Tone Simplifier

Squint a photo into clear shapes you can paint.

Controls

Simplification Strong

Merges detail into bigger shapes.

Tonal steps 5 tones

How many values are left to paint. The right end is the full range.

Softness Slight

Rounds the edges between shapes.

Contrast Gentle

Opens the value range and holds the highlights back a little.

Study

Black & white Color

Grid Lines

Equal divisions for placing the big shapes.

Save the grid in the PNG

How to use

Drop a photo on the box, or click it. JPG and PNG are the most reliable, in Firefox or Chrome.
Simplification pulls the picture into masses, the way squinting does. Tonal steps decides how many of those values remain.
Black & white is the value study. Color keeps the hues and only simplifies the light.
Choose a grid when you want a check on the composition. Save PNG downloads the study.
Click either picture for fullscreen. Press Esc to come back.
The photo and these settings stay in this browser, so a reload brings them back.

A long edge around 1500–3000 px is plenty. Larger photos are scaled down for speed.
Smaller photos stay at their own size, and the smoothing stays lighter so they are not over-blurred.
Move tonal steps to the right, Full range, when you want soft grays without hard bands.

This browser remembers the photo and the settings. Nothing is uploaded.