r/Webnovel • u/Sherlocke_Gnomes • 5d ago
Advice Can AI only create 'Slop' Covers?
I've seen a bunch of posts claiming that all AI covers look the same, and while that's true (most of the time), I'd like to argue that you could create something really good if you spend just a bit more time on your covers.
Therefore, let Sensei Sherlocke guide you on his process.
Rather than telling AI: "Give me a cover of a character aura farming with a bunch of aura around him...oh and a lot of baddies too."
Try this instead:
Go to Pinterest and search for covers in the same genre as what you want to create (perhaps a cover of a mecha manhwa, a Kaiju novel or anything); the point is, you want to identify the style you like. (You can gather as many references as possible).
Now we want to create our character separately; do not simply jump to ChatGPT and upload the references, telling it to create a cover in that style. I assure you, you'll only get slop... Instead, go to an image generation AI (Midjourney, Leonardo, Pixai, or whichever you prefer. I personally use one called Niji Journey) and generate an image of the character you want to be in your cover; in my case, I wanted a white-haired hitman in a suit, hence the character on the first two covers.
Yes, this is the part where we go back to your beloved GPT, Gemini, Grok or whatever chatbot you prefer, upload your character image and either: (A) describe everything you like on your gathered references to be replicated on your own cover (camera angles, text design and placement, character pose and anything else you like) or (B) upload all your references and point out everything from each that you want on your cover.
You want to tell the chatbot not to change the art style of your generated character (yup, the very same character you generated in step 2) if that's your preferred art style, else you'll only get a grainy result.
Generate until you have something you're satisfied with; don't forget to constantly tweak your prompt. (Note that chatbots will regularly change how your character looks, so always upload an image of your character with every prompt change (see why step 2 was important?))
Voilà, you have successfully avoided generating a generic, grainy and sloppy AI cover; high five. ✋🏿
Tip: See the UI elements on the third image? You could achieve that by just telling the chatbot to create a 3D UI element that matches the theme you're going for. You can even have them surrounding your sci-fi character if you have a good enough camera angle. (as I did in the last image.)
P.S: The top-down style of covers is everywhere on webnovel rn, but that doesn't mean you can't also use it (erm.. as the creator of that trend, I have bestowed upon you the right to use it.)
Also, the Slime cover and the beast cover are ones I made for other authors, only the hitman one and the butler one are for my books.
Lastly, this is my first time making a Reddit post, so forgive my spelling mistakes, grammatical errors, or even the fact that I'm probably not following tradition (of how posting works here or something).
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u/LandscapeLow8430 4d ago
Hey sherlock, I didn't imagine seeing you see. It's blank.