Help ! Any freeware available to change trim color & shingles on house photo?
Feb 21, 2018 02:09:23 #
Hello,
I am going to have new shingles put on my house plus have the eaves, soffits, and fascia covered in vinyl coated steel. But I am very unsure of the colors to select. I know a small number of roofing and siding manufacturers have apps that will allow you to upload a photo of your house and then electronically put THEIR product in place of the old roof, trim, etc.
I would rather use one that will let me take a photo of ANY brand & color of trim covering and any brand & color of shingle and electronically "paint" them over my old trim & old shingles. (Let me take a guess - the only ones that can do this are not free?)
I do not have Photoshop, nor could I afford it - especially for what little I would ever use it after my house is redone.
If anyone has any ideas I would sure appreciate reading about them.
Thank you in advance.
Dean
I am going to have new shingles put on my house plus have the eaves, soffits, and fascia covered in vinyl coated steel. But I am very unsure of the colors to select. I know a small number of roofing and siding manufacturers have apps that will allow you to upload a photo of your house and then electronically put THEIR product in place of the old roof, trim, etc.
I would rather use one that will let me take a photo of ANY brand & color of trim covering and any brand & color of shingle and electronically "paint" them over my old trim & old shingles. (Let me take a guess - the only ones that can do this are not free?)
I do not have Photoshop, nor could I afford it - especially for what little I would ever use it after my house is redone.
If anyone has any ideas I would sure appreciate reading about them.
Thank you in advance.
Dean
Feb 21, 2018 03:03:37 #
Has your monitor been carefully calibrated so that the colors you will see (or print) match the colors you will actually get when the new materials have been installed? If not, no software you choose will make any difference. You would be wise to use the software that your roofing contractor provides for free. I understand and respect your concern - once the work is done you will have to live with the result for a long time - but you are not the first understandably unsure homeowner the contractor has dealt with and their software was created specifically to address that uncertainty. Best wishes. /Ralph
Feb 21, 2018 05:20:01 #
Bentarrow wrote:
Hello, br br I am going to have new shingles put ... (show quote)
There are many 'Visualizers" on line.
https://www.menards.com/main/e-RoofingAndSidingVisualizer.html
But unless your display is properly profiled, the colors will likely be inaccurate.
Feb 21, 2018 06:13:38 #
GIMP is free and you can make selections and modify the colors to see the results. I've done this before to show people what their house will look like.
Feb 21, 2018 08:21:36 #
All the major paint companies have apps with visualizers where you can take a picture (of your house) and then “paint it” with any of their colors. I buy most of the coatings I use from Sherwin-Williams. Their app is called ColorSnap. BUT, I only use it as a guide, a starting point. I still usually get some actual chips from the store. From that point I get quarts of the actual color and sheen to used a paint a large section as a sample. The sheen to be used is very important (flat, matte, satin, semi-gloss, gloss). Each sheen has it’s own level of reflectance and can dramatically govern how a color looks. Sometimes it may take three “tries” to get the right color and/or sheen.
Do not buy any companies cheap “sample quarts”. They usually only come in satin or semi-gloss and is a low grade paint.
Do not buy any companies cheap “sample quarts”. They usually only come in satin or semi-gloss and is a low grade paint.
Feb 21, 2018 09:46:28 #
GIMP (Gnu Image Manipulation Program) is a freeware photoshop. It does not quite match the level of competence of photoshop, but it will change the color of your house. And it's free.
It does come with a learning curve. Basically to change the color of your house you want to load a photo of your house into a layer. Duplicate that layer. Create a mask to select those parts of the house that you want to change the color of. Then you can take the color>hue/saturation control and change the color.
It may take a few tries to do that but if you miss a spot you can paint over the mask to refine the selection.
https://www.gimp.org/
PS: google will find lots of tutorials for GIMP
It does come with a learning curve. Basically to change the color of your house you want to load a photo of your house into a layer. Duplicate that layer. Create a mask to select those parts of the house that you want to change the color of. Then you can take the color>hue/saturation control and change the color.
It may take a few tries to do that but if you miss a spot you can paint over the mask to refine the selection.
https://www.gimp.org/
PS: google will find lots of tutorials for GIMP
Feb 22, 2018 06:00:06 #
Bentarrow wrote:
Hello, br br I am going to have new shingles put ... (show quote)
Dean, If you decide to go with GIMP there are three .pdf books which cover working with the software. The three books cover everything you need and they are free. I offer to send them to you because the original website has closed. You can get them in other places but they want your email address, etc. PM me if you want them.
Feb 22, 2018 07:53:53 #
Feb 22, 2018 08:50:24 #
StanMac
Loc: Tennessee
Completely off topic, but do you really want to cover your wood trim so you can’t see any deterioration that may occur due to water penetration and retention? I have seen instances of those types of trim coverings falling off because the wood trim had rotted so much the nails holding the trim on had nothing left to hold them in place. The covering had concealed the ever increasing wood damage until wholesale replacement of the wood trim was required. Just sayin’ . . .
Stan
Stan
Feb 22, 2018 09:43:57 #
Dikdik
Loc: Winnipeg, Canada
Have you looked at Paint.Net... this is a freeware Photoshop workalike... It's a little more limited, but, can likely do the job.
Dik
Dik
Feb 22, 2018 14:15:10 #
kdogg
Loc: Gallipolis Ferry WV
I am a retired contractor and as also worked in a Do It Best home improvement center all the major shingle companies, painting supply and siding manufactures had software that you could get to change the color of your shingles, siding etc. I suggest that you check out shingle company and paint company websites. Owens Corning and Sherman Williams come to mind. I have been out of the field for about 8 years but I am sure they something even better now for the consumer to use.
Feb 22, 2018 16:27:15 #
You might look at Light Zone http://lightzoneproject.org/
--Bob
--Bob
Bentarrow wrote:
Hello, br br I am going to have new shingles put ... (show quote)
Feb 22, 2018 21:39:20 #
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