MandalaSpin - How To Use Guide

Welcome to MandalaSpin!

MandalaSpin is your digital playground for crafting beautiful, symmetrical, and often mesmerizing art. The real magic happens when you adjust settings *while* you draw. This guide will walk you through all the features, with a special focus on real-time creativity.

Core Controls & Features

1. Brush & Color

Brush Types: Select a brush shape like a Dot, Star, or Triangle from the toolbar. Clicking the active brush icon rotates it by 45 degrees.
Custom Brush Editor: Create your own unique brush shapes! The editor allows you to modify any existing brush and save it as your new custom brush.
1. First, select any brush from the toolbar (e.g., Star, Triangle) to use as a starting template.
2. Click the 'Edit Brush' button to open the Brush Editor popup.
3. The editor grid will show the pattern of the brush you selected. Click the squares to toggle them on or off and design your new brush.
4. Click 'Save'. Your new design will be saved as the 'Custom' brush and will be automatically selected for you to use.
Sliders: Use the control panel sliders for Brush Size, Opacity, edge softness (Feather), and Spacing.
Color Controls: Pick a FG Color for your brush and a BG Color for the canvas. Explore BG Scheme and BG Pattern to create vibrant gradients.

Color Shortcuts: Copy & Paste

You can quickly copy colors between swatches using a simple press-and-hold gesture.

Copy Background to Foreground: Press and hold the Foreground (FG) color swatch. It will copy the current Background (BG) color.
Copy Foreground to Background: Press and hold the Background (BG) color swatch to copy the Foreground (FG) color.

2. Symmetry, Spin & Special Effects

Symmetry: Controls how many times your drawing is mirrored.
Canvas Spin: Use the Spin Speed slider to set a rotation speed. The canvas will only spin if you enable it from the Action Bar.
Echo, Glow & Halo: Add depth with powerful effects. Create trailing Echoes, add a luminous Glow, or place a soft Halo of color behind your brush strokes.

3. Automated Drawing

Let the app do the drawing for you! Pick a pattern from the "Free Patterns" or "Premium Patterns" dropdowns and press the Start/Stop Drawing button () or the S key. The true power lies in adjusting the path's Speed and Amplitude sliders (or keyboard shortcuts) while it's drawing to create evolving patterns.

4. Saving & Loading Presets

The four numbered slots (P1-P4) let you save and recall your favorite settings.

Save: Click an empty slot to save your current combination of brush, color, and effect settings.
Load: Click a filled slot to instantly apply those settings.
Overwrite: Hold Shift and click a filled slot (or long-press on mobile) to overwrite it with your current settings.
Tip: Set a user preset box with the starting settings so you can easily reset brushes and sliders.

5. The Action Bar

The Action Bar at the bottom of the canvas provides quick access to essential tools:

Undo: Reverts your last action. (Shortcut: Z)
Redo: Re-applies an undone action. (Shortcut: Y)
Clear: Wipes the canvas clean. (Shortcut: C)
Bucket Fill Tool: Cycles through three modes with each click or press of the B key.

1. Fill (Symmetry On): Click to fill an area and all its symmetrical counterparts. The icon will be highlighted in light blue.

2. Fill (Symmetry Off): Click to fill only the single area you clicked on. The icon will glow yellow.

3. Tool Off: Returns to the brush tool.

Use Shift+B to cycle backward through the modes.
Spin Canvas: Toggles the continuous spinning of the canvas. (Shortcut: L)
Start Auto-Draw: Begins or pauses automated drawing. (Shortcut: S)
Record Video: Starts and stops video recording. (Shortcut: K)
Save/Share Image: Opens a popup with options to save or share the artwork. (Shortcut: D)

6. Recording & Saving Your Creations

After stopping a recording, a preview popup will appear with several options:

Save Video: Downloads the video file to your device. This is the most reliable way to get a high-quality copy.
Share Video: Attempts to share the video using your device's share menu. This may fail depending on your device, browser, and the app you're sharing to (e.g., Android to Messenger).

Troubleshooting Video Sharing

If the "Share Video" button doesn't work or gives you an error, don't worry! This is a common issue with web technology. The best solution is to use the "Save Video" button first, then share the file from your device's gallery.

For detailed instructions on how to fix format issues for specific apps, please see our Video Sharing FAQ.

