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Artsplainer › Help › Getting Started

Getting Started

Get up and running with Artsplainer in a couple of minutes.

Install the Phone App

Download Artsplainer from your phone's app store:

Open the app and your account is created automatically — no sign-up form needed. If you belong to a group that uses Artsplainer (such as a photography club or art school), you can optionally link your email address in Settings to unlock bonus credits and other group features.

Analyse Your First Image

  1. Take a photo of your artwork, or pick an image from your camera roll.
  2. Choose an analysis type — Quick Review, In-Depth Critique, or Detailed Analysis. (You can also enable Competition Judge for scored critiques.)
  3. Optionally add a title to give the AI some context (e.g. “Morning Mist on the Lake”). If your photo has a title in its metadata (e.g. set in Lightroom), the app fills this in automatically.
  4. Tap Analyse Artwork and wait a few seconds for your AI critique.
Pick an image Choose analysis depth Quick Review result

That's it. The phone app works entirely on its own — no other software needed.

After you receive your analysis, you can tap Try Different Depth to re-analyse the same image at a different depth without re-picking it.

Credits

Each analysis uses credits from your account. Different depths cost different amounts:

You get free credits when you sign up. Buy more from the phone app’s Settings screen.

Competition Judge

Competition Judge gives you a score and critical feedback, just like a photography competition. Anyone can enable it:

  1. Open Settings in the phone app.
  2. Under Analysis Types, turn on Competition Judge.
  3. Choose a Max Score — 10, 15, 20, or 100. This sets the scoring scale (e.g. “14½/20”). Half points are allowed for max scores up to 20.

Once enabled, Competition Judge appears as an option whenever you analyse an image — on the phone, desktop, and in plugin workflows.

Photography club member? If your club participates in Artsplainer, you don’t need to enable Competition Judge in Settings — it appears automatically once you link your email address (in Settings > Email & Membership). Your club’s scoring settings are applied and your scores contribute to the club’s auto-calibration. You also get 25% bonus credits on all purchases, and your club earns commission every time you buy credits.

History

Your past analyses are saved automatically. Tap the clock icon in the top bar to browse your history. Each entry shows the image thumbnail, analysis type, and date.

If you analyse the same image at different depths, they’re grouped together so you can compare results side by side.

Using Artsplainer from Your Desktop

If you edit images on a computer — in Lightroom, Photoshop, or any other software — you can analyse them without re-photographing your screen. The Artsplainer Companion App runs on your Windows PC and connects to your phone account.

Why the companion app?

Your phone app manages your account and credits. The companion app borrows that identity so you can send images from your desktop for analysis, using the same credit balance.

Install the Companion App

Download the Artsplainer Companion App for Windows:

Run the installer and follow the prompts. The app is lightweight (~10 MB) and uses your system's built-in WebView.

Pair with Your Phone

When the companion app opens for the first time, it shows a QR code. Scanning this with your phone links both apps to the same account.

  1. Open the companion app on your PC. You’ll see a QR code on screen.
  2. Open the phone app, go to Settings, and tap Pair Desktop.
  3. Point your phone’s camera at the QR code on your PC screen.
  4. Once scanned, both apps confirm the pairing. The companion app switches to the main screen.
Companion app pairing screen with QR code Phone app QR scanner screen
Tip: The QR code expires after 5 minutes. If it expires, click "Generate New Code" to get a fresh one.

Install Plugins (Optional)

After pairing, the companion app offers to install plugins for your editing software. These let you trigger an analysis directly from within Lightroom Classic or Photoshop.

Companion app plugin setup page

Click Install Plugin next to the software you use. A folder picker opens with the correct folder pre-selected — just click Select Folder.

Photoshop note: The Photoshop plugin installs to a system folder (Program Files), so Windows will ask for administrator permission. Click Yes on the UAC prompt.

You can skip this step and install plugins later from the gear icon in the companion app's toolbar. See the Lightroom Classic and Photoshop guides for detailed usage instructions.

Using the Companion App Directly

Even without plugins, you can drag and drop any image file onto the companion app window, or click the drop zone to browse for a file. This works with any editing software — just export your image and drop it in.

After an analysis, click Try Different Depth to re-analyse the same image at a different depth. The companion app also keeps a history of your analyses — click the clock icon in the toolbar to browse past results. If you analyse the same image multiple times, use the arrow buttons on the results screen to step through each version.

Troubleshooting

Companion app stays on the QR code screen

Make sure your phone and PC are both connected to the internet. The pairing works over the internet, not Bluetooth or local Wi-Fi.

Plugin doesn't appear in the menu after installing

Photoshop: Restart Photoshop. Scripts are loaded when Photoshop starts, so new scripts won't appear until the next launch.

Lightroom Classic: The plugin should appear immediately under File > Plug-in Extras. If it doesn't, check that the plugin was installed to the correct Modules folder.

"Session expired" or "Unpaired" after a while

Pairing sessions expire after 90 days of inactivity. Just scan a new QR code from the phone app to re-pair.

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