Start close, then refine

Most character tools start from a blank prompt. Muse starts from an image. You pick a starter portrait close to what you have in mind, or your own photo or creation, and then steer the face toward the character you want, one change at a time. It is easier to say "softer" or "older" about a face you can see than to describe one from nothing.

Each refinement changes the face and keeps the rest of the picture: the outfit, the body, the pose, and the setting stay as they are. The versions you make line up in a strip beside the image, each one building on the one before it, so you can follow the face as it changes and go back to any earlier version to try another direction.

When a version feels right, press Create Character to save it with an @handle and use it in your other generations.

The starters are portraits of women and men in a range of looks, outfits, and settings. Since the presets work on the face, pick the starter whose outfit, body, and setting are closest to what you want, even if the face is not. Browse a few before you choose: the right starter saves several steps later.

To refine a face you already have, choose Start with your image and upload a portrait or pick one of your creations. A clear portrait with the face toward the camera gives the face presets the most to work with.

Each preset moves the face in one direction, as its name says. Cute, Doll, and Soft lean gentle and youthful. Chiseled, Sharp, and Rough lean defined and rugged. Elegant refines the features, Freckled adds freckles, and Mature adds age.

Apply one preset per step and look at the result before the next one. A second step in the same direction pushes a trait further, and a preset that leans the other way pulls it back.

• One preset per step.
• Repeat a preset to push a trait further.
• Go back to an earlier version when a step goes the wrong way.

For anything the presets do not cover, write the change in a few words: "brown wavy hair", "green eyes", "a small scar over the left eyebrow", "a short beard". Short, concrete changes work best.

Describe one or two changes per step instead of the whole person, because the image already carries everything else. Name the feature and how it should change, such as "shorter, darker hair", rather than describing the hair from scratch.

Each step builds on the one before, so small changes add up. After several steps, compare the newest version with the first one in the strip: it is easy to drift away from the character you started with without noticing. If the face has moved too far, go back to the version you liked best and continue from there.

Changes that pull in opposite directions undo each other. Asking for a sharper face and then a softer one leaves you close to where you started, a few steps later. Decide the direction first, such as older and more rugged, then pick presets and changes that all lean that way.

Stop when the face reads as the character at a glance. Save it, then make a character sheet when you need side and back views.

A saved character works across Mage: mention its @handle in a prompt, or pick it in apps such as Scene Builder, Outfit Swap, and Video Character Swap. Turn it into a character sheet for front, side, and back views of the same character.

To build a character from a list of traits instead, use Character Builder: Attributes. For more ways to design characters, see the AI character generator.