Colorize Page

The Colorize page lets you create color presets — named themes that recolor specific traits or the entire image. These presets are applied automatically during combination generation, multiplying your collection without additional layer work.

Colorize sits between Variations/Extract and Combine in the pipeline. It's entirely optional — if you don't create any presets, combinations generate with original colors.

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Page Layout

• Canvas (center) — Live split view showing original and colored previews side-by-side
• Inspector (right panel) — Color picker, preset cards, and settings
• Preset navigator (top center) — Switch between preset previews on the canvas

Color Picker

The top of the Inspector panel has a circular HSV color wheel and shade slider.

How It Works

1. Click any color swatch in a preset card below — it becomes "selected" (highlighted ring)
2. The wheel and slider update to show that swatch's current color
3. Drag the wheel to change hue/saturation, use the shade slider for brightness
4. The swatch updates live as you drag
5. You can also type a hex code directly (e.g., #FF3300) in the hex input field

The picker is linked to whichever swatch is selected. Click a different swatch to switch.

Color Presets

Color presets are named color themes. Each preset maps colors to traits.

Creating a Preset

Click + Add Color Preset at the bottom of the Color Presets section. A new empty preset card appears.

Preset Cards

Each preset card has:

• Master swatch (rounded square, left) — Click to select all traits at once for the color picker. Double-click to reset all traits to the master color.
• Name (editable) — Click the name text to rename
• Trait count — Shows how many traits are assigned
• Expand/collapse — Click anywhere on the header row

When expanded, the card shows:

• Trait list — Each trait has a clickable color swatch and editable hex input
• Add trait dropdown — Select which traits to include in this preset
• Delete button — Remove the entire preset

Per-Trait Mode

Add individual traits from the dropdown. Only traits you add get recolored — everything else stays its original color.

Preset "Fire":
  body   → #FF3300
  hood   → #FF9900
  (wheels, trim, glass stay original)

Whole Image Mode

Select whole_image from the Add Trait dropdown to recolor the entire composite image instead of individual layers. This is useful when you want a uniform color shift across everything.

Whole image and per-trait are mutually exclusive within a preset. Selecting whole_image clears any per-trait assignments, and adding a regular trait clears whole_image.

Master Swatch

The master swatch (rounded square on the left of each card) has two functions:

• Single click — Selects all traits for the color picker, so dragging the wheel changes every trait at once
• Double click — Resets all traits to match the current master color

Settings

Recolor Model

Model	Description
Lab Recolor	Preserves shading and luminance, shifts the color. Best for most cases.
Gradient Map	Maps luminance values to a color ramp. More dramatic effect.
HSV Hue Shift	Fast hue rotation in HSV space. Simple but can wash out details.

Strength

Controls how strongly the recolor is applied (0–100%). Lower values blend with the original color.

Paintability Gate

When enabled, protects neutral colors (metals, grays), deep shadows, and bright highlights from recoloring. This prevents unnatural color shifts on areas that shouldn't change.

The Advanced section provides fine-tuning sliders for the paintability thresholds:

• Chroma min — Minimum color saturation to be considered "paintable"
• L low / L high — Luminance range for paintable pixels
• Ramp — Transition smoothness at the edges of the paintable range

Live Preview

The canvas shows a side-by-side comparison:

• Left — Original (uncolored) composite
• Right — Colored composite using the currently previewed preset

Click the split view button (top-right toolbar) to toggle between side-by-side and colored-only views.

Navigating Presets

When you have multiple presets, a navigation pill appears at the top center of the canvas. Use the arrows to cycle through presets and see how each one looks.

Clicking a preset card in the Inspector also switches the canvas preview to that preset.

How Colors Apply During Combine

When you generate combinations on the Combine page, each color preset produces an additional set of combinations:

Total output = shape_combinations × (1 + number_of_presets)

Example: 27 shape combinations + 3 color presets = 27 originals + (27 × 3) colored = 108 total

Growth is linear with the number of presets, not exponential.

Mana Cost

Colored combinations count toward your Mana cost the same as regular combinations (1 Mana per 100 images).

Tips

1. Start with Lab model — It preserves shading best and works for most use cases
2. Use paintability gate — Prevents metals and shadows from turning weird colors
3. Preview before combining — Check the live preview to make sure colors look right
4. Name your presets — Descriptive names like "Fire", "Ocean", "Forest" help when browsing combinations
5. Use Whole Image mode for uniform tints — Per-trait is better when you want different parts different colors

Troubleshooting

Colors don't match the preview

Make sure you've saved your settings. Color model, strength, and paintability are global settings that apply to all presets during combination.

Some areas won't recolor

The paintability gate may be protecting those pixels. Try disabling it or adjusting the thresholds in Advanced settings.

Whole image mode is grayed out

You already have per-trait colors assigned. Remove them first, or the whole_image option will replace them automatically when selected.