Aethera Visage Documentation

Token art without the anatomy exam.

Aethera Tools

Local-first token & character art studio

Start with a guided kit or take control of every layer.

Aethera Visage is a Windows-first desktop studio for tokens, portraits, standees, and character reference art. Quick Create is approachable without drawing experience, while Studio keeps the layers, drawing tools, image editing controls, variants, and export choices available to experienced artists.

Plan your first token Explore Studio Review export options Check public availability Changelog

1. Overview

One editable project, two ways to begin

Quick Create and Studio operate on the same versioned .visage project. You can begin with a no-AI starter kit, move into direct editing, create alternate compositions and variants, and return to the guided workflow without flattening the project.

  • Sign in with an Aethera account before the workspace opens; creation and rendering then stay local.
  • Keep raster imports, shape layers, and freehand paths independently editable.
  • Preview token-size proofs at 64, 128, and 256 pixels before export.
  • Prepare separate portrait, token, standee, and reference-sheet compositions from one project.
  • Export ordinary image files that remain useful outside Aethera.

2. Availability

A verified Windows installer, with a fail-closed download

The Visage release workflow builds the Windows x64 installer, applies the desktop fuse policy, signs the application and installer with Aethera.TV through Azure Artifact Signing, verifies the release manifest, launches the packaged application, and exercises a real install and uninstall.

The Tools card still fails closed when a host has no verified release bytes. It never links an unsigned development package, and publication is separate from building the installer.

3. Quick Create

Describe the character, then refine the result

  1. Enter a character name, ancestry, role, pose, and a few appearance notes.
  2. Choose palette colors for the bundled Aethera Adventurers starter kit.
  3. Create the first layered project locally; this step does not call an AI provider.
  4. Open Studio to adjust framing, layers, colors, masks, and export compositions.

The starter kit is intentionally useful for someone who does not draw. It is also only a starting point: the generated shapes remain editable rather than becoming a locked preview.

4. Drawing and editing

Edit the art instead of repeatedly starting over

Studio exposes the shared project directly. Import a bounded PNG, WebP, or JPEG through the trusted file picker, draw freehand paths with the brush or eraser, and combine raster, path, and shape layers.

  • Move, scale, rotate, rename, reorder, duplicate, lock, hide, or delete a selected layer.
  • Adjust layer opacity and composition crop, mask, frame, background, and output size.
  • Create multiple compositions for different artwork roles without relabeling the same preview.
  • Use undo and redo for document edits, including drawing and layer transforms.
  • Compare variants and inspect small token proofs before choosing a final rendition.

Pressure-sensitive brushes, advanced raster selection, and full photo-retouching tools are not included in this release. Visage is a focused token and character-art editor, not a replacement for every general illustration application.

5. Optional generation

Providers are optional and results remain candidates

Local creation never requires AI. If you choose generation, Visage can connect to a loopback-only ComfyUI instance or use an OpenAI Images API key that you provide. Provider access stays in the desktop main process; keys are not exposed to the renderer.

  • ComfyUI endpoints must resolve to literal loopback addresses; remote hosts are rejected.
  • OpenAI generation requires an explicit confirmation that one paid request will begin.
  • A submitted paid request is never retried automatically if the outcome becomes uncertain.
  • Generated bytes remain a private candidate until you review and accept them into the project.

6. Projects and recovery

Save the editable document, not only the final image

Visage projects are strict, versioned .visage documents. Saves use a verified atomic replace, and recovery checkpoints preserve a recent recoverable state after an interruption. Embedded raster data and project dimensions are bounded before they are accepted.

  • Use Save to update the current project or Save As to create a separate project file.
  • Review a recovery candidate before replacing the current document.
  • Keep ordinary exported images alongside the editable project when sharing or archiving work.
  • Do not edit the JSON by hand; invalid or unsupported project data fails closed.

7. Export anywhere

Choose a named target or a generic image

An Aethera account is required to enter Visage. Once the workspace is open, ordinary exports are written locally and support PNG, WebP, and JPEG. Named recipes apply target-specific size, shape, transparency, mask, and frame settings rather than merely changing the button label.

  • Aethera VTT token: 512 px PNG with a circular mask, ring, and transparent outside.
  • Mythos portrait: 1024 px JPEG with a square crop and no token frame.
  • Foundry token folder: 512 px WebP token plus a small local manifest.
  • Generic image: your selected PNG, WebP, or JPEG format and composition.

These exports are portable files. A named recipe does not claim that the destination received, uploaded, or applied the asset automatically.

8. Quillweald round trip

Review the character context before creating art

Visage can open a local .aethera-visage-handoff archive created by Quillweald. It shows the exact selected fields and requested artwork roles before optionally prefilling a new local project. Nothing is uploaded or sent to an image provider automatically.

After rendering the requested portrait, token, standee, or reference sheet, confirm each exact preview and its rights information before exporting a .aethera-visage-result archive. Quillweald performs its own separate review before applying the returned artwork; Visage never overwrites narrative fields.

9. Mythos and VTT handoffs

Review the destination, the image, and the rights before publishing

Visage recognizes bounded aethera-visage: handoff links from Mythos and Aethera VTT. Those links contain only an environment label and an opaque handoff ID, and the desktop queues them for review. Connect the matching Aethera account in the system browser, then inspect the exact world, subject, disclosed character context, requested roles, and destination actions before choosing any artwork.

  • Authentication cookies, CSRF values, one-time callback tokens, upload tokens, and opaque IDs stay in the desktop main process.
  • Each selected rendition has its own real composition preview and confirmation.
  • Publishing requires a fresh rights confirmation and supports optional license and attribution notes.
  • Mythos receives world-scoped assets; the VTT uses its one-use signed asset upload flow.
  • Visage publishes a ready result but never performs the final apply. Return to Mythos or the VTT to inspect and apply it there.

Visage requires production-account sign-in before authoring. A separate matching account connection is still required when reviewing a staging or local handoff.

10. Privacy and current limits

Local by default, explicit at every network boundary

Project editing, the starter kit, recovery, and ordinary export run locally. The desktop renderer is sandboxed and receives a narrow preload API; file dialogs, secret storage, provider calls, project saves, and archive inspection remain in the main process.

  • A verified production Aethera account is required before the workspace opens. After verification, transient service outages do not hide in-memory work in the running app.
  • Provider calls occur only after you configure and start them.
  • Quillweald archives stay local and are never forwarded automatically.
  • Hosted generation and production moderation policy are future work, not active success states.
  • The Windows installer is signed and verified; automatic hosted updates are not enabled in this release.