)

It is easy to modify a brush stroke width but is there a way to change its opacity, as in real oil painting when laying on top of existing paint a new light/thin layer (partly transparent) of different colour that still let partly see through the previous colour?

Yakub K (Support Engineer) reply:

Hi Jamon,

You can not change opacity in fresh paint as this is by design. However if you want to increase or decrease the opacity, you can use the brush more or less number of times. For Example: Using the same brush lesser number of times would achieve the target to some extent.

Jamon47 reply:

Thanks Yakub K for your help.

I just tried your suggestion to “if you want to increase or decrease the opacity, you can use the brush more or less number of times” and I am not sure I understand what you are saying as I couldn't achieve predictable results...

“use the brush more or less number of times”... are you saying

- one brush stroke back and forth many times on the same spot (already covered with different paint)

- or many identical brush strokes repeated on the same spot

- or what?

Yakub K reply:

The objective which you are trying to achieve is not possible as it is by design. The suggestion which I had suggested in my earlier post is only a work around where you can use brush with less intensity.

Jamon47 :

BTW, Yakup K work around is useful when painting in watercolor but not when painting in oil.