Tuesday, May 26, 2026

🎨 Scripting in FotoSketcher: Tips, Tricks & Example Scripts

One of the most powerful features in FotoSketcher Studio is the Script Editor. Instead of applying a single effect to your photo, scripts let you chain multiple effects together, blend them in creative ways, add textures and frames, and automate the whole process over hundreds of photos at once.

This post walks through seven example scripts (compatible with FotoSketcher Studio 4.30 onwards), explains exactly what each one does, and finishes with a practical bonus script you can use to enhance an entire folder of photos automatically.

How to try the scripts in this post

  1. Open a photo in FotoSketcher Studio.
  2. Open the Script Editor with Ctrl+E (or via the menu).
  3. Copy one of the example scripts from this post and paste it into the editor.
  4. Click Save as... and give the script a name (for example Super_Smooth.fss).
  5. Click Run to apply it to your photo.

That's all there is to it. Once saved, the script will appear in your script library and you can reuse it on any photo at any time.

The building blocks: what script commands do

Before diving into the examples, here is a quick reference for all the commands you will encounter:

  • 🔄 RESET - discards any changes and reloads the original source image. Use it whenever you want to start a new branch from scratch.
  • CLEAR - tells the next effect to paint onto a blank white canvas instead of on top of the current image.
  • NOCLEAR - the opposite: the next effect paints on top of whatever is already there. Useful for stacking semi-transparent painting layers.
  • ✨ ENHANCE - applies a smart automatic correction (exposure, white balance, local contrast) before any artistic work begins.
  • SWAP - swaps the current working image with the source image, freezing the current result as the new starting point for all future RESET calls.
  • 💾 SAVE name - saves a snapshot of the current image into a named slot, without changing anything on screen.
  • BLEND name opacity [mode] - composites a saved snapshot onto the current image. Opacity is 0-100. An optional blend mode (multiply, screen, overlay...) controls how colours interact; omitting it gives a plain alpha blend.
  • EFFECT number p1 p2 p3 p4 p5 - runs one of FotoSketcher's built-in effects with five parameter values of your choice.
  • 🌈 LUT_EMBEDDED name - applies a built-in colour-grading look-up table (HDR, Vintage, Kodachrome...) for an instant mood shift.
  • TEXTURE #n strength scale - overlays a built-in paper or canvas texture. #n picks the slot, strength is 0-100, scale adjusts the texture size.
  • FRAME name width colour - adds a decorative border. The name picks the frame style, width is in pixels, and colour is a hex ARGB value.
  • FONT name size style colour + TEXT x% y% "string" - stamps text onto the image at a percentage position (e.g. 99% 99% puts it in the bottom-right corner).

Script 1 - Super Smooth

RESET
EFFECT 306 20 100 0 0 0
EFFECT 306 20 100 0 0 0
EFFECT 306 20 100 0 0 0
EFFECT 401 52 52 55 30 52

The simplest script in the collection, and a good first example of a core scripting technique: running the same effect multiple times in a row.

Effect 306 (Smooth Painting) blends and smears brush strokes across the image, creating a result somewhere between heavily blended oil paint and digital airbrush. One pass is already smooth; three passes progressively dissolve fine details while keeping the larger shapes and colours intact.

The final EFFECT 401 (Adjustments) is a colour-correction pass to recover the contrast and saturation that repeated smoothing tends to flatten out.

💡 Key tip: Repeating the same effect is a straightforward way to push a style further. Two passes of a watercolour effect feel hand-painted; three or more push it toward something more abstract.

Script 2 - Super Pastel

RESET
ENHANCE
SWAP
CLEAR
EFFECT 302 20 70 30 80 100
NOCLEAR
RESET
EFFECT 302 10 70 50 50 100
NOCLEAR
RESET
EFFECT 302 3 50 70 10 100

This script builds up a pastel painting from three independent Oil Pastel passes, each using progressively smaller brushes.

ENHANCE improves the photo first. SWAP then locks that improved version as the new source, so every subsequent RESET goes back to the enhanced photo, not the raw original. This is a useful pattern to keep in mind.

