01 / Live
Capture light trails
Record the result, take a snapshot or save the final frame.
COMPLETE VIDEO LIGHT-PAINTING SOFTWARE
Create, perform, play, teach
Desktop & mobileWindows + Mac Apple Silicon
Real-time
light-painting
What began as a live performance experiment in 2015 is now a polished, high-speed creative suite. Virtual.ink empowers artists, educators, and entertainers to paint with light in real-time. With a completely redesigned engine and an expanded library of effects, the software is optimized for seamless integration, from professional photobooths and broadcast studios to the classroom. Create, perform, and inspire with the new standard in light-painting technology.
Get Virtual.inkFor Windows and Mac Get the Android app01 / Photobooths
Light-painting
photobooths
A light-painting photobooth app for events. Guests see their light trails build live, then review and share the recording.
- 01
Capture
Live view, countdowns and timed recordings.
- 02
Effects
Presets, mirrors, kaleidoscopes and flowing trails.
- 03
Review
Instant review, gallery playback and replays.
- 04
Sharing
QR codes, sharing pages, email and downloads.
Sharing options depend on your setup. Hosted QR sharing needs an internet connection; offline QR uses a local sharing network.
PhotoboothNHLusing Virtual.ink
02 / Live performancesSecond-display output
Live
performances
Clean HDMI output.
Send the live image to a second display, projector or capture system while keeping the app controls on your main screen.
Keyboard & gamepad controls
Map actions to a keyboard, presenter or gamepad. Change looks with presets and auto-cycling.
Fullscreen output
Clean second-display output is available on Basic and above.
Recording
Supports recording long performances with a second computer or external recorder.
03 / Production
Video
production
Adjust light trails, colour and background effects during capture.
4K
Up to 4K capture
on desktop Pro
ProRes
422 HQ recording
on desktop Pro
Effects & branding
Separate light from the background. Add drift, colour ramps and glints. Use intros, outros, overlays and soundtracks on eligible plans.
Capture resolution and recording performance depend on your camera, computer and plan.
04 / Post-production
Refine:
post-production
Add light-trail effects to recorded footage in Adobe Premiere Pro, After Effects or the mobile app.
05 / Virtual.ink mobileActual Android screenshots.
Virtual.ink for mobile
Live capture, video processing and light sources for Android and iPhone.
02 / Refine
Process recorded video
Import a clip, trim it, adjust the light accumulation and export with the original audio.
03 / Shine
Screen & flash light sources
Use colour, strobes, animations and PixelBrush patterns for a separate camera to capture.
Tap a phone to view the full screenshot. Features, camera controls, resolution and orientation vary by device and plan.
06 / Art
Light-painting,
flow & calligraphy
Flow art
Use Virtual.ink as a flow art effects app for moving light sources, with live trails, mirrors, symmetry and colour effects.
Light-painting art
Create light-painting effects in real time. Record the performance or save a still frame.
Calligraphy
Record light-painted lettering as a video or still image.
Light-painting
workshops
Demonstrate light-painting live, review recordings and let participants try different effects.
07 / Features
Virtual.ink desktop features
Virtual.ink turns a live camera feed into real-time light-painting, with controls for the light trails, the background, recording and playback. The desktop app brings these tools together for photobooths, live performances, video production, flow art, calligraphy and teaching. This overview covers the desktop app; the mobile app and Refine plugin are separate products.
Live light-painting and trail control
Watch the painting develop while you move a light source in front of the camera. Choose continuous painting to retain the accumulated image, or decay to let older trails fade. Adjust trail length, decay speed and light softness to change how each movement appears. Pause and resume painting, wipe the image between takes, or save a snapshot. Wipe controls include fade, un-draw and rewind behaviours, with adjustable timing.
Light separation and background control
Separate the light painting from the surrounding scene by brightness or colour. Light separation includes threshold and softness controls, with detail recovery for faint strokes, ambient preservation for the performer and room, and noise cleanup for unwanted background contamination. Colour separation lets you choose a target hue, tolerance and minimum saturation. With separation active, you can dim, desaturate, blur or tint the background and adjust its contrast while protecting the isolated light painting.
Symmetry, colour and moving effects
Transform a single light source with mirror, kaleidoscope, pinwheel, mandala and tiling modes. Adjust the centre, rotation, folds and reflection, then add spiral twist, radial zoom or automatic rotation. Look controls include hue shifts, colour ramps, chromatic trails, edge glow, pixelation, warping, inversion and vignette. Motion and drift controls change how the accumulated painting moves, while Shine adds configurable glints around bright sources. These controls support different looks for flow art, stage visuals and recorded light-painting effects.
