Virtual Painter Using Hand Tracking🎨✋

A Python-based virtual painting app that uses your hand gestures (tracked by MediaPipe) as a brush, powered by OpenCV for real-time webcam drawing. You can select colors, switch brush types, erase, and even clear the canvas — all using just your fingers!

✨ Features

• Hand Tracking using MediaPipe

• Color Selection via gesture-based palette

• Three Brush Types:

  • Normal
  • Spray
  • Calligraphy

• Eraser Tool

• Clear Canvas Gesture

• Brush Toggle Gesture

• Real-time Drawing with Webcam

• Save Drawing with a keypress

🛠️ Technologies Used

• Python 3
• OpenCV
• MediaPipe
• NumPy

📦 Installation

1. Clone this repository

git clone https://github.com/evitabarboza/Virtual-Painter-Using-Hand-Tracking
.git
cd Virtual-Painter-Using-Hand-Tracking

2. Create virtual environment (optional but recommended)

python -m venv venv
source venv/bin/activate  # On Windows: venv\Scripts\activate

3. Install dependencies

pip install opencv-python mediapipe numpy

▶️ Running the App

python app.py

• A webcam window will open.
• Use hand gestures to draw and control the interface (explained below).

✋ Gesture Controls

Gesture	Action
Index finger + Middle up	Select color from top palette
Only Index finger up	Draw on the canvas
All 5 fingers up	Clear the entire canvas
Index + Middle + Ring fingers up	Toggle brush type (Normal → Spray → Calligraphy)
Thumb up	Not used

🎨 Tools & UI Elements

• Top Palette: Select from 8 predefined colors (last is Eraser).

• Brush Types:

  • Normal: Basic line
  • Spray: Simulated spray effect using random noise
  • Calligraphy: Elliptical strokes like a flat nib pen

• Brush Size: Fixed size (can be modified in code)

• Eraser: Last palette color (black), larger thickness

• Save Drawing: Press s key to save your artwork

• Quit Application: Press q

🖼️ Output

Your saved drawing will be stored as:

my_virtual_painting.png

📁 File Structure

Virtual-Painter-Using-Hand-Tracking/
│
├── app.py       # Main Python script
├── README.md    # This file

🔧 Customization Tips

• Change brush thickness: modify brush_thickness and eraser_thickness.
• Add more brush styles or gestures.
• Use dynamic thickness via finger distance.
• Extend for multiple hand support.

📜 License

This project is open source under the MIT License.

🤝 Contributing

Pull requests are welcome. For major changes, please open an issue first to discuss what you'd like to change.

🙋‍♀️ Author

Evita Barboza

Feel free to reach out at evitabarboza195@gmail.com.