Mobile Experience & Color Sliders

On mobile devices, the layout is optimized for touch. Controls are organized into tabs: Settings, Brush, Patterns, and Effects.

Real-Time Color Adjustment on Mobile

The Settings tab contains a powerful feature for mobile users: HSL (Hue, Saturation, Lightness) sliders for both the Foreground and Background colors. These sliders allow you to make fine-tuned color adjustments in real-time, even while an automated path is drawing. This lets you create smooth, beautiful color transitions on the go without needing a keyboard.

Pro Tips for Dynamic Drawing ✨

The key to unlocking MandalaSpin's full potential is making adjustments while drawing. This creates organic, evolving patterns that are impossible with static settings. For the best experience, use the keyboard shortcuts detailed in the next section.

Morphing Patterns in Real-Time (Desktop Recommended)

Start an automated path, then play with the path shortcuts. Slowly hold the → key to increase path speed, making the pattern expand. Then, hold ← to slow it down, causing it to contract. Use ↑ and ↓ to change the path's amplitude, making it wider or narrower. This creates a mesmerizing "breathing" effect.

On-the-Fly Color Gradients (Desktop Recommended)

While drawing (manually or with an automated path), create beautiful color transitions within a single stroke. Hold down . to smoothly shift the Hue through the rainbow. Hold ' to increase Saturation for more vibrant colors, or P to increase Lightness and make your colors brighter.

Evolving Brush Strokes (Desktop Recommended)

Change your brush properties mid-stroke for amazing effects. Hold ] to gradually increase the Brush Size, creating lines that swell. Then, hold H to increase the Brush Spacing, which can make a solid line break apart into a trail of dots. Combine these for lines that get bigger and then dissolve.

The Power of Modifiers: Shift

For more dramatic changes, hold Shift while pressing an adjustment key. Shift provides a faster rate of change. This is perfect for rapid transformations in your patterns.

Child-Friendly Mode

MandalaSpin offers a Child-Friendly Mode to create a safer environment for younger artists, in compliance with Google's Families policies. This mode hides all links to social media and other external websites, including all sharing buttons.

How to Enable/Disable: In the footer, click the "Child-Friendly Mode" button to open the Mode Settings popup. Here, you can toggle the mode on or off.
Hiding the Button: For extra safety, the settings popup also includes an option to "Hide Mode Button". If you check this, the main "Child-Friendly Mode" button will be hidden from the page to prevent it from being accidentally changed.

Important: How to Restore a Hidden Button

If you choose to hide the "Child-Friendly Mode" button, the only way to make it reappear is to clear your browser's cache and site data for mandalaspin.com . This will reset the setting and restore the button to its default visible state.

Keyboard Shortcuts (For Desktop Users)

The following shortcuts are available on desktop browsers. For the best experience, use a physical keyboard.

How Adjustments Work: For continuous changes (like size or color), press and hold the key. Hold Shift for faster changes. The adjustment stops when you release the key.

S or Space: Start / Stop Auto Drawing
L: Start / Stop Canvas Spin
K: Start / Stop Recording
D: Save/Share Artwork
B / Shift+B: Cycle Bucket Fill Tool (Forward / Backward)
C: Clear Canvas
Z / Y: Undo / Redo
Q: Toggle Echoes Effect
F / G: Open FG / BG Color Picker
Insert / Delete: Increase / Decrease Symmetry by 1 segment.
M: Toggle Brush Size Pulse On/Off
Shift+M: Cycle Pulse Intensity (Subtle, Medium, Full)
R: Reset current auto-drawing path to its start
1-9, 0: Select brushes 1-10 from the toolbar
[ / ]: Decrease / Increase Brush Size
J / H: Decrease / Increase Brush Spacing
U / I: Decrease / Increase Opacity
N: Decrease / Increase Feather
, / .: Decrease / Increase Hue
; / ': Decrease / Increase Saturation
O / P: Decrease / Increase Lightness
E: Decrease / Increase Halo Size
A / W: Cycle Halo Hue (Counter-Clockwise / Clockwise)
X / V: Decrease / Increase Halo Opacity
- / =: Decrease / Increase Canvas Spin Speed
← / →: Decrease / Increase Path Speed
↓ / ↑: Decrease / Increase Path Amplitude

Ready to create? Go to the MandalaSpin Playground!

Unleash Your Creativity