Character Reference

Creating visually consistent characters across multiple images has always been a challenge in AI image generation—until now. With Character references, you can define and reuse distinctive characters, ensuring that facial features, hairstyles, and other key traits remain consistent from one image to the next.

This powerful feature gives you greater creative control and continuity, whether you’re illustrating a story or simply exploring different settings with the same character. Once defined, your characters can be easily customized and reused with new prompts, helping you build cohesive image series with ease.

In the sections below, you’ll learn how to create, manage, and use your Character references effectively, along with tips for combining them with other features like Remix and Magic Fill to achieve your desired results.

Accessing Character Reference

From the Prompt Box

1. Tap or click the prompt box to reveal the options at the bottom.

2. Select the Character tab to access existing character references or create a new one.

1. If you choose an already-made character you will see the corresponding Character tab appear in the prompt box below the prompt.

When you create a new character, you will be taken to the Character page.

From Other Places

You can also open the Character page from several locations:

1. The Left-Side Panel.

2. The Right-Side Panel when viewing image details.

3. The More icon (...) when browsing images.

How to Use a Character Reference?

Create or Choose a Character

On the Character page, click the button in the upper-right corner to create a character.

You can add a character reference image in 3 ways

1. Camera: This enables you to take a picture with your device/computer and use it as a character reference. Please note that you may need to authorize your browser or app to access your camera.

2. Upload: Browse images from your device or computer and upload one.

3. Creations: Browse your creations on Ideogram and select one as a reference.

Alternatively, you can select an already created character.

Your chosen image will appear in the top-left corner of the prompt box.

When a character reference is present in the prompt box on the homepage, clicking on it and hovering your cursor over the image will display two icons:

• Describe icon: This icon will activate the Describe function, which will add a description of the image to the prompt box.

• Edit Mask icon: This icon allows you to modify the mask used by the AI for the selected character. (More information on masking is provided below.)

Clicking on the X icon will remove the character from the prompt box.

When you’re on the Character page, hovering over the selected Character image at the top of the prompt box will reveal the More Icon and clicking on it will give you two options: Edit Image Mask or Remove Image. Alternatively, clicking on the image itself will bring you directly into the Edit Image Mask function.

Personalizing Your Character

Now that you have your character reference image, here are the steps to generate an image with it:

1. Choose how you want to describe the image to be generated:

   1. Write a prompt describing in detail your character and the background, or

   2. Choose a template from the wide selection of predefined ones for a quick start. (Templates are available below the prompt box when you are in the Character page. If needed, you can access them again by clicking the Templates button located next to the Generate button in the prompt box.)

2. Select the desired style:

   1. Auto: automatically selects the optimal style based on your prompt.

   2. Realistic: creates lifelike photography with authentic colors, textures, and lighting.

   3. Fiction: creates unique characters with a mix of imaginative and fictional elements.

1. Apply the other generation options such as Public/Private, Aspect Ratio, and others, except:

   1. Unavailable options: Color Palette, Negative Prompt, Seed Number.

   2. Any previously selected Style reference will not be effective when using character reference

2. Once ready, click Generate to create your image.

Here are a few examples:

How Masking Works

When you choose an image as a Character reference, the AI automatically select the face and hair from that image.

Sometimes, it can be helpful to modify or adjust the mask to achieve better results—such as changing the character’s hairstyle.

For example, consider the following prompt:

A woman with vibrant blue pixie cut hair.

With the default mask, the generated image doesn’t reflect the requested hairstyle, and only a small amount of color is applied over the original hair.

By excluding the hair from the default mask, it was possible to replace the hairstyle and achieve a uniform color more easily.

Conversely, you can also keep a larger portion of the image to better preserve certain elements—for example, a cap, a piece of jewelry, and so on.

Consider the following prompt:

A woman wearing a red ruby pendant and a red evening gown.

With the default AI mask, the generated image doesn’t preserve the look of the pendant and generates one with a different appearance.

By modifying the default mask to include the pendant, it was possible to produce a result where the pendant resembled the original one.

Using a Character Reference with Other Features

While Character reference is a powerful feature on its own, combining it with tools like Magic Fill and Remix help you create the exact image you have in mind.

For example, you might have already generated an image that meets most of your requirements—except for the character depicted in it. Below are two methods you can use, depending on your needs.

Using a Character Reference with Remix

If you just need to preserve the overall look of the environment and the composition of the original image, Remix can be an excellent solution. Here's how:

1. Select the image you want to remix and click Remix in the right-side panel.

2. In the prompt box, click the Character tab to access existing characters or create a new one.

3. Provide a detailed prompt describing the character’s physical appearance and the environment.

4. Adjust the image weight for the remixed image (usually between 60–80; some experimentation may be needed to find the optimal value).

5. Set the other options to your liking (it’s recommended to turn off Magic Prompt to preserve the intended character and environment).

6. Click Remix to generate the images.

Using a Character Reference with Magic Fill

If you need to preserve as much of the background and environment as possible, Magic Fill can be an excellent solution. There are many ways to proceed—here’s one of them:

1. Click on an original image of your choice where you want to change the character.

2. Click Open in Canvas in the right-side panel.

3. Click Magic Fill in the left-side panel.

4. Mask the area of the character you want to replace.

5. Click Next.

6. Click Character at the bottom of the prompt box.

7. Select or create a Character reference.

8. Write a detailed prompt describing the new character’s physical features and the environment.

9. Click Magic Fill to generate the images.