Paint Coverage Calculator
How far a quantity of artist paint will go, how much a surface needs, and how thin a glaze can be taken.
Artist paint is sold in 37 millilitre tubes and 200 millilitre jars, and how far a tube goes depends far more on how you paint than on the pigment. A thin glaze covers many times the area that an impasto layer covers from the same tube. This calculator takes the coverage rate you actually work at, the surface and the number of layers, and returns the millilitres needed and the tubes that means.
At a glance
- What you enter
- Surface length, Surface width, Number of layers, How thickly you paint, Your own coverage figure, Extra for an absorbent ground on the first layer, Reserve for paint left on the palette, Tube or jar size, Price per tube
- What you get
- Surface area, Surface area, Surface area, Your coverage rate, Paint for a flat layer, Extra paint the ground drinks, Paint for all the layers, Reserve for the palette, Paint to have on hand, Tubes or jars to buy, Paint you will own, Paint left beyond the layers, Cost of the paint, Millilitres per square metre, Weight to carry home, Layers that quantity would cover
- Formula shown
- Yes, every step, right below your results.
- Cost and privacy
- Free, no account needed, and nothing you type is stored.
See worked examples ↓ Read the FAQ ↓ Share this calculator ↓
Results are estimates for general information only, always verify with a professional or official source before acting on them.
How to use the Paint Coverage Calculator
- 1 Enter Surface length (cm)
- 2 Enter Surface width (cm)
- 3 Enter Number of layers, A first block in, a second pass and a glaze is three. Use 0.5 for a single wash over a large area.
- 4 Enter How thickly you paint, Glazing covers two to three times the area of a flat layer from the same volume. Impasto uses three to five times as much.
- 5 Enter Your own coverage figure (sq m per litre), Leave at zero to use the figure from the choice above. If you have painted this surface before, put your measured figure here.
- 6 Enter Extra for an absorbent ground on the first layer (%), Thirty to fifty percent on unprimed or thinly primed canvas for the first layer only.
- 7 Enter Reserve for paint left on the palette (%), Ten to fifteen percent for a session with fast drying acrylics and repeated mixing.
- 8 Enter Tube or jar size (ml), Common sizes are 37 ml and 200 ml.
- 9 Enter Price per tube, Optional. Used for the paint cost of the piece.
- 10 Press Calculate. You get Surface area, Surface area, Surface area, Your coverage rate, Paint for a flat layer, Extra paint the ground drinks, Paint for all the layers, Reserve for the palette, Paint to have on hand, Tubes or jars to buy, Paint you will own, Paint left beyond the layers, Cost of the paint, Millilitres per square metre, Weight to carry home, Layers that quantity would cover, and every intermediate step stays visible under "How is this calculated?"
- 11 Change one number at a time to see what moves the result, that is usually the most useful thing a calculator can tell you.
Worked examples
Real numbers run through this calculator. Open any example to load it into the form above and change it.
A 40 by 50 cm canvas, three normal layers
Normal working consistency at 10 square metres per litre, two layers after a first, 12 percent palette reserve.
You enter
- Surface length
- 50 cm
- Surface width
- 40 cm
- Number of layers
- 3
- How thickly you paint
- 2
- Your own coverage figure
- 0 sq m per litre
- Extra for an absorbent ground on the first layer
- 0%
- Reserve for paint left on the palette
- 12%
- Tube or jar size
- 37 ml
- Price per tube
- $9.00
You get
- Surface area
- 2,000.00 sq cm
- Surface area
- 0.20 sq m
- Surface area
- 310.00 sq in
- Your coverage rate
- 10.00 sq m per litre
- Paint for a flat layer
- 20.00 ml
- Extra paint the ground drinks
- 0.00 ml
- Paint for all the layers
- 60.00 ml
- Reserve for the palette
- 7.20 ml
- Paint to have on hand
- 67.20 ml
- Tubes or jars to buy
- 2
- Paint you will own
- 74.00 ml
- Paint left beyond the layers
- 14.00 ml
- Cost of the paint
- $18.00
- Millilitres per square metre
- 300.00 ml
- Weight to carry home
- 94.08 g
- Layers that quantity would cover
- 3.70
0.2 square metres, 20 millilitres a layer, so about 60 millilitres plus the reserve, which is two 37 millilitre tubes.
An impasto piece with a thirsty ground
The same canvas, heavily textured, on an absorbent ground.
