fields

fields is a digital canvas for collaging the internet. images, video, sound, text, and paint layered together into a single living composition.

fields is a homage to to.be, a beloved but now-gone website that let people build works of art from fragments of the web. fields carries that same spirit forward, a place to gather and arrange the things you find online into something completely new.

scroll to zoom, drag empty space to pan around the field. any media you place can be moved, resized, rotated, cropped, painted on, and layered. when you're done, export your field as a .fld file to save, share, or upload to the community channel.

top bar buttons

menu — open the main panel to add images, youtube links, text boxes, and media. also where you create a new field and load the music player.

save — export your field as a .fld file, import a saved field, export as png or html, and lock fields for sharing. connect your are.na account to upload directly to the community channel.

community — browse and load fields shared by other users in the fields community are.na channel. leave comments on fields. you can also share your own field here.

are.na browser — search and browse are.na by user, channel, or block. enter a username to explore their public channels, search for channels by keyword, or search for image blocks by name. add any image directly to your field.

paint — opens the paint toolbar at the bottom. draw directly on the canvas or on top of any media.

♫

music — toggle the music player. paste a bandcamp or soundcloud url in the main menu to load it.

hide — hides the menu bar. move the mouse to the top-left to reveal it again.

adding media

media url — paste an image, youtube, video, or audio url then click add to field. drag & drop files also works.

video loops — set start & end time before adding to loop a clip.

♫

music playback — paste a bandcamp or soundcloud url to add a soundtrack to your field.

text box — add a text box to your field. click once to select, click again to type. drag the top edge to move it. use the toolbar below to change font, size, and colour.

moving & resizing

✥

select and drag an item to move it. drag empty space to pan the canvas. holding shift, you can select multiple items.

⤡

resize — drag the corner handle.

↻

rotate — rotates 90° per click.

✕

delete — removes the item. delete key also works.

⧉

duplicate — copies the item with its paint and size.

stencil — click once: dark pixels opaque, light transparent. click twice: inverted. click three times: resets to original.

lock — locks the item in place so it can't be moved or resized. click again to unlock.

↑↓

layer up / down — moves the item one layer up or down in the stack.

video loop — on youtube embeds, click to open loop controls. set start and end points with the slider or type times directly. use the set button to capture the current playback position.

▪

crop — drag the black edge handles.

paint tools

pencil — consistent hard-edged stroke.

pen — pressure-sensitive felt-tip stroke. drag slowly for thick lines, quickly for thin.

paint brush — soft brush with organic noisy edges.

liquid brush — soft radial airbrush with a glowing centre that builds up with repeated strokes.

spray — radial dot scatter, dense centre fading to edge.

bucket — flood fills under the cursor.

eraser — removes paint from canvas or media.

undo — steps back one stroke. ctrl+z also works.

clear paint — wipes all paint from the canvas.

navigation

scroll to zoom, drag empty space to pan. on touchscreens use two fingers to pan and pinch to zoom. the canvas is 3840×2160px. hold the 'a' key while a paint tool is active to pan without painting.