OpenRouter Image Generation

# Gemini Image Generation

Generate images via `google/gemini-3.1-flash-image-preview` on OpenRouter. Cheap ($0.25/M in, $1.5/M out), fast, good quality.

Quick Start

```bash python3 scripts/generate.py "a watercolor illustration of a cozy café" -o output.png ```

With reference image (style/character guidance): ```bash python3 scripts/generate.py "same character but waving hello" -o wave.png --ref reference.png ```

Script path: `skills/gemini-image-gen/scripts/generate.py`

Requirements

• `OPENROUTER_API_KEY` environment variable (or `--api-key` flag)
• Python 3.10+ (stdlib only, no pip installs needed)

How It Works

1. Calls OpenRouter `/chat/completions` with `modalities: ["text", "image"]`
2. Optionally encodes a reference image as base64 in the message
3. Extracts generated image from `choices[0].message.images[0].image_url.url` (data:image/png;base64,...)
4. Decodes and saves to output path

Prompt Engineering Tips (from experience)

Aspect Ratio & Composition - Gemini respects aspect ratio instructions in the prompt - For vertical (e.g. phone wallpaper, Xiaohongshu cover): add "vertical composition, 3:4 aspect ratio" - For horizontal (e.g. banner): add "horizontal composition, 16:9 aspect ratio" - For square: add "square composition, 1:1 aspect ratio" - **Always specify** — without it, Gemini defaults to roughly square and may crop awkwardly

Character Consistency - When using `--ref`, describe the character features explicitly in the prompt AND provide the reference image - Key details to specify: hair color/style, eye color, clothing, accessories, expression - Example: "same character from reference: silver-to-ice-blue gradient shoulder-length hair, ice-blue eyes, cream cardigan over light blue shirt, snowflake earring" - Gemini is decent at maintaining consistency but drifts on small details — always re-specify distinguishing features

Style Control - Name the art style explicitly: "soft watercolor illustration", "anime cel-shading", "photorealistic", "flat vector", "oil painting" - For warm/cozy tone: "warm color palette, cream and peach gradient background, bokeh light spots" - For dark/moody: "dark gradient background, deep navy to black, subtle glow effects" - Mentioning a well-known art style works: "in the style of Studio Ghibli", "Makoto Shinkai lighting"

Text in Images - Gemini can render short text in images but it's unreliable for CJK characters - For English text: works reasonably well if you specify font style ("bold sans-serif", "handwritten script") - For Chinese/Japanese: **avoid** — it usually garbles characters. Add text overlays with a separate tool (e.g. ImageMagick, Pillow) instead

Common Pitfalls - **Body proportions**: Gemini sometimes compresses/distorts figures. Add "natural human body proportions, do not squash or stretch" for character art - **Hands**: Still a weak spot. Minimize visible hands or describe hand pose explicitly - **Multiple subjects**: More than 2-3 subjects increases inconsistency. Keep scenes focused - **Batch generation**: For generating multiple variations, run the script multiple times — each call is independent. Do NOT ask for "4 options" in one prompt

Sending Images on Feishu

⚠️ Critical: Images must be saved to a path within `localRoots` (typically your OpenClaw workspace dir). `/tmp` is NOT whitelisted on Feishu.

```python # Save to workspace, not /tmp output_path = "my_image.png" # relative to workspace

# Send via message tool: # media: "file://<workspace_path>/my_image.png" # (use 'media' parameter, NOT 'filePath') ```

After sending, clean up temporary images to avoid workspace clutter.

Advanced: Calling from Python (without CLI)

```python import os, sys sys.path.insert(0, "skills/gemini-image-gen/scripts") from generate import generate

generate( prompt="a cute robot reading a philosophy book", output="robot.png", ref_image=None, # or path to reference image ) ```

Model Alternatives

| Model | Cost | Notes | |-------|------|-------| | `google/gemini-3.1-flash-image-preview` | $0.25/$1.5 per M tokens | Default. Best balance of cost and quality | | `google/gemini-3.1-pro-preview` | $2/$12 per M tokens | Higher quality but 8x more expensive | | `openai/gpt-image-1` | varies | OpenAI's image model, different API format — not supported by this script |

Troubleshooting

• "No image in response": Check `.debug.json` file created alongside output. Usually means the prompt triggered safety filters or the model returned text-only.
• Garbled/distorted output: Try rephrasing. Add "high quality, detailed" and be more specific about composition.
• API error 429: Rate limited. Wait 30s and retry.
• API error 402: Insufficient credits on OpenRouter.