You enter
- Surface length
- 50 cm
- Surface width
- 40 cm
- Number of layers
- 3
- How thickly you paint
- 4
- Your own coverage figure
- 0 sq m per litre
- Extra for an absorbent ground on the first layer
- 40%
- Reserve for paint left on the palette
- 15%
- Tube or jar size
- 200 ml
- Price per tube
- $34.00
You get
- Surface area
- 2,000.00 sq cm
- Surface area
- 0.20 sq m
- Surface area
- 310.00 sq in
- Your coverage rate
- 3.00 sq m per litre
- Paint for a flat layer
- 66.67 ml
- Extra paint the ground drinks
- 26.67 ml
- Paint for all the layers
- 226.67 ml
- Reserve for the palette
- 34.00 ml
- Paint to have on hand
- 260.67 ml
- Tubes or jars to buy
- 2
- Paint you will own
- 400.00 ml
- Paint left beyond the layers
- 173.33 ml
- Cost of the paint
- $68.00
- Millilitres per square metre
- 1,133.33 ml
- Weight to carry home
- 364.93 g
- Layers that quantity would cover
- 6.00
About 67 millilitres a layer, plus 27 for the ground, so nearly 250 millilitres with the reserve: two jars for one canvas.
A large glazed abstract
A 100 by 120 cm canvas worked in thin glazes.
You enter
- Surface length
- 120 cm
- Surface width
- 100 cm
- Number of layers
- 6
- How thickly you paint
- 1
- Your own coverage figure
- 0 sq m per litre
- Extra for an absorbent ground on the first layer
- 0%
- Reserve for paint left on the palette
- 10%
- Tube or jar size
- 200 ml
- Price per tube
- $30.00
You get
- Surface area
- 12,000.00 sq cm
- Surface area
- 1.20 sq m
- Surface area
- 1,860.00 sq in
- Your coverage rate
- 20.00 sq m per litre
- Paint for a flat layer
- 60.00 ml
- Extra paint the ground drinks
- 0.00 ml
- Paint for all the layers
- 360.00 ml
- Reserve for the palette
- 36.00 ml
- Paint to have on hand
- 396.00 ml
- Tubes or jars to buy
- 2
- Paint you will own
- 400.00 ml
- Paint left beyond the layers
- 40.00 ml
- Cost of the paint
- $60.00
- Millilitres per square metre
- 300.00 ml
- Weight to carry home
- 554.40 g
- Layers that quantity would cover
- 6.67
1.2 square metres at 20 square metres per litre is 60 millilitres a layer, so six glazes is 360 millilitres plus the reserve: two jars cover a large piece.
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Frequently asked questions
How far does a 37 ml tube of paint go?
At a normal working consistency, a 37 millilitre tube covers about 0.3 to 0.44 square metres of surface, which is roughly one and a half to two 40 by 50 centimetre canvases for a single flat layer. Spread over three layers it is well under one canvas, which is why a finished painting uses several tubes. Glazing stretches a tube much further and impasto uses it several times faster.
How much paint do I need for a 40 by 50 cm canvas?
The face is 0.2 square metres. At 10 square metres per litre that is 20 millilitres per flat layer, so three layers is about 60 millilitres, or two 37 millilitre tubes, plus a reserve for the palette. An impasto piece at 3 square metres per litre needs about 67 millilitres per layer, so three layers is 200 millilitres, which is a whole jar for a single heavily textured canvas.
Why does my first layer soak in so much paint?
Because an unprimed or thinly primed ground is porous. The first layer fills the tooth and the absorbent surface rather than sitting on top of it, which can take 30 to 50 percent more paint than the same layer on an already painted surface. Sealing the surface with an extra coat of primer, or starting with a thin wash that is allowed to dry, uses less total paint than fighting a thirsty ground with thick layers.
Does acrylic use more paint than oil?
Acrylic generally uses slightly more by volume, because it dries fast, cannot be reworked once it has set, and is often applied in more layers to build the same depth. Oil stays open, blends on the canvas and can be spread much further with a medium, so a given volume of oil paint often covers more surface. The trade off is drying time and the ventilation that oil painting requires, which is a workshop question rather than a quantity one.
How do I work out my own coverage rate?
Measure the panel you are about to paint, note the volume you start with, then note what is left when the layer is done. A 30 by 40 centimetre panel is 0.12 square metres, so if it takes 12 millilitres, your rate is 10 square metres per litre. Do this once on a spare panel for each of your normal ways of working, and the figures here become your own rather than an average, which is far more useful.