How to Generate Character Sprites
Design a game character with the Character type: body, facing and pose settings, a clear silhouette, and a base sprite that is ready to rotate and animate.
A good base sprite is the anchor for everything that follows: rotations, animations and edits are all made from it. In this guide we'll generate one that's clean, readable and ready to animate.
Set the Type to Character
In the image generator, set Type to Character. Three extra options appear:
- Body: Humanoid or Quadruped (four-legged animals and creatures).
- Facing: Facing Forward or Facing Right. Rotations and animations work from either.
- Pose: Standing Idle or T-Pose. Idle is better for animation; T-Pose spreads the arms, which suits rigging in the free Skeleton Editor. A side view is always drawn T-posed so the far limbs stay visible.
Facing and Pose don't apply to a Top Down sprite, and quadrupeds don't use Pose.
Match the view to your game
Set Dimension to the camera your game uses:
- 2D: side-on, for platformers and side-scrollers.
- Top Down: for top-down RPGs and adventures.
- Isometric: for isometric games.
Describe a clear silhouette
Name the body type, key gear and one distinctive feature: "a slim ranger with a hooded green cloak and a short bow". A strong silhouette reads at small sizes and survives animation. Leave the view and style out of the prompt; the controls set them.
Lock the style
Choose a Style, a Colour Palette and a Size (64 px is a good default for pixel-art characters, 512 for smooth art) and keep them for the whole cast.
Generate, then pick the best
Generate a few versions on a cheap model and keep the one with the clearest pose and silhouette. Don't chase small details yet; you want a solid base.
Build on the base
Click Edit image to open the keeper in the editor:
- Generate Rotations for all eight facings.
- Animate this image or Animation set for walk, run, attack and more.
- Edit this image for outfit or colour changes that keep the same character.
- Split into parts if you want separate pieces for rigging.
Build the cast
For NPCs and enemies, keep the same settings and change one thing at a time: colour, gear or body shape. That keeps a whole roster looking like one world.