Talking to your Assistant by voice
You don’t have to type to use ArtHelper. Anywhere there’s a microphone button — in the chat with your Assistant, in your profile’s longer writing fields, and a few other places — you can tap and just talk. ArtHelper transcribes what you say into text. This article shows you where the microphone is, how to use it, and how to get a clean transcription.
Where the microphone button lives
The microphone button is a small icon that looks like a mic. Look for it in these places:
In the chat with your Assistant — to the side of the message box where you’d normally type.
Next to your profile story — on the longer-form story field in Settings → Profile.
Next to your artist statement — same page, the longer artist-statement field.
Next to your bio — the shorter bio field on your profile.
How to record
Click the microphone icon. The first time, your browser will ask permission to use your microphone — click Allow.
You’ll see the button change to a red square and a small audio wave to show recording is on.
Speak naturally. There’s no time pressure — talk in full sentences as if you’re explaining the painting to a friend.
When you’re done, click the red square to stop recording.
ArtHelper transcribes what you said and drops the text into the field. You can edit it from there.
Voice is especially good for artist statements and stories. Many artists find it easier to talk about their work than to write about it — try recording a two-minute description of a piece and then editing the transcript into a finished paragraph.
Getting a clean transcription
A few small things make a noticeable difference in how accurate the transcription is.
Find a quiet spot. Background music, a TV, or a fan picks up easily.
Hold the device about a hand’s-width from your mouth if you’re on a phone. Too close distorts; too far loses words.
Speak in full sentences. Pauses are fine — the transcription handles them — but trail-offs in the middle of thoughts are harder for it to clean up.
Don’t worry about commas and periods. Punctuation is added automatically. You can clean up anything that’s wrong after.
Editing the transcript
Once your words are in the text field, treat them like a first draft. Read through, fix anything that came through wrong, tighten a sentence, then save. If you’d like the Assistant to polish the language — for example, tighten a long passage or make it more formal — click the wand icon next to the same field to generate a polished version based on what you said.
Common questions
The microphone button doesn’t appear — what should I check?
Make sure you’re on a supported browser (Chrome, Safari, Firefox, Edge — recent versions of any of them work). On a desktop, you’ll also need to allow microphone permissions when prompted. On a phone, voice works in the mobile browser the same way as on desktop.
My browser blocked the microphone — how do I unblock it?
Look for a small camera or microphone icon in your browser’s address bar. Click it and switch the microphone setting from Block to Allow for arthelper.com. Refresh the page.
Is my voice recording stored anywhere?
The recording is sent to a transcription service to be turned into text and then discarded. ArtHelper keeps the transcript (the words you said) just like it would keep anything else you typed, but not the audio itself.
Can I record in a language other than English?
Yes. The transcription handles the same languages ArtHelper supports throughout the app — English, Spanish, German, French, and Portuguese. The system follows the language your account is set to.
Is there a limit on how long I can record?
You can speak for several minutes at a time without trouble. For very long pieces, record in shorter bursts and stitch them together in the text field — that gives you a chance to check the transcription as you go.