Character sheets and references

Create a character

Characters belong to a project. Open the project’s Cast and choose “New character”, or add characters during Story to Comic. The flow has four steps: Describe, Choose look, Outfit reference, and Approve & save. In Describe, give the character a name, a role and a description, and list stable visual traits one per line: details such as a scar or a hairstyle that should never change.

Generate or upload a look

Choose “Save & generate 4 looks · 60 cr” to get four candidate looks. Each look is a separate 15-credit job, so if one fails its credits come back and the others still finish. If you already have artwork, upload a face or full-body image marked “Must match” and choose “Use uploaded look” instead. Then pick exactly one look with “Use selected look”.

Add the default outfit

Every character needs an outfit reference before you can finish: choose “Generate outfit reference · 15 cr” or upload your own image. The review step stays disabled until an outfit image is in place. Finally, “Approve & lock character” saves the look and the outfit as references that drawing must follow, and locks them.

Must match and Inspiration references

Every uploaded reference has a role (Face / identity, Full body, Pose / expression, or Outfit) and a use. Must match references define what the character looks like; Inspiration references guide mood, pose or direction without changing that look. Pose images are always Inspiration. Uploads can be PNG, JPEG or WebP files up to 25 MB, with an optional crop and note.

When pages are drawn from a story, ComicWave uses each character’s best Must match face or full-body image. Inspiration images are never used for identity; they only guide new looks and outfits while you create the character.

Reference sheets

On a character’s page, “Create reference sheet · 15 credits” generates one sheet image in the background. When it’s ready, it becomes the character’s current look and a Must match reference, unless the character is locked. If generation fails, the character card stays unchanged.

Locking a look

Locking protects a character’s identity. On the References tab, choose “Approve & lock look”; it needs a Must match face or full-body reference and can’t run while a sheet is still generating. While a character is locked, the name, the always-keep details and the references can’t change, although the role and description stay editable, and “Edit locked look” unlocks it. The “Always keep” list, one detail per line, travels with the reference every time a panel is drawn. Outfits lock the same way with “Use this outfit”.

Where references are used

Pages drawn from a story use the Must match references of the characters in each panel. A character who appears in several panels without one can stop a page from drawing until you add references in Cast. In Studio, tools such as Fix a part and, with Advanced mode on, Swap a character use the Must match references of approved or locked characters.

Characters count toward your plan across all projects: 2 on Free, 10 on Starter, 50 on Creator and unlimited on Studio. “Archive character”, available once a character is unlocked, frees a slot and keeps its saved references stored.