The first CLEAR paints the large-brush pass onto a white canvas. NOCLEAR before the next two passes stacks them on top: medium brushes for mid-detail, then fine brushes for texture and edge refinement. It is similar to how a painter blocks in big shapes first, then works progressively smaller.

💡 Key tips:

  • ENHANCE + SWAP at the start is a good opening sequence for any script where you want the artistic effect to work from an already-improved image.
  • Multiple NOCLEAR passes from large to small brushes create a natural depth that a single pass cannot replicate.
  • Because each pass resets to the same source independently, each one contributes its own brushstroke interpretation of the scene without degrading the previous pass.

Script 3 - Enhanced Watercolor

RESET
CLEAR
EFFECT 300 15 72 40 45 0
SAVE myslot
EFFECT 202 0 0 0 0 50
BLEND myslot 90 multiply
BLEND myslot 50
EFFECT 401 52 52 60 15 52
FRAME brushstrokes 20 #FFFFFFFF
TEXTURE #2 50 1

A good example of the save, process, blend back pattern.

The Watercolor effect (300) runs first and the result is saved to myslot. Then Effect 202 (Felt-tip Pen) is applied on top, producing dark ink-like strokes. Those strokes are blended back over the saved watercolour using multiply at 90%, which darkens only where the ink lines fall (much like real watercolour-and-ink illustration). A second blend of the same slot at 50% (plain alpha, no blend mode) pulls some of the original colour back in to soften the result.

EFFECT 401 handles the final colour polish, and a brushstroke frame with a paper texture finishes the picture.

💡 Key tips:

  • Multiply blending darkens wherever both images have colour. It is the right mode for adding line work on top of a painted layer without washing out the colours beneath.
  • Blending the same slot twice (first multiply, then plain) gives you two independent levers. The first pass adds the lines; the second softens them. Adjust the two opacities separately for fine control.
  • A brushstroke frame reinforces the watercolour-and-ink style. Keeping the frame visually consistent with the content always looks considered.

Script 4 - Comic Book

RESET
CLEAR
EFFECT 501 30 61 100 0 0
SAVE myslot
RESET
EFFECT 300 30 50 50 50 0
EFFECT 401 60 52 55 15 52
BLEND myslot 100 multiply
SAVE myslot
RESET
EFFECT 203 5 0 100 50 60
BLEND myslot 65

A three-stage script that builds a comic-book look by compositing separate layers:

  • Stage 1 - runs a smooth flat-colour painting effect (501) at full coverage and saves it. This becomes the outline and flat-colour foundation.
  • Stage 2 - resets to the source, applies Watercolor (300) and Adjustments (401) for a colourful painterly base, then multiplies the Stage 1 result on top. Multiply brings the strong outlines back without replacing the colour. This composite is saved.
  • Stage 3 - resets again, applies Comic Print (203) for dot-based halftone grain and outlines, then blends it at 65% over the Stage 2 composite. The partial opacity adds texture without erasing the colour richness beneath.

💡 Key tips:

  • Multiple SAVE/RESET cycles let you build independent layers in a flat script. Each branch starts fresh from the source.
  • A partial blend opacity (65%) on the final step is a common finishing move: you get the texture of the new effect while keeping the colour quality of the previous stage intact.
  • The combination of flat colour (for shape) + painterly effect (for colour) + halftone (for texture) is how many professional comic colourists structure their workflow.

Script 5 - Mosaic with Contours

RESET
CLEAR
EFFECT 500 0 20 80 40 40
SAVE myslot
RESET
EFFECT 501 0 65 85 0 20
BLEND myslot 100 multiply
LUT_EMBEDDED HDR
EFFECT 404 80 0 0 0 0
# Lines below are optional
FONT Georgia 24 italic #FFFFFFFF
TEXT 99% 99% "FotoSketcher"
TEXTURE #2 50 1
FRAME #3 20 #FFFFFFFF

This script is the template shared by three variants in this collection (Mosaic, Circles, and Triangles with contours). The shape changes; the technique is identical.

