As a painter, you’re probably always on the lookout for good, affordable tools for your painting contractor business, whether it’s brushes and sprayers, or even painting software. And yet, sometimes painters overlook technology and how it can help grow a painting business. From our experience, the best apps and software for painting contractors are the ones that:
- Fit well with what you’re already doing, while also . . .
- Opening you up to new opportunities.
Let me show you what I mean. I’ll share our top picks for painting apps and software along with how they can support and expand the great things you’re already doing with your painting business.
1) Color Visualization Apps
If you’ve spent even a little time look for painting contractor apps, you know there are plenty of options for color visualization tools. These apps allow you to take an image of a wall or room and superimpose possible paint color choices. This allows your customer to narrow down what they want, and also helps you communicate clearly about their vision.
Many of these apps tie back to a specific paint manufacturer, and that can be okay, especially if you prefer working with a certain brand.
For example, a popular choice is the Color Snap Visualizer by Sherwin-Williams, which is pretty darn cool, because it suggests colors based on your picture’s color palate. We like these manufacturer apps and will even suggest some in the following section, but when it comes to working with your customer, just be sure you check out these manufacturer-independent apps first, which can offer nice product flexibility.
Paint and Finishes Project Organizer (iOS, Android)
This app truly has the feel of a swatch book or other physical sample organizers designers use. The Paint and Finishes Project Organizer lets you snap a pic and apply color changes, like the other apps we suggest in this section. But it also allows you to select the type of material the paint will be used on, which adds depth to the experience and also helps with other areas of a property (not just walls).
Also, the app offers the ability to group color options by room or other areas of the customer’s home or office, as well as notes and labels to really keep the creative side of your projects organized.
Get It: Paint and Finishes Project Organizer for iOS or Android
Paint My Place (iOS)
As their website tagline says, ” Paint Your Home Using Your Phone”. Yes, it’s only for iPhone or iPad at the time of this writing, but this app is very popular and allows you to snap a picture then see different color choice, like I just described. And while it’s great for walls and exteriors, it can also work for other aspects of a property, like roofs or fences, which could come in very handy for your projects. You can even save color schemes and post your work to social media.
Get It: Paint My Place for Apple (iOS)
Paint Tester (iOS, Android)
Paint Tester has a unique user experience. In this app, paint is applied as the user watches, which is just a more dramatic effect. You can apply color to specific areas or items in the image using brush and fill, and even tools for brightness and other controls. It also features snazzy sharing options to popular social networks and email, helping you communicate with clients.
Get It: Paint Tester for Apple and Android
2) Painting Product Apps
We think it makes sense to pinpoint a specific manufacturer for how-to’s, manual references, and paint product estimators apps. Each of these is pretty similar, though you’ll want to check the specifics before downloading. Luckily, most of these are free because they want you to use their paint products!
Connector App for Titan
Check sprayer compatibility, sales tools like coupons and promotions, manuals, and more.
Get It: Titan Connector App for iOS or Android
Paint Calculator for Sherwin Williams (iOS, Android)
Find estimated product amounts based on specific project dimensions, and other tools.
Get It: Sherwin-Williams Paint Calculator for iOS or Android
. . .and so on. There are more of these types of apps, so just search online for the name of your favorite manufacturer and “app”. Also, while this isn’t as convenient as an app, many brands feature online visualizers and estimators, such as Olympic’s Online Visualizer.
3) Community Apps
PaintTalk (Android)
Find solutions, help others, and build your network with other painters. If you already regularly check in on Painttalk, or you’re looking for an online forum community for painting contractors, this app helps you stay connected more easily. You never know where it might lead! Unfortunately, it is not available for Apple devices, at the time of this writing.
Get It: PaintTalk App for Android
4) CRM and Project Management Apps
JobNimbus for Desktop and Mobile (iOS, Android, and Web)
When it comes to connecting your team and getting business done, you could use a bunch of tools, but it really makes more sense to check out an all-in-one solution, especially when it’s as affordable, simple yet power-packed, and customizable as JobNimbus. Sure, we’re biased, but we also have the customer feedback to prove it!
- 95% of JobNimbus customers reported better organization since using JobNimbus.
- 9 out of 10 JobNimbus customers reported improved team communication.
- Customers report that JobNimbus saves each person on their team an average of 6-10 hours each week.
Get It: JobNimbus for iOS, Android, or Web
Keep on learnin'
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