About 30 seconds a painting
Upload, pick a style and press Paint Photo. Most runs finish in about half a minute, so you can try several styles on the same photo in a few minutes.
AI painting styles
Photo to Painting with AI: 8 Styles, Likeness Kept
Image2Layer's photo to painting AI turns a portrait, pet or place into a painting in oil, watercolor, pencil sketch or 5 more styles, free to try. A run takes about 30 seconds and keeps faces, pose and framing.
- Free to try
- 8 painting styles
- Faces and pose kept
- PNG in about 30 seconds
1. Upload an image
Sexual or explicit content isn't allowed. Images and results that contain it are blocked automatically.
No image handy? See a sample
2. Pick a painting style
Faces, pose and framing are kept.
3. Paint Photo
10 credits per painting · Failed runs never use credits
Real result of this tool
Upload your own image to get a PNG.
One photo, many styles
What Photo to Painting Does
Photo to painting repaints your whole picture in the medium you choose, from rich oil to soft watercolor and fine pencil lines. Upload a portrait, a pet, a place or a still life, pick one of eight styles and a strength, and the AI does the brushwork in one run, with no prompt to write.
Every style keeps the faces, the pose and the framing, so the painting lines up with your photo and still looks like the people in it. Use the tabs to see one portrait in four styles. Afterwards, press Split into layers to open the painting in image to layers and edit each part on its own.
- Oil painting and Watercolor
- Pencil sketch and Impressionist
- Pop art and Illustration
- Anime and 3D
- Subtle, Balanced or Strong
- Faces, pose and framing kept
ResultWhy Paint Your Photos Here
Six reasons to let AI do the brushwork instead of doing it by hand.
Faces stay the people you know
Every style is told to keep each person's likeness, the pose and the composition, so a portrait still looks like its sitter, only painted.
Eight styles in one place
Oil painting, Watercolor, Pencil sketch, Impressionist, Pop art, Illustration, Anime and 3D are each one click away, for portraits, pets, places and still lifes.
Subtle, Balanced or Strong
Choose how far the painting moves from the photo: a light touch of texture, a clear painting, or a fully painterly result.
A short note sets the mood
Type a note such as "warm sunset colors" or "a muted palette" and the AI takes it into account while it paints.
10 credits, failed runs free
Each painting costs 10 credits. Credit packs need no subscription, and a run that fails never uses credits.
How to Turn a Photo into a Painting in 3 Steps
Three steps from a photo to a painting you can download, with no drawing skills and no prompt to write.
JPGPNGWebPup to 24 MB
Photo to Painting AI That Looks Hand Painted
Three things this tool does on example photos. Move the lens, drag the divider or watch each example.
Move to see the photoA Photo to Oil Painting That Still Looks Like Them
Every style is told to keep each person's likeness, the pose and the composition. In this oil painting of a grandmother baking with her grandson, the faces, the hands and the mixing bowl stay where they were, now in visible brushstrokes. Move the lens across the picture to see the photo underneath.
Paint a portrait
SubtleStrongSubtle, Balanced or Strong: Set How Painterly It Gets
Strength decides how far the painting moves from the photo. Subtle stays close, with the same details and the technique applied lightly. Balanced makes a clear painting, and Strong lets the style take over while the subject, pose and framing stay. This mountain lake went from photo to impressionist painting twice: drag the divider to compare Subtle and Strong.
Choose a strength
AfterPhoto to Watercolor with Soft Washes and Paper
Each style copies how its medium really looks. This photo to watercolor painting of a teapot, lemons and flowers has soft washes, gentle bleeding edges and white paper showing through, and the zoom shows them up close. For a bigger print, enlarge the result with the image upscaler.
Make a watercolorPhoto to Painting Before and After
Six example photos made for this page, each painted with the settings in its note. Hover a card to wipe between them, or open it to compare closely.
Cat portrait in oil
A tabby on a sunny windowsill became a rich oil painting with thick brushstrokes, and its stripes and green eyes stayed.
Wedding portrait, Subtle
Subtle stayed close to this photo of a couple under an olive tree and added soft watercolor washes, a calm look for an anniversary gift.
Pop art portrait
Flat bright colors, thick outlines and halftone dots turned a street portrait into a print for a poster or a profile picture.
Friends in anime style
Two friends and their bikes on a coastal road, redrawn with clean line art and cel shading in the same pose and framing.
Birthday photo in 3D
A girl blowing out her birthday candles, turned into a soft 3D animated film look with the cake and the smile kept.
House portrait, illustrated
A family home with its front garden became a clean modern illustration, a warm gift for new homeowners.
Picture to Painting Tips for a Result Worth Keeping
Four habits for a painting that looks hand made.
Start with a sharp, well-lit photo
The AI paints what it can see, so a clear photo with even light gives the best painting. Crop away clutter first: the painting keeps the shape and framing of your upload, which is scaled to 2048 pixels on the longest side.
Match the style to the subject
Oil painting flatters portraits, pets and dramatic light, and a photo to watercolor suits landscapes, flowers and travel pictures. For a photo to pencil sketch, pick a clear face or a building with strong lines. Pop art and Anime work best with one bold subject.