Effect 500 builds the square-tile mosaic and saves it. The script then resets and applies Effect 501, which extracts dark contour lines from the original photo. Those lines are multiplied over the saved mosaic: white areas of the contour pass leave the tiles untouched, while dark lines darken the tiles they cross, creating the illusion of outlines printed onto the geometry. LUT_EMBEDDED HDR adds a punchy colour-contrast boost, and Effect 404 (Comic Print Halftone) lays a halftone screen over the result for a printed-media feel.

The bottom four lines (font, watermark text, texture, and frame) are purely decorative. The # Lines below are optional comment is a reminder that you can remove them without affecting the core of the script.

💡 Key tips:

  • Swapping just one effect number (500 to 502 for circles, 500 to 503 for triangles) produces an entirely different geometric style with no other changes. That is exactly what the next two scripts do.
  • Multiply is the right mode for contours: white areas change nothing; dark areas darken whatever is beneath.
  • Apply LUT_EMBEDDED before the halftone, not after. The LUT boosts the mosaic colours first; the halftone then sits on top of that richer palette.
  • TEXT 99% 99% is the standard way to place a subtle watermark in the bottom-right corner.

Script 6 - Circles with Contours

Identical to Mosaic with Contours, but uses Effect 502 instead of 500. Effect 502 fills the image with tangent circles of varying sizes that follow the colour edges in the photo. The same contour, HDR, and halftone pipeline then runs on top.

Script 7 - Triangles with Contours

Identical to Mosaic with Contours, but uses Effect 503 instead of 500. Effect 503 tiles the image with triangles derived from the underlying colour field, giving a low-poly illustration feel before the contour layer refines it.

Bonus script - Photo Enhancer (with batch mode)

RESET
ENHANCE
EFFECT 401 55 52 52 12 52

This three-line script has a simple purpose: making any photo look better, automatically, without any artistic transformation.

ENHANCE handles the core work (exposure, white balance, local contrast). EFFECT 401 (Adjustments) then adds a measured boost to contrast, brightness, edge sharpness, and colour saturation. The parameter values here work reliably across a wide range of subjects (landscapes, portraits, everyday photos), but you can adjust any of the five to taste.

Running it with Batch Mode

Because this script applies the same neutral improvement to any image, it is a natural fit for FotoSketcher's Batch Mode. Here is how to use it:

  1. Open FotoSketcher Studio.
  2. Open the Batch panel (Ctrl+B).
  3. Click Load script... and select Photo_Enhancer.fss.
  4. Click Start batch and choose the folder of photos you want to process.
  5. FotoSketcher will open each image in turn, run the script, and save the enhanced result.

This works well for a holiday album, a product shoot, or any large collection of photos you want to improve without editing them one by one. 

General tips for writing good scripts

  • 🔄 Always start with RESET. It makes the script self-contained and predictable regardless of what was on screen when you ran it.
  • 💬 Use comments generously. Lines starting with # are ignored by FotoSketcher but are very useful when you revisit a script later. Label every SAVE slot and explain any non-obvious blend.
  • Name your save slots meaningfully. myslot is fine for quick experiments, but names like watercolour_base or outline_layer make a script much easier to read and share.
  • SAVE before a risky step. If you are about to apply a heavy effect or an aggressive blend, save first. You can always blend back to the previous state if the result is not what you expected.
  • Multiply for dark lines, Screen for light glows. These two modes cover most creative compositing needs. Multiply darkens (outlines, shadows, halftones); Screen lightens (glows, highlights).
  • 🌈 Use LUT_EMBEDDED as a finishing move. Colour grading is most predictable when it is the last tonal step, applied before any texture or frame overlay.
  • Test with a small cropped part of your image first. Complex scripts with many steps can be slow on large images. 
  • Design for batch. If a script does not reference external files and works on any subject, it is batch-ready. Save it with a clear name and you have a reusable processing pipeline you can reach for at any time.
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