Turn a photo into a portrait, character sheet or art style

More than half of the prompts in Prompt Gallery start from a photo you give the image tool: "the subject from the reference photo". They turn a selfie into a profile picture, a character sheet, a fashion collage, an anime version of you. This lesson shows how to use them and get a result that still looks like the person.

#Find the prompts that take a photo

Search for reference photo in Prompt Gallery. Good places to start:

• People & Characters: Character Sheets, Photo Portraits, Profile & Social, Collectibles, Covers & Posters, "You, But Famous"
• Art Styles: your subject as a painting, anime, a 3D toy, a poster
• Photography: editorial and fashion looks, cinematic stills, photo edits

Most of them say it in their first line, like "Build a character reference sheet of the subject from the reference photo."

#Pick a good photo

The result can only keep what the photo shows. A good reference:

• Shows the face clearly, facing the camera or slightly turned
• Is sharp and evenly lit, without a strong shadow across the face
• Has nothing covering the face: no sunglasses, no hand, no hair over the eyes
• Is a single person, unless the prompt asks for more

A phone photo by a window in daylight is usually better than a dim party picture with a filter.

#Read how the prompt protects the face

Open Selfie to Character Sheet and read the prompt. Like most photo prompts, it has an Identity part:

Identity: Preserve the exact facial identity, bone structure, skin tone and hair
of the reference with no stylisation of the face. The character must be identical
in every panel: same face, same hair, same clothing, same proportions.

And its negative prompt lists what to avoid, like inconsistent faces between panels and changing hairstyle. These lines are why the prompts work: they tell the model to change the style, not the person. Keep them when you customize.

#Run it with your photo

In your image tool:

1. Attach or upload your photo first, as the image reference
2. Paste the prompt
3. Add the negative prompt where your tool takes one (see the lesson on adapting prompts)

Tools that edit from a reference photo work best here. The prompt's example image shows what it made.

#Only use photos you may use

Use your own photo, or one of someone who agreed. The prompts include a line that keeps results original:

Keep it original: do not depict any celebrity or real public figure other than
the subject of the reference photo...

Leave it in. It keeps you away from look-alikes of famous people and copies of existing characters, which image tools often refuse anyway.

#Try the art styles on yourself

Once a portrait works, the same photo goes through the Art Styles category: a painting, anime and manga, a comic, a 3D toy, a handmade craft look. It is the quickest way to see which style suits a profile picture or an avatar.

The next lesson changes prompts to fit you: placeholders, your own details and the aspect ratio.