Must keep
Subject identity, palette, lighting direction, environment, composition logic, recurring symbols and any approved references.
Leonardo AI Image Guide | Build Consistent Visual Assets
Stage 3 implementation support · still-image production
Use Leonardo to Execute a Visual Direction You Already Chose
Leonardo is most useful after the project has a visual brief. Use it to explore, generate, reference, edit and organize still-image assets without turning one platform’s interface into your brand strategy.
The integrated journey is Brand Identity → Mood Board → Leonardo still-image production → Storyboard → Leonardo Video. All of that remains implementation support inside Stage 3 — Find Your Brand.
The current Leonardo image workflow
Leonardo’s current image tools separate fast ideation from more controlled creation. The home prompt can choose a model automatically, while Image Creation exposes model, dimensions, image count and other model-dependent settings. Flow State is useful for rapidly exploring directions, and newer Image Guidance workflows can combine text with multiple image references. Settings and supported controls vary by model, so the creative brief should remain more permanent than any one interface.
1. Start with the visual rules
Must avoid
Styles, motifs, colors, camera treatments or visual clichés that would make the asset feel unrelated to the project.
If those rules are still vague, return to the Mood Board Guide. Generating more images will not solve an undefined direction.
2. Use Flow State for exploration, not final authority
Leonardo currently positions Flow State as a rapid ideation stream. It can help reveal compositions, lighting ideas and stylistic directions quickly. Use it to compare possibilities, then move the strongest direction into a controlled generation workflow rather than treating every attractive result as a new brand direction.
3. Choose the model by the job
Do not preserve old universal recommendations such as one “best” model or one fixed quality setting. Leonardo’s available models and controls evolve. Decide whether the job requires general image generation, stronger reference understanding, a specific aesthetic treatment or editing, then use the model picker and current capability labels to make the technical choice.
4. Use references to preserve decisions
Newer Leonardo workflows support contextual image references alongside text instructions, while some older guidance modes remain model-dependent. A reference should answer a specific question: which subject identity, composition, palette, environment or visual relationship must survive?
Better reference instruction: “Use image 1 for the subject silhouette and wardrobe, image 2 for the lighting direction and palette, and do not copy the background composition from either reference.” That is more controllable than uploading images without explaining their role.
5. Generate a small comparison set
- Write one clear production prompt from the approved brief.
- Generate enough variation to compare the important decision, not enough to restart the project.
- Choose a winner against explicit criteria such as subject consistency, composition, lighting and brand fit.
- Save the winning version before experimenting further.
- Use editing or reference-based refinement to correct the specific failure rather than rerolling blindly.
6. Edit the winning direction
Leonardo’s current viewer includes editing workflows that can accept direct instructions and additional references on supported models. Use editing when the overall image is right but a defined element needs correction. If the composition itself is wrong, regenerate from the brief instead of repeatedly patching a weak foundation.
7. Organize for reuse
Keep the relationship between brief, prompt, references and final asset visible. Leonardo’s Library and Collections can help organize generations, but your project should also preserve meaningful filenames, approved exports and the source/reference record needed for later brand work.
| Asset stage | Decision to preserve | Next destination |
|---|---|---|
| Brand identity | What the project should communicate | Brand Identity Architect |
| Mood board | Visual rules and exclusions | Mood Board Guide |
| Still image | Approved visual execution | This Leonardo guide |
| Sequence | Story beats and continuity | Storyboard Guide |
| Motion | Model-aware animation | Leonardo Video Guide |
Common failures
- Starting in Leonardo before defining what the project should look like.
- Changing model, palette, references and composition simultaneously, then not knowing what improved the result.
- Using another creator’s work as a reference without considering rights, provenance or how closely the final output reproduces protected material.
- Building a permanent training rule around a temporary interface setting.
- Treating motion as an afterthought instead of planning the sequence in the storyboard first.
Official current references
Leonardo’s official help center currently documents Image Creation, Flow State, Image Guidance and its newer contextual editing/reference workflows. Use those current docs when a model-specific control matters; use this page for the durable creator workflow that connects the tool to your brand.
Need the curriculum?
The universal starting point remains the Free Creator Academy.
Need a moving asset?
Do not stretch this still-image guide into video instructions. Move to the Leonardo AI Video Guide.
The principle: Leonardo should execute a visual decision, not make the brand decision for you. Define the direction, use references deliberately, change one variable at a time, and preserve the winning assets so the next page in the workflow starts from something stable.