Run Balanced first, then compare
Balanced is a clear painting and the right first try. Choose Subtle for the closest likeness, or Strong when the look matters more than small details. Every run paints anew, so compare runs with the slider and keep the best one.
Restore or colorize old prints first
Paint a damaged print after old photo restoration has repaired it. If your photo is black and white and you want a full color painting, run colorize photo first.
Photo to Painting AI vs Photoshop and Hand Painting
Image2Layer next to Photoshop by hand and a photo to painting service with a human artist.
- Time per paintingImage2Layer:About 30 secondsPhotoshop by hand:Often an hour or morePainting service:Usually weeks, plus delivery
- CostImage2Layer:10 credits a paintingPhotoshop by hand:A Photoshop subscriptionPainting service:A fee per portrait, by size and subjects
- Skill neededImage2Layer:None: upload and press Paint PhotoPhotoshop by hand:Filters, brushes and practicePainting service:None, an artist paints it
- StylesImage2Layer:8 styles, 3 strengths and a notePhotoshop by hand:Whatever you can build by handPainting service:The artist's own style
- What you getImage2Layer:A PNG of about 1,200 pxPhotoshop by hand:A file at any size you choosePainting service:A physical painting
- Where it runsImage2Layer:In your browser, also on a phonePhotoshop by hand:A desktop appPainting service:You send a photo and wait
Photoshop is a trademark of Adobe. Image2Layer is not affiliated with Adobe or with any painting service.
Pet Portraits from Photos, Gifts and Wall Art
Picture to painting ideas: gifts, pet portraits, wall art and posts.
Personal gifts
Turn a wedding photo to oil painting for an anniversary, or paint a family photo for a birthday card or a small framed print.
Pet portraits
Make a pet portrait from a photo of your dog, cat or horse. Oil painting and Watercolor keep the markings, the eyes and the pose.
Home and travel art
Paint holiday photos, your street or your house as a matching set of small prints for a hallway or a shelf.
Profile pictures and posts
Pop art, Anime and 3D give you a profile picture or a social post that stands out from regular photos.
Cards and posters
Download the PNG for a greeting card or a small print, or make a matching poster from a short description with the AI poster generator.
Design projects
Use paintings in collages and invitations, and turn them into editable layers with image to PSD.
Photo to Painting FAQ
Answers about styles, likeness, price, size and privacy.
Upload a photo above, pick a painting style and a strength, and press Paint Photo. About 30 seconds later the painting is ready: compare it with the photo using the slider, then press Download PNG.
Yes. Each account gets one free run across Image2Layer's AI tools: sign in, press Try it free, and you get a watermarked result with no credits needed. After that each painting costs 10 credits.
Start with Oil painting for portraits and pets, and Watercolor for landscapes and flowers. Pencil sketch suits clear faces and buildings, Impressionist suits gardens and water, Pop art and Anime make bold profile pictures, Illustration gives clean shapes and 3D a soft animated film look.
Yes. Choose Pencil sketch and the photo becomes a graphite drawing on white paper in black and gray, with fine hatching and shading. It works as a photo to pencil sketch online tool, with nothing to install.
Yes. Anime redraws the photo with clean line art and cel shading, and 3D gives it the look of a stylized animated film. Both keep the pose and the framing of your photo.
Usually, yes. Every style is told to keep each person's likeness, the pose and the composition. For the closest likeness choose Subtle and use a sharp photo; Strong lets the style take over more, so check faces with the slider.
They set how far the painting moves from the photo. Subtle keeps the same faces and details with the technique applied lightly, Balanced makes a clear painting with faces, pose and framing recognizable, and Strong lets the style take over fully.
No. Each style already tells the AI which technique to use and what to keep. You pick the style and the strength, and you can add a short note about color or mood, such as a muted palette.
No. A filter lays one fixed effect over the pixels, while this AI repaints the whole picture in the medium you choose, with brushstrokes, washes or line work that follow the shapes in your photo.
No. It runs in your browser on a computer or a phone, with nothing to install. Upload, paint and download on the same page.
Each painting costs 10 credits. Credit packs need no subscription, a run that fails never uses credits, and another style on the same photo is a new run. The pricing page lists the current plans and packs.
Yes: every painting from a run paid with credits has no watermark. Only the free trial result carries one, and it disappears as soon as you buy any plan or credit pack.
The painting comes back at about 1,200 pixels on the longest side, in the shape of your photo. That suits screens, posts and small prints of about 6 by 4 inches. Uploads up to 24 MB are accepted.
Photoshop gives you full manual control, but building a painted look with filters and brushes can take an hour or more. Here a painting takes about 30 seconds, and you can still finish details in any editor afterwards.
Your uploads and paintings are visible only to your account, and every upload passes our content checks. Only paint photos you own or have permission to use.
More Tools to Use After Picture to Painting
More image tools for the next step after a painting.
Keep Editing After the Painting
Four tools for what usually comes next.
Eight painting styles
Turn Your Photo into a Painting Today
Upload a portrait, a pet or a place and get it back as a painting in about 30 seconds. Photo to painting starts free with an account.
Paint a photo