Your guide to Paintspire

Everything in Paintspire is tied to your account, and your username is your public name in the gallery, recipes and comments.

1. Tap Create a free account on the welcome page (or Sign in if you already have one), then confirm your email from the link we send you.
2. Open your Account page and choose a username: 3–30 letters, numbers, dashes or periods. It becomes your gallery address, like paintspire.com/@brush-wizard.
3. While you’re there, check Notifications & privacy to decide whether you want comment emails, and whether to show your paint collection on your gallery.

The catalog already lists thousands of paints from every major brand, brush and airbrush. You just mark the ones you have.

1. Open Paints and tap All paints to see the whole catalog.
2. Search by name, product number (like 70.951) or brand, or open Filters to narrow it down by brand, range, color, finish or type.
3. Tap + Own on each paint you have. Use the − and + buttons to set how many bottles.
4. Tap ☆ Want on paints you’d like to buy: they go on your Wishlist.
5. Got a spreadsheet already? Go to Add & import and import it as a CSV instead.

Once you own a few paints, the Paints page opens on My paints.

1. Use the buttons at the top to switch between My paints, Wishlist, Restock, Don’t own and All paints.
2. Type in the search box (press / on a keyboard to jump to it). Every word must match the name, number, range or brand.
3. Open Filters to stack filters: for example metallic, Citadel, Layer. Filters live in the page address, so you can bookmark any view.
4. Change the Sort to order by brand, name, number, color, location or recently updated, and switch between grid ▦ and list ☰ views.

Record exactly where each bottle lives, and see your shelves, racks, drawers and rotating displays drawn the way they look.

1. Tap Add storage on the Paints page, or open Storage.
2. Pick the kind (shelf, rack, drawer or rotating display), give it a name, and set its levels, rows and spots.
3. Pick a paint from the Unplaced list, then tap the spot where it lives. Or open any paint and use Set location.
4. Turn on Locations on the Paints page to show each paint’s spot on its card. Tap a location to jump to it on the Storage page.

Never find an empty pot halfway through a model.

1. On any paint in My paints, tap ⚑ Low when it’s running out. Taking its bottle count to zero does the same.
2. Flagged paints appear under Restock and on your shopping list.
3. When you’ve bought more, tap ✓ Restocked (or tick it off on the shopping list).

One list of everything to buy: your wishlist, paints running low or empty, and paints your projects need that you don’t have yet.

1. Open the Shopping list from the Paints page. Paints are grouped by brand, with a link to each brand’s website.
2. Use the Wishlist, Restock and For projects buttons to show just one kind.
3. In the shop, tick each paint as it goes in the basket. Ticks are saved on your phone, so it works even with no signal.
4. When you’re done, tap Add to my collection: wishlist paints become owned and restocked paints get an extra bottle.
5. Changed your mind about one? Not needed takes it off the list without buying it.

Every paint can show its closest matches across every brand, and the nearest ones you already own.

1. Tap a paint to open it, then choose the Matches tab.
2. Closest in other brands lists the nearest colors, labelled Near-identical, Very close, Similar or Loose match.
3. Closest in your collection shows what you could use from your own shelf right now.
4. Tick Include the paint’s own brand, or Any type to look beyond paints of the same kind. Tap + Wishlist to save a match for later.

Spotted a color you love in a photo, an artwork or someone’s model? Find the paint for it.

1. Tap Match a color on the Paints page to open Match a color.
2. Tap Choose a photo and pick an image, or type a color code or use the color picker.
3. Tap the spot you want to match. The closest paints you own appear first, then the closest from every brand.
4. Choose the kind of paint at the top (regular, metallic, wash, contrast and more), or Any type.
5. Tap more spots to compare: each color you pick is kept as a chip below the photo.

Keep your painting and building queue (and the pile of shame) under control. Only you can see your projects.

1. Open Projects from the menu and tap + New project.
2. Give it a name, how many minis or models, an optional target date and notes, and pick the paints you plan to use.
3. Move it along the stages, Unbuilt → Built → Primed → Painting → Finishing → Done, by tapping the dots on its card.
4. Use − and + to count pieces as you finish them. The totals at the top show how many you’ve painted.
5. When it’s done, tap Share to gallery: the post form opens with the title and paints already filled in.

Recipes are step-by-step schemes: which technique, which paint, in what order.

1. Browse Recipes (also a tab in the Gallery). Search them, or sort by Most saved.
2. Open a recipe to see each step. When you’re signed in, you’ll see which paints you own, and the closest paint from your collection for the ones you don’t.
3. Tap ☆ Save to keep a recipe under Saved. Tap Add missing to my wishlist to put the paints you need on your shopping list.
4. To write your own, tap + New recipe. For each step choose a technique (from basecoat and shade to panel lining and weathering), tap Choose a paint and add a note like “thin 1:1”. Reorder steps with the arrows.
5. Leave Public ticked to share it, or untick it to keep it to yourself. You can also show it on one of your gallery posts.

Show off what you’ve painted, from a single figure to a whole army or a finished scale kit.

1. Open the Gallery and tap + Share your work (you need a username first).
2. Add up to 15 photos. The first one is the cover, and you can reorder them before uploading.
3. Give it a title, a description and tags, say whether it’s a single piece or several, and optionally list the paints you used.
4. Leave it Public to share it, or make it private. You can also make your whole gallery private from your gallery page.

Every public post is a conversation.

1. Tap ♡ Like on posts you enjoy, and Share to send a post to friends or social media.
2. Write a comment under the photos. Tap Reply to answer someone; replies sit right under their comment.
3. On posts that list their paints, Can I paint this? shows how many you own and suggests substitutes from your collection. Add missing to my wishlist puts the rest on your shopping list.

Keep up with the painters you like, and know when people respond to your work.

1. Tap a painter’s name anywhere to open their gallery, then tap + Follow.
2. The Following tab in the Gallery shows new posts from everyone you follow.
3. The bell at the top shows a number when there’s something new: comments, replies, likes, new followers and new challenges. Tap it to see them all.
4. Comments and replies are emailed too. Untick Email me about comments and replies on the notifications page if you’d rather not.

Regular painting challenges, each with a theme, a tag and a deadline.

1. Open Challenges, or tap the challenge banner at the top of the Gallery.
2. Read the theme and note the tag (like #monster-month) and the end date.
3. Paint something new, then tap Enter: share your work. The challenge tag is filled in for you.
4. Once the challenge ends, its three most-liked entries win and are featured on the front page.

Let other painters see which paints you have: handy for swaps, or when someone asks what you used.

1. On your Account page, tick Show my paint collection.
2. A Paints tab appears on your gallery, listing the catalog paints you own. Signed-in visitors see which ones they have too.

Paintspire works in your phone’s browser, no app needed.

1. The main sections (Paints, Storage, Projects, Add and Gallery) sit in the bar at the bottom of the screen.
2. The bell, Help, this guide and your account stay at the top.
3. On the Paints page, the Filters button opens a full-screen panel. A floating Filters button follows you down long lists.

Your collection is yours.

1. Your collection, wishlist, storage, projects and shopping list are only visible to you.
2. Others only see what you share: public gallery posts, public recipes, and your paint list if you turn it on.
3. Export your collection any time with Export CSV on the Paints page.
4. See every device signed in to your account on your Account page, and sign out any you don’t recognise.

We’re here to help.

1. The Help page answers common questions, with a search box.
2. Stuck, found a bug, or have an idea? Use Ask a question, Report a problem or Suggest an idea on the Help page. The team replies right there, and you get an email when they do.