How to Generate Bulk Artwork (Step-by-Step Tutorial)
Draw art for up to 40 cards at once from their data, review every image before it lands, and redraw any card from an edited prompt. Uses AI credits; every step is optional.
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Decklab AI can draw artwork for many cards at once, from each card's own data: its name, type and text, plus an art prompt you can edit. Like every AI action in Decklab AI, it runs only when you click, and the results arrive as a proposal you review before anything changes.
Before you start
The deck's design needs somewhere to put the art: an image element connected to an image column. If you haven't set that up, follow Steps 1 and 2 of How to Add Artwork for Individual Cards.
Your cards need something besides art in them: at least a name, ideally a type and some text. The more each row says, the better the art fits.
Drawing art uses AI credits. Every new account gets 100 credits once, and the button tells you the cost before you start. See pricing for more.
Step 1: Make the art
Open the deck's tab and choose Data or Preview. In the heading, choose Make the art (N), where N is the number of cards missing art. It works on up to 40 cards at a time.
Drawing runs in the background, so you can keep working or even close the tab. If you close the project, its result is waiting the next time you open it.
Step 2: Review the proposal
When it's done, the proposal shows each card's suggested image beside its current one.
- Untick Keep on any image you don't want.
- Anything marked Replaces yours would replace art you added yourself. Check those carefully.
- Choose Apply to add the images you kept.
Applying saves a snapshot first and counts as one undo step, so you can take everything back with ⌘Z / Ctrl+Z.
Step 3: Edit the prompts
Making the art also adds an Art prompt column to your data, holding the description each image was drawn from. Edit any prompt in Data mode to steer that card's picture: "a red dragon curled around a lighthouse, at dusk, watercolour".
Step 4: Redraw a card
Right-click a row in Data mode and choose Make the art for this card (or select several rows for these cards). It draws the card again from its edited prompt, as a proposal like before.
Once every card has art, the heading's button becomes Draw all the art again, for a fresh pass over the whole deck.
Starting from an idea?
If you started your project from an idea with AI, Game overview walks you through brief, pieces, rules, cards and rulebook first. Make the art once your cards exist, from Data or Preview.
Tips for consistent art
- Keep prompts short and concrete. Subject, setting, mood, one style word.
- Use the same style word on every prompt ("ink and wash", "flat vector") for a deck that hangs together.
- Draw in batches by type. Filter Data mode to one card type, select those rows, and make their art together.
- Placeholder first. Icons and colour get you through early playtests; draw art when the card list settles.
Prefer your own art?
You can mix AI and your own images freely. Upload or match your own for some cards, and draw the rest. See How to Add Artwork for Individual Cards.