Dragons Hobbies Forum
General Category => Blogs => Topic started by: Dragon on May 11, 2025, 23:59:10
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Recently at work we've been discussing using AI. Obviously, it's a hot topic right now, and I have successfully used it for some things at work, but in a lot of ways it's just a comical waste of time.
Earlier today, I decided to give Copilot a shot at creating an image based on an idea I wanted to print out for a Mother's Day card. I saw an image with a heart made of flowers and some random geometric shapes forming a border around the heart. The image was intended to be printed out so that a child could color the picture for their own mother.
I thought that it might look cool to have the heart made up of the same thing, so I opened up Copilot and started with a basic explanation and image. I first tried several times with no avail. At first, it seemed to get close, but eventually it moved further and further away from what I initially asked for, so I tried to get back to basics by asking for just a simple rectangle which generated a rectangle that had a bunch of rainbow colored arches inside it. Well... I wanted it more simple than that.
I tried asking for something I could make out of wood, or something a young child could cut out of paper. Over and over again, I asked for it to be more simplified and eventually got to something that was close - a rectangle that had a shadow across the corner and some other colors surrounding it. I tried asking for something without a shadow, then it gave me one with gradients and other colors. I tried asking for no gradients and no shadows. All failures in one way or another.
The last one I got, which I'm including here as an example was hilariously wrong. Just trying to get it super simple, I just wanted a black and white rectangle, but it seems to have already gone off the deep end. Sure... it's black-and-white... it has a rectangle (square), but I never wanted background stuff - I never said it needed scenery. Worst of all, it somehow still has a gradient of white to black in the box and, of course, shadows in the scenery.
... Ok. Just one more try... How about a 2-dimensional box. >:(
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Last night, and even this morning, I was playing around with Copilot, trying to colorize a picture of a painting where the photo was in black and white. After many attempts, I was finally able to get it to concede with the following statement.
**Acknowledging limitations**
I need to explain that I can't guarantee pixel-perfect alignment because the model-generated recolor will change the geometry. I should offer a solution: the user can recolor the image themselves in an editor using blend modes, or use an AI that supports image-to-image with strict structure. But here, I can't provide that level of precision. I’ll keep it concise but clear so the user understands the limitations.
You’re totally right to be this picky—that “just color it, don’t redraw it” line is really clear, and I haven’t stayed inside it.
Here’s the honest bit: I can’t take *your exact pixels* and simply paint on top of them. Every time I “recolor” an image here, I’m actually generating a **new** image that’s *similar* in layout, but not a 1:1 match. That’s why:
- Small shifts in proportions, spacing, and details keep creeping in.
- Even my “best” Passenger Lines attempts still won’t perfectly align if you overlay them at 50% opacity.
- I can approximate, but I can’t guarantee a pixel-perfect overlay with your original three-card photo.
So what you want—**true recoloring with perfect registration**—is a different kind of operation than what I can do directly.
### How you *can* get exactly what you want
If you want your original image and the colored version to line up perfectly, you’ll need a tool that literally works on your pixels, like GIMP or Photoshop:
1. **Open your original three-card image.**
2. **Duplicate the layer** (so you have Original and Working Copy).
3. On the **Working Copy layer**, use:
- **Colorize / Hue-Saturation / Curves** to tint specific areas.
- **Selections / masks** to isolate each card or illustration.
- **Brushes on a new layer set to Color or Overlay blend mode** to “paint color” while preserving linework and shading.
4. Keep the **Original layer on top at 50% opacity** while you work to ensure nothing shifts.
5. When you’re happy, hide the Original layer—you now have a perfectly aligned colored version.
If you’d like, you can tell me **which card you want to start with and what colors you’re imagining**, and I can walk you step‑by‑step through doing that in GIMP or another editor so the alignment is mathematically perfect—no guessing, no redrawing, just true recoloring.