Skip to the content
FilWorkflowsOpen Fil
Image

Illustrated book

Painted plates, an endpaper, a map and a portrait in one painting’s style.

Drop in one painting whose style you love. Every plate is painted in exactly its palette and brushwork, while the map and the portrait get the inked looks of a classic sourcebook.

Start this workflow
About 6 minutes6 things in 2 stepsAbout 65–110 credits to make it all

What it makes

Endpaper from the Illustrated book workflow, made for “Plates for a dark fantasy book about dragons nesting in a ruined cathedral city”
Endpaper
Plate I from the Illustrated book workflow, made for “Plates for a dark fantasy book about dragons nesting in a ruined cathedral city”
Plate I
Plate II from the Illustrated book workflow, made for “Plates for a dark fantasy book about dragons nesting in a ruined cathedral city”
Plate II
Plate III from the Illustrated book workflow, made for “Plates for a dark fantasy book about dragons nesting in a ruined cathedral city”
Plate III
Map from the Illustrated book workflow, made for “Plates for a dark fantasy book about dragons nesting in a ruined cathedral city”
Map
Portrait from the Illustrated book workflow, made for “Plates for a dark fantasy book about dragons nesting in a ruined cathedral city”
Portrait

6 things in 2 steps. Every example here was made in Fil with this workflow.

How it starts

  1. Say what you want“Plates for a dark fantasy book about dragons nesting in a ruined cathedral city”, or a picture. Nothing to upload first.
  2. Pick from a few choicesClaude asks about the world, the moment in each plate and who the portrait shows, and tells you if a file is missing.
  3. Generate allEndpaper, Plate I, Map and Portrait first, then each next step as soon as what it needs is ready.

What you put in

  • A good style referenceStyle referenceOne painting whose style, palette and brushwork every plate follows. Like this one.Needed
  • Or start from one of these styles, picked for this workflow:
    • Sepia ink: Cross-hatched ink and a sepia wash on creamSepia ink
    • Scratchboard: White lines scratched from blackScratchboard
    • Pastel chalk: Soft chalk on toned paperPastel chalk
    • Woodcut: Carved black relief linesWoodcut
    • Golden age: Fine ink and muted wash, 1920sGolden age
    • Pencil: Graphite shading on cream paperPencil
    • Watercolour: Soft washes over fine pencilWatercolour
    • Illuminated: A medieval manuscript with goldIlluminated
  • Book.mdThe world, the characters and what each plate shows. Claude fills it in from your answers, or you can.Brief

Nothing has to be uploaded to start: the canvas opens with a place for each file, ready when you are.

How it runs

Generate all runs it left to right: each step starts as soon as what feeds it is ready, and you see the whole price first. Or run any step yourself.

YouStyle referenceBook.mdbook-plates
Step 1EndpaperPlate IMapPortrait
Step 2Plate IIPlate III

Step by step on the canvas

  1. Generate Endpaper, Plate I, Map and Portrait: each paints straight from Book.md.
  2. Generate Plate II and Plate III: they follow Plate I, so faces and brushwork stay the same.
  3. Want more? Add plates after the last plate writes the next moments into Book.md and adds their plates.

Skill

The craft every step follows, written out. It comes with the workflow, and you can change it on the canvas.

book-platesPaints the plates of an illustrated book, its endpaper, map and character portraits, all in the exact style of one reference painting. Use for illustrated books, game art books, storybooks and lore pages.
Read the skill

Book plates

Read first

The style reference wired in sets the look for everything: its palette, brushwork, light and texture, never its scene. Book.md says what each plate shows.

Plates (3:4)

  • One moment per plate, painted in exactly the reference's style, palette and brushwork, but a new picture: its own place, composition and camera from Book.md. Never the reference's buildings, objects or layout with a figure added, and no two plates on the same background.
  • A clear focal point lit by a source you can see (fire, a lantern, the moon), with atmospheric depth behind it.
  • Characters keep their looks from Book.md plate to plate (age, face, eyes, hair, which hand holds what, which shoulder the braid falls on), and so do the things they carry (the lantern or sword exactly as Book.md describes it, held in a hand, never floating).
  • Each plate its own pose and camera: a wired plate lends faces and brushwork, never its figure or layout.
  • The plates follow Book.md's order as one journey: each a later moment and a new place than the one before.
  • No text, border or frame: the plates go onto the page as they are.

Endpaper (3:4)

A tall, sweeping view of the world from high up, epic and busy at the edges and calmer at the top where the title will sit.

Map (3:2)

A hand-drawn map in the book's own ink and palette on aged paper: coastlines, rivers, and the places from Book.md drawn as small landmarks, each named in small hand lettering spelled exactly as Book.md writes it, with the book's title in a cartouche and a compass rose.

Portrait (3:4)

One character at three-quarter length in ink with cross-hatching and a sepia wash on cream paper, holding the thing they're known for.

Avoid

Style drifting between plates, modern objects, readable text in plates, and faces that change.

Wired into 6 steps on the canvas, where you can change it.

More workflows

Logo and brand guideThree directions of marks, then a brand board and a brand guide page.About 4 minutesManga chapterA cast sheet, a places sheet, a cover and inked pages that tell one short story.About 5 minutesProduct photoshootYour product in a studio shot, a second angle, a close-up and a colourway.About 3 minutes

All 32 workflows