Image generation best practices

Prompting, references, and model choices that reliably produce usable results.

Use references for consistency, prompts for change

Words are bad at holding a character’s face steady across shots; references are good at it. The reliable pattern is to fix identity with a reference and describe only what changes in the prompt.

Reference: character photo of your lead Prompt: “walking away down a wet alley at night, seen from behind”

Trying to hold identity through description alone is where most inconsistency comes from.

Type your references

A reference typed as character is treated differently from one typed as style. When you pull references from your ideas the type comes across automatically — one more reason to keep idea types accurate in Idea Studio.

Watch what happens when you switch models

Switching models silently changes things:

• Your aspect ratio may move to the nearest supported one
• References beyond the new model’s limit are dropped from the front of the list
• The final prompt is cleared and re-optimized

If a result suddenly looks wrong after a model change, check the reference list first.

Editing means regenerating

WJI has no inpainting, outpainting, background removal, or variations. “Editing” is done by generating again with references plus a prompt template.

The Character template category is built for this — face swap, outfit change, hairstyle, expression, pose, age, gender. Add the original as a reference, apply the template, and generate.

Read the final prompt before an expensive run

The Final prompt tab shows what is actually being sent. Before committing to a large batch or a long video, look at it. Optimization sometimes adds detail you did not intend, and the style preset is appended without appearing in the box.

Keep a seed when you are close

When a result is nearly right, copy its seed from the history card and reuse it while you adjust the prompt. You get variation in what you changed rather than a different image entirely.

Storyboard first, then generate shots individually

Grid mode is excellent for deciding coverage and terrible for final resolution — each cell is a fraction of one image. Use it to choose the shots, then generate the ones you want at full size.

Estimate before you commit

The generate button carries a cost estimate. For per-second models it shows a rate rather than a total, because the charge depends on the duration the model produces.

Generations cannot be cancelled. The estimate is your only checkpoint, so read it — especially before batches and long clips.

Bookmark instead of hunting

History fills up quickly. Bookmark anything you might return to and use the bookmarked filter, or save it to an idea straight away. Searching by scrolling is not a plan.

Save prompts that work

When a prompt produces good results repeatedly, Save as prompt preset. Scoped to a workspace, presets stop everyone on the project reinventing the same phrasing.