Frequently asked questions:
“What do the icons mean?”
Professional watercolor paint manufacturers usually publish paint data for each paint they sell. This can include information on degree of lightfastness, granulation, staining, and transparency. It can also include pigment code(s), which are codes describing the ingredient(s) in the paint that create color according to the International Colour Index. These paint properties tell you what you need to know about your paint to make beautiful paintings.
In contrast, the paint name tells you very little about a paint. This is because the same paint name can vary wildly between brands, with some brands using entirely different pigments resulting in very different hues and other properties. This can be confusing and frustrating for beginners and pros alike.
Smarty Paints makes learning about your paints easy. You can search thousands of watercolor paints and quickly compare their properties at a glance, using the paint property icons shown below.
Lightfastness: The degree to which a paint retains its color over time when exposed to light.
Excellent: |
Very Good: ||
Moderately Durable: A
Fugitive: B
Not Rated: NR
Transparency: How relatively transparent or opaque a paint is.
Transparent: □
Semi-Transparent: ⧄
Semi-Opaque: ◩
Opaque: ■
Staining: The degree to which a paint is likely to stain the paper.
Non-Staining: (none)
Low Staining: St
Medium Staining: St
High Staining: St
Granulation: The texture that a paint may produce on the paper, with granulation creating a speckled effect.
No Granulation: NG
Some Granulation: SG
Granulating: G
Brand: The manufacturer or brand name of the paint.
A. Gallo: AG
Art Spectrum: AS
Beam Paints: BP
Daler Rowney Pro: DR
Daler Rowney Aquafine: DRA
Daniel Smith: DS
Da Vinci Paint: DV
Grumbacher Academy: GA
Grumbacher Finest: GF
Holbein: H
Isaro: I
Kuretake Gansai Tambi: KT
Lukas Aquarell 1862: LA
M. Graham: MG
MaimeriBlu: MB
Michael Harding: MH
Mijello Mission Gold: MMG
Natural Pigments: NP
QoR: Q
Rembrandt: R
Renesans Extra Fine (pans): REF
Renesans Intense (tube): RI
Roman Szmal: RS
Rosa Gallery: RG
Schmincke: SC
Sennelier: SE
Van Gogh: VG
White Nights: WHN
Winsor & Newton: WN
W&N Cotman: WNC
“How do I add a paint to a palette?”
There are two ways to add paint to a palette in Smarty Paints. The first way is to tap on a paint from the home screen, which takes you to the paint details page. From here, scroll down until you see the palette checkboxes. Each checkbox represents one of your palettes. Check a box to add the paint, uncheck to remove it.
A faster way to add paints to a palette is the bulk add method. From the home screen, tap the palette icon in the lower right corner. A dialog will appear with instructions for how to add paints to a palette from the home screen. Select a palette to add to from the drop down menu and the dialog will close. You can then add paints to the selected palette by using the ‘+’ icon in the top right of each paint swatch on the home screen.
“How can I organize my palette?”
Drag and drop! Long press any paint swatch to grab it, then drag it to a new position on the palette grid.
“My palettes are listed in alphabetical order, can I change that?”
Palettes are organized in alphanumeric order. If you’d like to change the order of your palettes, prefix the palette name with a number in the order you’d like it to appear. Tip: you can use emojis, too!
“My favorite paints aren’t in the database, will they be added?”
Smarty Paints is powered by user contributions to the database. It’s a labor of love and you can help! Send your additions to contact @ neuralappworks.com or try out the new “add paint” workflow in the app. If you can’t find the paint you’re looking for in a search, there will be an “add paint” button as the first search result. Click that, and either manually input paint details or automatically detect them from photos of the paint tube. Your custom paints are initially only available to you, but will be reviewed for accuracy and if a good fit, shared with the whole community.
“I found an error in the database!”
Dang, eagle eyes! Good looking out. There is a text link at the bottom of each Paint Details screen that says “See something wrong?”. That link will bring up a brief form for you to fill out. Submitting it will send a detailed alert about which paint needs updating. You can also reach out at contact @ neuralappworks.com
“Can I automatically sync my palettes to other devices?”
Sync is available for paid users. After upgrading, head to Settings to create a Smarty Paints account. Once your account is set up, your palettes will sync automatically across devices.