Bitgrain is three tools that share one effects engine: the image editor for treating a single photo, the studio for layered designs, and the video editor for timelines. This page explains what each is for, how the hub at /hello connects them, and which ones need an account.
| Image editor | Studio | Video editor | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Address | /editor | /studio | /video |
| Name in the hub | darkroom | studio | video editor |
| What goes in | One photo | Images, text, shapes, vectors, templates | Video, audio and image files |
| What comes out | A treated image, SVG, riso separations, a short looping animation | Single or multi-page designs, PDF, animation | MP4 or WebM video |
| Needs an account | No | Yes, free is enough | Yes, free is enough |
| Works on a phone | Yes | Yes, with a touch layout | No, desktop only |
| Saves projects | Remembers your last image | Autosaves every project | Autosaves every project |
All three run the same deterministic effects. A halftone in the editor, on a studio layer and over a video clip is the same algorithm with the same settings, so a look you like in one place carries to the others.
The editor at /editor is a focused, single-image tool. You drop in one photo, stack effects on it and export. It is the quickest way into Bitgrain, and it is the one workspace you can use without signing in.
Use it when you want to:
The editor keeps the last image you opened in your browser, so it is still there when you come back. It does not keep a project list. To save a look with its settings, use save as .BTG in the export menu. The interface tour covers every control.
The studio at /studio is a layered design canvas. It is where you make posters, album covers, social posts, zines, resumes and other multi-page documents.
Use it when you want to:
The studio home lists your projects, and each one autosaves while you work. Read the studio overview to find your way around.
The video editor at /video is a multi-track timeline. It applies Bitgrain effects to every frame and exports the finished video in your browser, with no render queue on a server.
Use it when you want to:
New projects come in three shapes: 16:9, 9:16 and 1:1. The video editor overview explains the layout.
After you sign in, Bitgrain takes you to the hub at /hello. It greets you by first name (the greeting changes with the time of day) and shows which email you are signed in with, then offers one tile per workspace:
| Tile | Caption | Opens |
|---|---|---|
| studio | design | /studio |
| video editor | motion | /video |
| darkroom | image tool | /editor |
"Darkroom" is the hub's name for the image editor. They are the same tool.
The hub also has a sign out link at the top right and an account settings link at the bottom, which opens your account page.
The hub is only for signed-in people. If you open /hello while signed out, you are sent back to the home page. If you signed in because a page asked you to (for example, opening the studio), you go straight back to that page instead of the hub.
On screens narrower than 768 pixels the hub shows only two tiles, studio and darkroom, and a note underneath: the video editor uses a desktop canvas, so you need a laptop for that. Everything else works on the phone.
The studio and the video editor are behind a sign-in check. It covers the studio home (/studio), the studio editor (/studio/edit/...), the video home (/video) and the video editor (/video/edit/...).
If you open any of those while signed out, Bitgrain sends you to the sign-in page with the message "Sign in to open the studio and keep your work with you." Once you sign in, you land back exactly where you were heading.
A free account is all these workspaces need. Everything in them is available on the free plan. What Pro changes is the output: watermark, resolution, SVG, video resolution, batch and cloud sync. See plans and pricing for the full list.
The image editor never asks you to sign in. A few things inside it do use an account, such as storing custom presets in the cloud or buying a licence.
| Workspace | On a phone |
|---|---|
| Image editor | Full editor with a two-row bar at the bottom: small icon buttons on top, and add, effects, adjust, presets and export tabs below. See the mobile layout. |
| Studio | The studio home becomes a simple list with buttons for a blank canvas and templates, and the editor switches to a touch layout. See studio on a phone. |
| Video editor | Not available. /video shows "Video editor needs a bigger screen" with a Back to hub button. |
A desktop browser is still the best place for long sessions and for anything with many layers or long video.
The workspaces share the engine, not a single file, so moving work is a matter of exporting from one and bringing it into another: