# Generate an image from a character or a standalone prompt

> **Review scope:** Linked public documentation checked October 30, 2026. Examples are proposed checks, not recorded OD results; use your account's current controls.

This lesson creates Mira in the archive and then explains a two-person alternative. **Generation** makes a new image from the supplied inputs. It is different from editing an existing picture.

An image **model** is the selected generator. A **preset** supplies a ready-made pose, outfit, or background instruction. The **scene prompt** describes the current picture. **CPD**, meaning **Custom Physical Details**, supplies permanent appearance when the selected-character workflow includes it.

## 1 Choose the route

Open [Generate](https://ourdream.ai/generate). Decide whether to select an existing character or use an available standalone option, sometimes labeled **Free Play**. The public page describes both routes; the account's current interface determines which controls you see.

For the first exercise, select Mira. Verify that you chose the intended character, not simply a similar cover image. Confirm her record describes a 30-year-old adult woman with warm brown skin, brown eyes, black shoulder-length braids, and a lean build.

## 2 Inspect the inputs already active

Locate the model selector and record its label. Look at pose, outfit, and background selections before typing. A seated preset can oppose a request to stand.

For this exercise, use custom controls where available and remove only selections that conflict with the example. Do not assume that an empty-looking field disables every underlying preset.

Check custom-prompt access before preparing the comparison. The public [Generate form](https://ourdream.ai/generate), read November 1, 2026, labels **Custom prompt** as **Premium** and shows an upgrade message. If your chosen route locks that field, pause this custom-prompt exercise or use the controls your account actually offers. Having enough dreamcoins does not by itself establish access to a locked control; do not paste the scene into permanent CPD to work around it.

Follow [the style lesson](05_Art_Styles.md) if you need to choose a medium. Keep the first comparison free of additional style experiments.

## 3 Enter the selected character scene

Paste this into the **custom scene prompt**, not Mira's permanent appearance field:

```text
navy jacket over a cream shirt, dark trousers, standing beside archive
shelves, holding a closed folder at waist level, eye-level waist-up view,
soft window daylight
```

The Known State gallery workflow says selected-character Generate receives the character's permanent appearance. That is why this exercise puts only changing details in the scene; it is not a guarantee about every other generation or editing route. [Scene versus appearance](https://guide.ourdream.ai/characters/photo-shoot-and-gallery)

Read the request once as a picture: one person, specified clothes, a readable pose, archive shelves, and simple illumination.

## 4 Review and generate

Check the displayed cost, batch size, and any exposed settings before pressing **Generate** once. Start with the smallest useful batch. Keep the returned images even when you prefer only one; failures are useful comparison evidence. If the request appears stuck, inspect its status and gallery before submitting again so an uncertain response does not become a duplicate paid request.

The target is recognizable Mira in the requested jacket and archive. Do not judge the attempt solely by polish. Check hair, face, skin tone, clothing, crop, and unwanted extra people separately.

Save the prompt with the image identifier or filename. Record what was correct and what needs revision.

## 5 Use a standalone prompt when no card is selected

A standalone input cannot rely on Mira's name to supply her physical definition. For an available standalone route, paste this complete example into its prompt field:

```text
30-year-old adult woman with warm brown skin, brown eyes, black
shoulder-length braids, and a lean build; navy jacket over a cream shirt,
dark trousers; standing beside archive shelves, holding a closed folder;
eye-level waist-up view, soft window daylight
```

This creates a new interpretation. It does not reproduce the pixels of an earlier picture.

## 6 Add Rowan deliberately

For a two-person standalone exercise, replace the single-person prompt with:

```text
Mira on image left: 30-year-old adult woman, warm brown skin, brown eyes,
black shoulder-length braids, lean build, navy jacket.
Rowan on image right: 32-year-old adult man, light skin, green eyes,
short red hair, freckles, gray courier jacket.
Both stand beside archive shelves, facing one another, hands relaxed;
eye-level waist-up view, soft window daylight.
```

The target is two distinct adults. Rowan's profession motivates his presence; the visible jacket remains an explicit scene choice.

**Checkpoint:** You can explain whether the current input gets identity from a selected card or from the prompt itself.

## Three common problems

1. **Unexpected clothes or pose:** inspect active scene presets before rewriting Mira.
2. **Hair or eye colors swap between people:** shorten each person's clause and keep position, identity, and clothing together.
3. **The scene ignores a revision:** return to the previous prompt and change one phrase. Record whether the actual combined prompt is available instead of guessing what reached the model.

Next: [Edit an existing image](07_Edit_Images.md). Back: [Art styles](05_Art_Styles.md) or the [Tutorial index](README.md).