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Capture fluid frames for wallpaper

Build the frame

Pick a mode first, since each preset changes the basic character of the frame before you touch a single slider. Ink and Calm often read well as stills because both presets favor lingering dye over fast fade, so you get a clean composition instead of a blur. Water works well too if you want cooler, heavier color blocks rather than bright highlights.

Paint in deliberate passes instead of one continuous scribble. Lay down a base layer with broad, slow strokes, then add a second pass with a smaller brush for detail near the edges you want to stand out. Checking the frame between passes helps you stop before the composition turns muddy.

Composition habits from photography still apply here. Leave open space on one side if text will sit over the wallpaper later, and keep the brightest dye slightly off center unless that is the exact focal point you want. A quick look before you screenshot saves a second attempt.

Pause and screenshot

Pause the simulation once the frame looks right. Pausing freezes dye and velocity so the shapes stop drifting while you line up the capture.

Tap Screenshot on the dock. The browser downloads a PNG of the paused frame at the current Quality setting. Raise quality before you capture if you need a sharper file.

If the first attempt is not quite right, press Resume, adjust a stroke or two, and pause again. Treat early captures as drafts.

Keep quality readable

Use High quality on a desktop when you want sharper dye for a large monitor. Higher quality renders dye on a finer grid, so edges and small swirls stay crisp.

On phones, capture when FPS is stable rather than right after a heavy stroke. Auto quality can step resolution down for a frame or two when the device is working hard.

Auto is usually fine for stills. A manual bump one step higher can hold finer trails if your device stays smooth. Quality steps are mapped in fluid simulation controls.

Match the frame to your screen

Phone lock screens are usually taller than desktop monitors, so crop before you set the wallpaper. A tall crop from a dense Ink frame reads better on a phone than a wide desktop crop stretched to fit.

Measure your target screen before you paint rather than after. A phone lock screen is typically a tall rectangle while a desktop monitor is wide, so the same frame rarely fits both without a crop that cuts off the part you actually cared about.

Leave a buffer of plain space around the parts you want visible. Phone wallpapers get covered by a clock, notifications, and app icons near the top and bottom, so keep the busiest dye in the middle third of the frame.

Want motion instead of a still?

Press Record on the live dock to save a short clip instead of a single PNG. Pick Record when the point is motion itself, like a swirl rolling or dye fading, and stick with Screenshot when a single composed frame is all you need.

Keep clips short. A few seconds of a slow swirl usually reads better as a loop than a long recording with several unrelated strokes, and shorter files are easier to trim and compress afterward.

Pick a mode with steady motion for recording, since jumpy strokes translate into jumpy footage. Water mode's lasting flow holds together well on video, while a mode with fast fade can look choppy once compressed.

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