Overview
Blask is a set of heads-up display panels for digital painting in Adobe® Photoshop®. You invoke a desired panel by holding a dedicated shortcut, modify the displayed value with your pointer, release the shortcut keys and the set value is applied. The main goal is to ease access to the most essential parameters while painting and reduce the number of pointer clicks and movements across the screen.
Two cooperating parts
Section titled “Two cooperating parts”| Part | What it is | Where it runs |
|---|---|---|
| Blask App | A small Windows background app (Blask.exe) that lives in the system tray. It watches for your keyboard shortcuts and draws the floating HUD panels over the screen. | Windows desktop / system tray |
| Blask Plugin | A Photoshop UXP panel that talks to Photoshop’s scripting API to read and write the current color, brush opacity, flow, etc. | Inside Photoshop (Plugins menu) |
The two halves talk over a local-only connection on your own machine (a
WebSocket on localhost, port 8765). Nothing about your artwork ever leaves your
computer.
A typical interaction
Section titled “A typical interaction”- While using for eg. brush tool you hold a shortcut (e.g. Alt+O for Opacity).
- An opacity slider appears.
- Move the pointer horizontally to dial the value.
- You release the key. The app tells the Plugin the chosen value, and the Plugin applies it to Photoshop’s brush opacity value.
Because the panel appears at the cursor and disappears on release, there is no clicking back and forth. It behaves like a momentary, spring-loaded control.
At a glance
Section titled “At a glance”- Platform: Windows 10 / 11
- Requires: Adobe Photoshop 2024 (24.0) or newer
- Internet: required for activation and for a brief license re-check at startup. Blask keeps working offline for up to 14 days between checks
- Version: 1.0.0