Frequently Asked Questions: Characters, Worlds, Assets

Where do I add and edit characters?

In the issue workspace, open the Cast pane in the left rail. Add a character there, or click an existing one to edit it. Assets live in the neighbouring Assets pane.

You can also just ask Sidekick for a character. It opens the Cast editor pre-filled with a name, description, and any reference image you attached — you review the values and save, rather than having a character appear behind your back.

Full guide: defining characters.

Does adding a character to my Cast put them in the comic?

No. The Cast is your roster; each panel has its own cast list. A character has to be added to a specific panel before the AI will draw them there, and a page has to be regenerated after you change its panels.

If you add characters after a script already exists, the fastest route is to ask Sidekick to work them into the script — it edits the panels rather than making you assign each one by hand.

How do I upload a reference photo for a character?

Open the character in the Cast pane and scroll to the reference image field. Upload the photo, then save and regenerate so the character's art is built from it.

Two things worth knowing:

• Reference photos are deleted after generation. ComicInk doesn't keep your uploads on file. When you regenerate that character later, the edit modal opens so you can re-upload if you want to reuse the photo.
• Ordinary photos of children are allowed. An image is never rejected just because a child appears in it. Sexual imagery, and anything sexualizing a minor, is blocked. See the content policy.

Can I use a page I've already made as the reference?

Yes, for a character or an asset — and it's the right move when you want something to match art you already like.

While you're looking at a rendered page, ask Sidekick to create or edit a character or an asset. The editor opens with that page already loaded as the reference image, and you add a line saying which part of it matters: "copy the scoreboard", "match the jacket", "same colours as this". Without that instruction the AI decides for itself what the point of the image is, and a whole comic page contains a lot of candidates.

ComicInk takes a copy of the page for this. Your page is never touched and never consumed — reference images are deleted after generation, and the thing that gets deleted is the copy.

Can I choose a reference from art I've already made?

Yes. In any character, asset or location editor, under the reference image field, use Or choose from this comic. It opens a picker of everything already generated in the comic:

• Pages — every rendered page and cover, across all issues
• Cast — character portraits and their alternate looks
• Assets — asset art and variants
• Locations — location art, in the video studio

Pick one and it loads into the reference field just like an upload. ComicInk uses a copy, so the page or portrait you picked is never changed, consumed or removed — reference images get deleted after generation, and the thing deleted is the copy.

Two things worth knowing:

• The picker only lists art that has actually been generated. A character you've created but not yet generated won't appear.
• When you pick a page, say which part of it you mean in the description — "copy the ship, ignore the rest". A page holds a lot of candidates, and naming yours is the difference between the reference working and the AI guessing.

Can I reuse the artwork from one page somewhere else?

Not by copying it across. This is the most common request ComicInk genuinely cannot satisfy, so it's worth knowing what to do instead.

Artwork is always built fresh from a description; nothing lifts an existing drawing and places it elsewhere. So an instruction like "copy what you did before" has nothing to act on, and rephrasing it won't help.

What actually produces consistency is making the thing an asset:

1. Create an asset and describe the look in detail — colours, materials, lettering, layout.
2. Generate its art once. That image becomes the visual ground truth.
3. Reference the asset on every panel where it should appear.

Now every page is drawn from the same definition instead of from a guess. If the thing changes through the story — a scoreboard whose numbers climb, a wall that gets more damaged — make one asset per state, keep the description of the look word-for-word identical between them, and change only the part that differs. Then reference the right state on the right panel.

The same applies to a character: the avatar is what keeps their face stable across pages, not the previous page's art.

Why was my reference photo rejected?

It failed content moderation. Use a different image, or skip the photo entirely and describe the character in words — hair colour, complexion, build, age, clothing. A specific written description produces consistent results without any photo at all.

How do I tell the AI which part of a reference image to copy?

Add a short instruction in the description field below the reference image. "Copy the dress", "copy the hat", "match the hairstyle" — naming the element you care about gives you far more control than leaving it blank, because otherwise the AI decides for itself which parts of the image are the point.

Can I make a character that looks like a real person?

You can write about them; you usually can't get their face.

Stories about real people are allowed — a biography, a historical figure, a comic set around real events. What stops at the last step is the likeness: the image models we use refuse to render identifiable real public figures, so the character generates with a face of its own rather than theirs. That refusal comes from the image provider, not from ComicInk's own rules.

So name them in the script freely, and describe the qualities you're after in the character description — the build, the era of the clothing, the bearing — and you'll get the feel without the likeness.

Can a character have more than one look?

Yes — that's what avatars are for. Up to 5 avatars per character, each a different outfit or period, with the same face and body. You then pick which look a given panel uses, so a character can change clothes between pages without becoming a different person.

See character avatars.

What does it cost to add or regenerate a character?

A flat 10 credits, every time — the first character and the fiftieth regeneration cost the same. The same flat cost applies to avatars, assets, worlds, and series title images. There is no free quota and no free regenerations.

There's also a free Save on the character edit modal: if you're only changing the name or description and don't need new art, save without regenerating and you're not charged.

Full breakdown: character costs and what costs credits.

How many characters and assets can a series hold?

50 characters and 50 assets per series. Characters are defined once and reused free across every issue in that series — you only pay when you first define one.

What happens if I delete a character?

The character is removed from the roster, and no credits are refunded. If a script already references them, ask Sidekick to rewrite the affected panels around the remaining cast — otherwise pages regenerated later will still be trying to stage a character that no longer exists.

Why does the cover show characters I didn't ask for?

Your cover description mentions characters that aren't in the cover's selected cast. The description and the selection have to agree — the AI takes names in the description as an instruction to draw someone, and invents a figure if it can't match one.

Trim the description to only the characters you actually selected, then regenerate the cover.

What's the difference between an asset and a world?

An asset is a specific object that must look the same every time it appears — a particular car, a sword, a locket, a spaceship. A world is a place and its atmosphere — the city, the station, the forest, and how they feel.

There's a third thing that isn't either: the Setting field on an issue, which is free text describing where that issue happens. It doesn't generate an image. See reusable assets and worlds and settings.

Are my characters saved automatically?

Yes. Characters, assets, and worlds save as you create them and belong to the series, so they're there whenever you open it. They're scoped to that series, though — a character defined in one series isn't available in another.

If you want a character in a different project, ask Sidekick to copy characters between projects rather than redefining them by hand.

Updated on: 11/09/2026