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Install on Windows

Time: 3 minutes.

Requirements

  • Windows 10 (version 1809 or later) or Windows 11.
  • x64 CPU.
  • 1.5 GB free disk for the app and its caches.
  • A GPU that supports DirectX 12 (any GPU from the last 8 years).

ARM64 Windows is not yet supported.

Download

Go to the latest release on GitHub and download:

File Use
Elysium-Designer-<version>-windows-x64-setup.exe Recommended installer
Elysium-Designer-<version>-windows-x64.zip Portable, no installer

Install

  1. Double-click the downloaded .exe. The Inno Setup wizard opens.
  2. Choose Install for me only (per-user, no admin) or Install for all users (system-wide, requires admin). Per-user is the recommended default and works without UAC.
  3. Pick the install location. The default is %LocalAppData%\Programs\Elysium Designer (per-user) or C:\Program Files\Elysium Designer (all users).
  4. Click Install. Inno Setup copies the bundle into place, creates a Start menu entry, and (optionally) a Desktop shortcut.
  5. Tick Launch Elysium Designer and click Finish.

SmartScreen

The installer is signed with an Authenticode certificate, but Microsoft Defender SmartScreen accumulates "reputation" over time. On the first download you may see:

Windows protected your PC. Microsoft Defender SmartScreen prevented an unrecognized app from starting.

Click More info, then click the Run anyway button that appears. This dialog only shows up while the signing certificate is still new; after a few thousand downloads SmartScreen stops warning on it automatically.

If your organization blocks SmartScreen "Run anyway" entirely, the portable zip below sidesteps the installer.

Portable zip

If you cannot install or do not want to:

  1. Download Elysium-Designer-<version>-windows-x64.zip.
  2. Right-click the file, choose Properties, tick Unblock, and click OK. This removes the Mark of the Web that Windows attaches to downloaded files.
  3. Extract the zip anywhere you like (a USB drive works).
  4. Run ElysiumDesigner.exe from the extracted folder.

The portable build is byte-for-byte the same binary as the installed one; it just skips Inno Setup.

First launch

The Designer opens to a splash screen, then the main window. Follow the first run guide for the brief setup that comes next.

Permissions

The Designer asks Windows for the following on first use:

Capability When Why
File access (selected folder) First save / first project open Read and write your project on disk
Camera Window > Capture > Webcam Pull a frame from the camera as a reference
Tablet / pen input First brush stroke with a pen Read pressure, tilt, rotation from Wacom or Surface Pen

Windows handles these inline; there is no separate permissions manager to visit ahead of time.

Updating

Help > Check for Updates checks the GitHub Releases feed and installs new versions in-place. The installer signs each update with the same certificate, so Windows will not re-trigger SmartScreen for later releases.

Tick or untick Check for updates automatically in Preferences > Updates.

Uninstall

Use Settings > Apps > Installed apps, find Elysium Designer, click the three-dot menu, and choose Uninstall. To also clear caches and preferences, follow Uninstall and reset.