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Airbrush Effect

Turns any picture into sprayed paint: soft color bands, misty handoffs, a sprayed outline and grainy overspray.

The same portrait as grainy sprayed paint: posterized pink, orange and purple tones, misty edges, a soft dark outline and speckled blue background.
Portrait of a person with a black bob and white cat-eye sunglasses with blue lenses, holding a yellow lollipop against a blue background.
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Made with Airbrush

Works in

The airbrush effect sprays your picture instead of drawing it. Tone melts into soft posterized bands that dissolve into each other as colored mist, edges get a liner with a solid core and a sprayed skirt, and overspray drifts into open space. You set the band count, liner reach, palette, grain and softness.

Same effect, different settings

12 photos, each with its own settings. Try it on yours

  • Airbrush Effect on a photo of a woman with a red bob
  • Airbrush Effect on a photo of a woman with a black bob and red earrings
  • Airbrush Effect on a photo of a woman in black sunglasses
  • Airbrush Effect on a photo of a woman in blue glasses
  • Airbrush Effect on a photo of two pears on linen
  • Airbrush Effect on a photo of a man in a suit under yellow light
  • Airbrush Effect on a photo of a woman in an orange turtleneck
  • Airbrush Effect on a photo of a basketball player mid-jump
  • Airbrush Effect on a photo of two runners on a track
  • Airbrush Effect on a photo of a man with pink hair and black sunglasses
  • Airbrush Effect on a photo of a man with slicked blond hair and sunglasses
  • Airbrush Effect on a photo of a black horse

Use Airbrush Effect in Photoshop, After Effects, Illustrator, Affinity or Figma

The plugins are free with an account. Paid plans add bigger renders and your own filters. See pricing

Settings worth touching

Bands
Sets how many flat tone fields the picture breaks into, from 2 for bold poster shapes up to 12 for smoother gradients.
Ink reach
Decides which edges get a liner, from the outer silhouette only up to every small crease inside the shape.
Overspray
Controls how much sprayed color drifts off the liner into open space, with spatter at the fringe.

Frequently asked questions

How do I add the airbrush effect in Photoshop?

Install Nexus for Photoshop, convert your layer to a Smart Object and apply the look as a Smart Filter. Double-⁠click it later to change settings, or render the result as a new layer.

Can I use the airbrush effect in Illustrator?

Yes. Nexus for Illustrator uses a selection as the source and places the result back as an embedded image. This look outputs pixels only, so it does not return vector paths.

Can I try the airbrush effect for free?

Yes. Open the look in the Nexus web editor and try it on your own image without an account. Exporting needs a free account, which exports images up to 720px and video up to 720px with the Nexus mark.

How do I make the airbrush look softer or grainier?

Raise Soften and Band blend for mistier transitions between color fields. Grain adds the sprayed speckle, and Grain scale sets how coarse or fine that speckle looks.

Can I animate the airbrush effect in After Effects?

Yes. Nexus for After Effects adds it as a native effect. Drop it on a layer, tune the controls and keyframe any parameter on the timeline.

Related effects

Try Airbrush Effect in your browser

Free to try. Exporting needs a free account.

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