English Version
Shiwen is a creative pattern design tool for discovering pattern inspiration in everyday images.
A photo, a window, a piece of fabric, or even a casual doodle can become the starting point for a new design. Shiwen helps transform familiar materials into unique motifs and patterns, letting you explore new visual possibilities through variation and order.
Photos, camera, and saving permissions
| Permission or feature | How it is used |
| Photo picker | Used when you choose a source image. Shiwen receives only the images you select and uses them to create patterns. |
| Camera | Requested when you choose to take a source photo. Shiwen does not access the camera in the background. |
| Add to Photos | On iPhone and iPad, requested when a PNG, JPG, or TIFF — including a mockup PNG — is written to Photos. PDF and PSD do not use the photo library. |
| File save | On Mac, every export is written to a location you choose. On iPhone and iPad, PDF and PSD use the system file panel, as does “Save to Files” after Photos permission is denied. |
| System share sheet | Opened when you choose Share. Your work is sent only to the app, person, or service you select. |
You can review or revoke these permissions in system Settings. Revoking a permission affects only the related feature.
2.3.0 print export, formats, and mockups
- The download page can export a unit tile or a full image. Mandala and Spiral are compositions: full image only, no unit tile.
- Default DPI is 300 and is written into the file you save (the PNG, JPG, and TIFF headers, the PSD resolution resource; PDF uses it for the page’s physical size). For unit tiles, custom sizes, and social presets, changing DPI changes physical size and that file information, not pixels. Paper sizes (A3 / A4 and similar) keep their print dimensions; changing DPI changes pixels.
- Download formats are PNG, JPG, PDF, PSD, and TIFF. There is no SVG. Each visit to the download page starts on PNG. JPG and PDF fill transparent cutout areas with white. Save to Gallery is still PNG.
- Without Pro: sampling output tops out at 2048 px; unit-tile and full-image width, height, and DPI cannot be changed; full image can only switch among 3:4 / 9:16 / 16:9 / 4:3; downloads can be PNG or JPG. Pro can raise sampling output to 5000 px, choose paper, the remaining social presets, or a custom size, and download PDF, PSD, or TIFF.
- Editor preview still uses 384 px while dragging and 1024 px when settled. Downloads re-render at the pixels you chose; they are not an upscale of the preview.
- Profile can store a watermark signature of at most 20 characters. The download-page watermark switch is off by default and appears only for PNG and JPG. When on, the stamp is applied on-device to the current preview and those two exports. PDF, PSD, and TIFF are not watermarked.
- Mockups composite your pattern onto product photos shipped inside the app. That composite stays on the device. A mockup download is PNG only, with no watermark: Photos on iPhone and iPad, the system save panel on Mac.
Data storage
- The current version does not require an account or sign-in.
- Selected images, cutouts, generated patterns, mockup composites, Gallery projects, and the watermark signature are stored locally on your device by default and are not uploaded to Shiwen servers. Style processing, cutout, AI HD, print-size calculation, format encoding, mockup compositing, and HD export also run on-device.
- In-app purchases are processed by Apple StoreKit. Anonymous product analytics use PostHog. These services do not receive your source images or patterns.
- Local projects remain until you delete them in Gallery or uninstall the app. The watermark signature remains until you change or clear it in Profile, or uninstall the app.
- Copies saved to Photos, a Mac file, or another service must be deleted separately from those destinations.
- If system backup is enabled, Apple may back up app data according to your iCloud and device backup settings.
Privacy policy
Read the complete Shiwen Privacy Policy.
Contact
For support, email yousabrina@me.com. Include your device model, system version, and a short description of the issue. Do not attach unnecessary private photos or sensitive information.