Create amazing AI-generated pet portraits with these 7 simple tips
Pet lovers rejoice!
If you’re anything like us, your pet is family (nearing royalty) and is the subject of 90% of the photos on your phone. But what can you do with all those photos? Use NightCafe Creator to turn them into professional works of art! Simply start with a photo of your pet and then choose a style. In a few minutes you will have an amazing pet portrait generated using artificial intelligence. The AI will apply any style you choose to any image of your beloved pet.
Before you know it, your walls will be lined with your fabulous pet portraits created using AI. Or go all out, like many of our customers, and feature your pet’s portrait on t-shirts, coffee mugs or phone cases.
The AI is not perfect (yet) and not all photo and style combinations will work out well. So to help you avoid disappointment, here’s a list of tips to help turn your pet’s photo into the professional masterpiece they’re worthy of. No artistic experience required! We’ll walk you through the kinds of content and style images that work well together — and what to avoid.
1 — Understand how the style image is applied to your photo
A lot of first time users will upload an image of their pet and choose a cartoon caricature as their style input. They do this with the expectation that their pet will be recreated as that cartoon caricature. This expectation of the AI can lead to disappointing results for new users.
The AI algorithm doesn’t understand that your photo contains a cat with two eyes, ears and whiskers. The AI works by re-imaging your photo using the textures and features contained in the style image you select (i.e. the brushstrokes and swirls).
2 — The distance of your pet is important
Your pet shouldn’t be pictured too far away. The details of their face need to be large enough for the algorithm to recreate them when applying styles and textures. Closer range photos (like a head and shoulders portrait) work best. As a general rule, try to use photos of your pet that have their important details in focus.
Here is an example of a subject too far away. Their important features are too small for the algorithm to recreate with most styles and textures.
Here is an example of a pet photographed at the optimal distance. The details of their adorable face and paws are close enough to be recreated in the chosen style.
3 — Avoid pet photos with large blocks of solid colour
As a general rule, it’s better to use a picture of your pet that doesn’t contain large blank areas (a big plain wall, for instance). Choose a photo of your pet that has content and texture throughout the entire image. The AI algorithm finds it tricky to fill in large areas of solid colour. It relies on cues from your picture to know how to apply styles.
4 — Avoid blurred image and style inputs
If the image of your beloved pet or chosen style is blurry (including the background areas), the quality of the final result will be degraded. Avoid photos and styles containing blurriness or out-of-focus areas where possible. Best practice is to select pet photos and style images that have strong cues for the AI to rely on.
5 — Give the advanced options a try
Once you have mastered the basics, have a go at the advanced options. We’re always improving the ways you can be creative with your pet photos. Keep checking out our advanced options to see any new features we release.
6 — Persistence is key... try lots of combinations
Just to be clear… TRY LOTS OF COMBINATIONS! You might produce some disasters, but that’s the fun of it. The failures will help you understand what works and what doesn’t. You are not limited to creating one creation at a time - create multiple variations in one go. To do this, use the multiple inputs and multiple styles features. This will allow you to run lots of creations in parallel.
When you land on a creation that’s just about flawless, you can duplicate that creation to make any additional tweaks and changes. That way you won’t lose the underlying settings that worked so well. Your pet is perfect after all, so why not make sure their portrait is perfect too.
7 — Start with the preset style images
When you’re starting out, we recommend using the style images available in the ‘presets’ tab. Once you get the hang of it and know what photos and styles work well together, start experimenting.
If you’d like to try using textures as a style image, instead of paintings or drawings, persistence is extremely important. Getting textures to work well is tricky. Try lots of combinations of photo inputs and style inputs in the beginning. Also, make sure to test the advanced options for additional creations settings.
Happy creating! We look forward to seeing the brilliant pet portraits you create using NightCafe.