Seam melt guide

Help

Short answers to what goes wrong most often.

The frame says the effect needs WebGL

Seam melt draws with WebGL, and this browser has it turned off. Turn on the browser's graphics acceleration, update it, or try another current browser.

Tapping the picture does nothing

A tap during a run is ignored, so a run is never cut in half. Wait for the run to finish, or press Replay, which always starts again at once. A run also only starts from a tap with the main mouse button or a finger.

The part I tapped did not survive

The run a tap starts still protects the spot from before. The seams are worked out again for the new spot when that run ends, so press Replay to see it protected. If it still melts, raise Protect strength or Protect radius.

The melt goes the wrong way

After each finished run the direction flips, so the pictures swap turns: A into B, then B into A. Tap or press Replay once more to go the other way. Reset does not change the direction.

The motion looks stepped

The seams are worked out ahead for 48 stages of the melt, on a copy of the picture about 480 columns wide, so the picture narrows in small jumps rather than one column at a time. A slower Transition speed makes each jump last longer; it does not add stages.

My picture looks stretched

The frame takes the shape of picture A, and picture B is stretched to that shape. Crop both pictures to the same shape first. Replacing A changes the frame's shape; replacing B does not.

My picture did not change

A file the browser cannot open as an image is skipped without a message. Try a JPEG, PNG or WebP copy of it. See JPEG, PNG and WebP.

The page pauses for a moment

Working out the seams takes a little time on your computer's processor. It happens when a picture loads or is replaced, a moment after you move Protect strength, Protect radius or Energy gamma, and after a run that follows a tap on a new spot. See CPU. A very large photo is scaled down to what the graphics card allows; a smaller copy still loads faster on a phone or an older computer.

Record video did nothing

The line under the buttons says why: some browsers cannot record a canvas, or offer no video format the page can use. Try a current Chrome, Edge or Firefox.

Where do my pictures go?

Nowhere. They are opened in your browser and drawn on your graphics card. Nothing is uploaded. The pictures you add stay on this device, in this browser, so the other lab tools can open them too; × on a picture removes it.

Are there keyboard shortcuts?

The tool has none of its own. Anywhere in the lab, Ctrl K, or Cmd K on a Mac, opens the list of all tools.

On a phone

It works with a finger: tap the picture to protect a spot and start a run. The controls sit in a bar at the bottom of the screen; tap the bar to open them.