Create a reference with the assistant

A mascot that doesn’t exist yet, a product still at the mock-up stage, a character invented to keep coming back in your posts: there’s no photo to hand over. The assistant starts from what you tell it, and you are the one who picks the face.

Before you start

On the “References” page, the arrow next to “New reference” opens “Other ways to create a reference”: pick “With the assistant” — “Describe it: three castings, then its sheet.” While the library is still empty, the “With the assistant” button sits next to “From photos.”

If you do have photos of the subject, start from them instead: create a reference from photos. A sheet drawn from real photos is more faithful than an invented face.

The interview

The window has two sides: the conversation on the left, the castings and the “Profile in progress” on the right. The assistant always opens the same way: “Who do you want to bring to life in your posts? A character, a product, a place: describe it as you would to someone who has never seen it.”

1. Describe it your own way

   Type in “Reply, or describe it your own way…”: a name, a role, a look, what people should recognize. ↵ sends, ⇧ ↵ starts a new line, and the field shows what a turn costs.

2. Answer the questions

   The assistant asks one question at a time, with ready-made answers as chips: one click is enough. When the question says “you can pick several,” tick as many as you need, then “Answer.” You can always reply something else, in your own words.

3. Watch the profile fill in

   On the right, the profile takes shape with every turn: the type, the “Name,” the “Handle,” “In one sentence,” then the traits of what never changes — the latest one marked “just now” — and “What can change.” The “Sheet rendering” is set in advance: “Neutral · plain background, even light.”

4. Correct it by hand

   Everything is edited in place, and “Add a trait” adds one. A trait you touch switches to “you”: the assistant won’t replace it anymore, and it reads your corrections on the next turn.

Three castings, then the sheet

As soon as the profile is enough — the assistant says so, or three traits are written — the castings panel tells you: “The profile is enough: draw the castings, or add more detail.” It only needs a name: without one, “Give it a name to draw the castings.”

1. Draw three castings

   “Draw three castings” carries its cost. Three takes on the same profile come in, square and in a neutral rendering, each with its own nuance: softer features, sharper features or one memorable detail for a person; a classic, a more refined or a bolder version for a product or a place. The reference then enters the library as a draft, at no cost.

2. Pick one

   “Choose a face; the sheet keeps it exactly.” None of them works? “Three more” draws three new ones, or keep the interview going to sharpen the profile first.

3. Draw its sheet

   “Draw its sheet”: the chosen casting becomes the reference’s photo, and the sheet starts from it, in a neutral rendering — “the style will come from each post.” From there it’s the same as creating from photos: the sheet is drawn, the profile “Written with the assistant” is reviewed, then “Save the reference.”

Close it, then pick it back up

You don’t have to finish in one go. As soon as the profile says something — a trait, a sentence — closing the window keeps it: “Draft kept in References,” and any castings or sheet in progress carry on without you. The “Draft · to finish” card waits in the library; click it to reopen the assistant where it left off — “Picking Mrs. Rossi up where you left off: the profile is on the right. Keep describing, or move on to the castings.”

What’s next

Once the reference is saved, try it before calling it in a post: “Try in a scene” shows it in a 4:5 image, in the style of your posts — it’s covered in create a reference from photos. Then call it with @ wherever it appears.