image-studio

Image Studio

Turn an idea into a finished image through three deliberate stages — brainstorm → prototype cheaply → produce the final — using fal.ai. The point of the staging is cost and control: iterate cheaply on a fast model, lock the concept with the user, then spend on a quality model only once, on the agreed image.

This skill generates files locally for the user to review and use. It never posts, publishes, or sends anything as final brand collateral.

Scope and routing

Use this skill only when all of the following are true:

1. The task is generative imagery or image editing, not layout/design automation, charting, dashboarding, flowcharting, or slide/deck production.
2. The user is comfortable with fal.ai egress and paid API usage.
3. The local helper workflow is available or the user is asking you to prepare the prompt/brief for that workflow.

Do not use this skill for:

• Canva templates, PowerPoint decks, branded presentation layouts, data charts, dashboards, flowcharts, architecture diagrams, or process diagrams.
• Video generation.
• Confidential or sensitive image/document processing.
• Any host environment where a native image-generation/editing tool is explicitly mandated.

Three modes — choose first

The workflow depends on whether you are creating an image, changing an existing one, or cleaning up an existing one — they do not use the same steps:

• Path A · Create from scratch (no source image). The composition is unknown, so prototype cheaply to explore it, then finalise at quality — use Stage 1 → 2 → 3 below.
• Path B · Edit / overlay on an existing image (populate a room with people, restyle a photo, add or remove an element). The composition is already fixed by the source photo, so a cheap prototype only adds drift and artefacts that do not predict the quality result — skip it. Brainstorm and confirm the prompt (Stage 1), then quality-edit the original directly (Stage 3). For cost-sensitive multi-iteration work, iterate on the same-family fal-ai/nano-banana/edit (a faithful preview) rather than on Kontext dev. The "prototype" is the agreed prompt, not an image.
• Path C · Clean up / enhance an existing photo (turn an amateur/phone shot professional — fix flare, reflections, white balance, exposure, perspective/warp, noise, clutter). Same mechanics as Path B (no prototype; quality-edit the original in one comprehensive pass), but the intent is faithful correction, not change — build the prompt from references/cleanup-checklist.md and keep every real feature exactly. Works for any subject — interiors, portraits, products, food, landscapes. One checklist-driven pass usually suffices. See the Clean-up section below.