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Help Center › Admin screens, field by field › Designer: Mulch, stone & lawn brush controls
Designer: Mulch, stone & lawn brush controls
Every control on the Mulch, stone & lawn tab: mode, brush size, softness, opacity, photo shadows, 3D depth, perspective and the material picker.
On this page
You find this screen in the Designer: open a design, tap Add in the tool bar, then tap the Mulch, stone & lawn tab at the top of the side panel. Anyone using the Designer can see it, signed in or not. It controls the ground brush: you paint mulch, stone, lawn or pavers straight onto the photo, and these controls decide how the brush behaves and how the paint blends into your picture.
The sliders that say “painted ground” are saved with the design, so they apply to everything you have painted, not only to the next stroke. For the story behind the tool, read paint ground materials.
Before you start
- Open a design with a photo or a bird’s-eye view. The panel is empty until a design is open.
- Set the scale first on a photo (set the scale for me). The 3D depth and perspective sliders look best when the scale is right.
Fields
Brush mode
One of three buttons. Only one is on at a time.
| Field (exact label) | What it does for VisionScaper | What to enter and example | Default / notes |
|---|---|---|---|
Paint / Undo paint / Show original (three buttons in a row) opts.paint.erase / opts.paint.restore |
Paint lays the chosen material down. Undo paint rubs out ground paint you made earlier. Show original brings back the untouched photo where you brush, which also undoes erasing and AI changes in just that spot. | Options: Paint; Undo paint; Show original. Tap the mode, then drag over the photo. In Show original mode the Opacity, photo-shadow, 3D depth and perspective sliders and the material list are hidden because they do not apply. | Paint |
Brush shape
| Field (exact label) | What it does for VisionScaper | What to enter and example | Default / notes |
|---|---|---|---|
Brush size opts.paint.size |
Sets how wide each stroke is, in screen pixels of the photo. | Options: 6 to 260 px, step 2. Drag the slider. The number to the right shows the size, for example 80 px. | 40 px |
| Smaller brush (button) | Divides the brush size by 1.25 each tap, to a minimum of 6 px. | Tap once per step. | n/a |
| Bigger brush (button) | Multiplies the brush size by 1.25 each tap, to a maximum of 260 px. | Tap once per step. | n/a |
Sharp edge / Blended edge (two buttons) opts.paint.soft |
Sharp edge gives a hard stroke edge. Blended edge feathers the edge into the photo; choosing it sets softness to 6 px and shows the Softness slider. | Options: Sharp edge; Blended edge. Tap Blended edge for natural mulch-to-lawn transitions. Tap Sharp edge for crisp bed lines. | Sharp edge |
Softness opts.paint.soft |
How wide the feathered edge is. | Options: 1 to 24 px, step 1. Drag the slider. Larger numbers give a wider fade. | 6 px after you choose Blended edge |
Opacity opts.paint.alpha |
How solid the paint is. Lower numbers let the photo show through. | Options: 10 to 100 %, step 1. Drag the slider, for example 70 % to let the old ground show through lightly. | 100 % |
How the paint blends into the photo
These three sliders are saved with the whole design, not just the brush. They are hidden in Show original mode.
| Field (exact label) | What it does for VisionScaper | What to enter and example | Default / notes |
|---|---|---|---|
Photo shadows on painted ground project.groundShade |
How much of the photo’s own shade (from trees and the house) is carried onto painted mulch, lawn and stone. At 0 % the paint is evenly lit; higher numbers match the photo more. | Options: 0 to 100 %, step 5. Drag to the right where your photo has strong shade. Use 0 % for an evenly lit bed. | 30 % |
3D depth of painted ground project.groundDepth |
How strongly the painted material shows light and relief (bumps and grain) so it looks like a real surface instead of a flat sticker. It also follows the sun direction chosen on the scene bar. | Options: 0 to 100 %, step 5. Drag right for more relief on gravel and mulch. Drag left for a flatter look. | 60 % |
Perspective of painted ground project.groundPersp |
How strongly the texture shrinks toward the horizon so far ground looks far away. 0 % leaves it flat. | Options: 0 to 100 %, step 5. Leave it alone after you set the scale. Lower it if the texture looks too squeezed in the distance. | 80 %; 100 % when the scale has been verified (phone tilt, measured things) |
Material
| Field (exact label) | What it does for VisionScaper | What to enter and example | Default / notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Search N materials (box with a magnifier; N is the number of materials) | Narrows the swatch grid below it to materials whose name, group, id or tags contain every word you type. It does not change the design by itself. | Type one or more words such as “red mulch” or “bluestone”. Every word must match. | Empty |
| Search materials by voice (microphone button next to the box) | Listens through your browser and types what you say into the search box. | Tap it, allow the microphone if asked, then speak. Not every browser supports speech; if yours does not, a message says voice search is not available. | Off |
| Material group chips | Shows only one kind of material in the grid. All shows every group. | Options: All; Mulch; Stone & Gravel; Soil & Sand; Lawn & Groundcover; Pavers; Natural Stone; Tile & Marble; Wood & Decking; Decking & Surfaces. Tap one chip. Tap All to clear it. | All |
| Material swatch grid | Picks the material the brush paints with. Choosing a tile also switches the mode back to Paint. | Tap one tile. The chosen tile gets a highlight. The material name is under each picture. | Mulch |
Add an area (button above the brush controls)
| Field (exact label) | What it does for VisionScaper | What to enter and example | Default / notes |
|---|---|---|---|
Add an area data-act add-area |
Opens the guided Add an area wizard (where, then what) instead of brushing by hand. | Tap it. See the Add an area wizard and the field table for it in this chapter. | n/a |
Steps
- Open your design and tap Add, then Mulch, stone & lawn.
- Leave the mode on Paint.
- Pick a material: type in the search box, or tap a group chip, then tap a tile.
- Set Brush size. Use Bigger or Smaller to change it in steps.
- Choose Sharp edge for crisp beds or Blended edge for soft transitions. If you chose Blended, set Softness.
- Drag over the ground in the photo. Paint is applied as you drag.
- Look at the result. If it looks pasted on, raise Photo shadows on painted ground a little, then check 3D depth and Perspective.
- Use Undo paint mode to rub out a spot, or Show original to bring back the plain photo there. The Undo button at the top also works.
- Nothing needs saving. The Designer saves by itself; the word Saved near the top confirms it.
Tips
- Paint on a new Layer if you want to hide or compare the ground work later (see the layers table in this chapter).
- A low Opacity with a Blended edge is the easiest way to fade new mulch into old mulch.
If something goes wrong
- The paint looks flat or fake. Raise 3D depth and Photo shadows, and make sure the scale is set.
- The texture is huge or tiny. The scale is wrong. Open Photo setup, then Scale.
- Nothing happens when I drag. Check the mode is Paint, not Undo paint or Show original, and that a material is chosen.
- I painted over a plant. Plants stay in front of painted ground. If a plant looks hidden, use Arrange (Bring to front) on the plant.