Presets and performance controls
Save combinations of effects as presets and organise them into groups. Apply a look again without rebuilding every setting, or cycle through a group sequentially or randomly when a recording is saved or the painting is reset. Map record, paint, reset and snapshot actions to keyboard keys, a compatible presenter or gamepad. This lets a performer or photobooth operator trigger the main actions without returning to the mouse between every take.
Photobooth capture, review and sharing
Set a countdown before recording and a duration that stops the capture automatically, or use manual recording when your plan allows it. Guests can follow the live view, then review their recording and replay the result. The Library brings recordings, snapshots and metadata together, while Quickview provides a closer review of individual captures. Sharing tools support downloadable links and direct email, with QR delivery for guest handoff. Hosted sharing requires an internet connection; local QR sharing needs a suitable local network and setup.
Recording and video production
Choose recording resolution, frame rate, duration and quality to suit your camera, computer and intended output. Desktop Pro supports up to 4K capture and ProRes 422 HQ recording, subject to the hardware's actual performance. Rotate the image for landscape or vertical recordings, and use snapshots when you need a still result. A second camera can provide an ambient scene for blending or an independent backstage feed. Test a complete recording and export at the intended settings before a production or event.
Audience displays and remote devices
Keep the operator's controls separate from the image shown to an audience. From Basic upward, eligible dashboard tiles can be sent to a second HDMI display for a monitor, projector or capture system. Pro adds remote browser devices on the local network, including phone and touch-device controls for recording, painting, resetting and snapshots. Basic browser access stays on the licensed computer. Supports recording long performances with a second computer or external recorder.
Branding and automatic processing
Prepare recordings for an event or client with watermarks, overlays, intros, outros and soundtracks through the render pipeline, available from Basic upward. Processing recipes can turn captured recordings into shareable formats without repeating the same preparation for each take. The desktop app also includes media browsing, playback and event-session organisation. Available recording limits, rendering options and remote access depend on your plan. The desktop app runs on Windows 10/11, 64-bit, and Mac with Apple Silicon.
Virtual.ink mobile features
Light-painting capture, video effects and light sources for Android and iPhone. The mobile app brings together Live, Photo, Refine and Shine. Android is available on Google Play; the iPhone version is available through TestFlight. Camera controls, recording quality and available options depend on your device, app version and plan.
Live trails and long-exposure photos
Watch light trails build directly in the camera preview. Record the moving result in Live, or use Photo for a long-exposure still. Set a countdown and capture duration, save recordings and images to your gallery, and keep a final-frame snapshot when recording stops. Adjust trail length, decay and light separation to control how the painting builds and fades.
Colour, symmetry and effects
Change the look with colour ramps, mirrors, kaleidoscope symmetry, turbulence and chromatic effects. Add haze, clouds, glitters, pixelation or glitch effects to moving light. Separate controls for the idle preview and recording let you prepare one appearance before capture and another for the recorded performance. Clear accumulated traces between takes without leaving the camera.
Presets and automatic variations
Save named effect presets, apply them again, or update them as you develop a look. Dice controls generate effect combinations for experimentation. Lock the settings you want to retain, set automatic rolls, and adjust transitions and cross-zoom between changes. These controls let a flow-art session or light-painting performance change appearance without rebuilding every effect manually.
Refine recorded video
Choose an existing video from your gallery, trim the part you want to use, then preview and adjust its light-painting effects. Refine processes recorded movement into light trails rather than requiring a new live capture. Export the processed clip with its original audio. This is the mobile Refine module, separate from the Refine plugin for Adobe.
Shine light sources and PixelBrush
Use your phone as a light source for another camera to capture. Shine offers full-screen colour, animations and a controllable LED light where supported. Adjust brightness and strobe timing, or use PixelBrush to sweep patterns and imported images through the frame. The camera capturing the light painting stays separate from the phone producing the light.
Camera setup and capture quality
Select an available camera and adjust exposure, focus, white balance or shutter controls where the device supports them. Flip the image horizontally, vertically or both. Recording resolution and orientation depend on your plan and hardware, with up to 4K on supported setups. Android also supports compatible UVC HDMI capture cards; not every USB capture card is compatible.
08 / Tutorials
Short tutorials
Apps & licenses
Download
Windows & Mac
Android & iPhone
Back to top
Download
Virtual.ink
Desktop app
Get Virtual.inkExplore desktop plansWindows 10/11, 64-bit
Mac with Apple Silicon
Mobile app
Get it on Google PlayVirtual.ink for AndroidiPhone beta on TestFlightRefine for Adobe
Premiere Pro and After Effects