AI Image Generation

Beginner · 10 min read

Chitmunk can generate card art using AI, directly within the editor. Describe what you want in a text prompt, and an AI model creates an illustration for you. Combined with CSV data merge, you can generate unique art for every card in your deck automatically.

AI Models

Chitmunk offers two tiers of AI art:

Standard is fast and versatile — great for exploring ideas, generating placeholder art, and iterating on prompts. Most card games look great with Standard art.

Premium models produce higher-fidelity results. Phoenix excels at rendering readable text inside images (card titles, short phrases) and keeping the same character looking consistent across multiple cards. Lucid is the most versatile, with support for 18 built-in style presets and the widest range of visual aesthetics.

Under the hood: Standard is powered by FLUX (Black Forest Labs). Premium models are powered by Leonardo AI. All models run on Cloudflare Workers AI.

Your Illustration Budget

Each subscription tier includes a monthly illustration budget. One AI illustration equals one card-sized image at 1024 × 1024 pixels — the most common size for print-quality card art.

A typical card game has 50–150 unique cards. Even if you generate 3–5 versions of each card to find the perfect look, a Rare subscription covers several complete games per month.

Your illustration budget resets at the start of each billing cycle. Unused illustrations do not roll over.

Image Sizes

Smaller images use less of your budget; larger images use more. The budget is measured internally in credits, and one card-sized illustration (1024 × 1024) is the reference point.

Standard vs Premium: Which Should I Use?

Premium illustrations cost more of your budget than Standard ones. Here is how they compare at each size:

Use Standard for most card art. It is fast, produces great results, and lets you generate hundreds of images per month.

Use Premium when you need:

• Readable text baked into the art (card titles, stats, short phrases) — use Phoenix
• A consistent character across multiple cards — use Phoenix
• Polished graphic design or photorealistic renders — use Lucid
• A specific visual style from Lucid's 18 built-in presets (Cinematic, HDR, Bokeh, Vibrant, and more)

Getting Started

To generate your first AI illustration:

1. Open the AI generator: Click the AI button in the tool strip (left edge of the canvas), or right-click an image element and choose "Generate with AI."
2. Write a prompt: Describe the image you want. Be specific about the subject, style, and mood.
3. Choose a model: Standard is selected by default. Switch to Phoenix or Lucid if you have a Legendary subscription.
4. Generate: Click the Generate button. The illustration appears on your canvas when complete.

If you right-click an image element and choose "Generate with AI," the generated image is placed directly into that element.

Writing Good Prompts

The prompt is a text description of the image you want the AI to create. Be specific about the subject, style, and mood:

A fierce red dragon perched on a rocky cliff, fantasy illustration, dramatic lighting, detailed scales, dark stormy sky background

Tips for better results:

• Be specific: "A knight in silver armor holding a glowing sword" works better than "a knight."
• Include style keywords: "digital painting," "fantasy illustration," "pixel art," or "watercolor" guide the artistic style.
• Describe the background: Mention what is behind the subject to avoid random or cluttered backgrounds.
• Keep it consistent: Use the same style keywords across all cards in a deck for a cohesive look.

CSV-Aware Prompts

This is where AI generation becomes truly powerful. If you have spreadsheet data loaded, you can use template syntax in your prompts — the same {{Column Name}} syntax used in text elements.

A {{Type}} creature called {{Name}}, fantasy card game illustration, detailed, vibrant colors

With your data, this prompt generates unique art for every card automatically:

• "A Dragon creature called Fire Drake..." for the first row
• "A Construct creature called Stone Golem..." for the second row
• "A Rogue creature called Shadow Thief..." for the third row

The more specific your prompt is to each card, the better the results. Use multiple columns to give the AI rich context.

Batch Generation

When you have spreadsheet data loaded and want to generate art for every card at once, use batch mode from the AI generator panel.

Auto Mode

Generates images for all cards in sequence without stopping. Progress is shown in a progress bar with a preview of the latest image. You can cancel at any time — already generated images are kept.

Approval Mode

Pauses after each generation so you can review the result. For each card, you can:

• Accept: Keep the image and move to the next card.
• Regenerate: Try again with the same prompt (the AI produces a different result each time).
• Skip: Leave this card without an image and move on.

Approval mode takes longer but gives you full control over every card's art.

Gallery View

After a batch completes, the Gallery shows all generated images in a grid. You can review every card at a glance and regenerate specific ones without re-running the entire batch.

Best Practices

• Draft small, finalize big: Generate at 512 × 512 to iterate on prompts, then regenerate your final picks at 1024 × 1024 or larger.
• Use approval mode for important decks: AI results vary — approval mode catches bad results early.
• Leverage your spreadsheet data: Use multiple CSV columns in a single prompt for contextually rich, unique art per card.
• Save your best prompts: Once you find a style that works, keep those style keywords consistent across your entire deck.
• Mix Standard and Premium: Use Standard for most cards and save Premium for hero cards, cover art, or cards that need readable text.