The cast and reference pictures

A model given only words redraws a character slightly differently every time: the muzzle changes, the proportions drift, the scarf moves. What keeps page 9's fox the same fox as page 4's is sending the model a picture of her with every page she is on.

The cast is where those pictures are made. Picture books and coloring books call it Cast; recipe books and magazines call it Recurring look, because what has to stay the same there is the crockery, the linen and the light rather than a character.

Where to find it

• ① Premise — the brief's Characters (or Recurring look) field lists who is there, with Edit these.
• ② Design, Script view — the Cast button in the toolbar (in the Book tab on a phone).
• Every page's direction — the line underneath it ends in Edit the cast. In the Page view, that line is in Page details.

Making a reference picture

1. Add a character and give them a name.
2. Say what they look like: "a small russet fox with one white ear, who carries a paper lantern".
3. Draw them, or open Use a picture you have to upload one or choose one from your art: a page of another book they appear in, or a cover.
4. Once there is a picture, describe a change in the box under it: "make the ears rounder", "give her a blue scarf". Each change edits the picture in front of you rather than drawing a new one from scratch.

Every version is kept under Versions. Click an earlier one to go back to it. That is free, because the picture already exists.

Appears on lists the pages whose picture direction names the character, by page number. Click one to open that page in the Script.

The description keeps doing a job after the picture is made: it is sent with every page the character is on, beside the picture. The picture says what they look like; the words say what matters about them.

How a page gets a picture

Write the character's name in a page's direction, and their picture is sent with that page. The whole name, as a whole word, in any capitalisation — "Fen" matches "fen" but not "fence", and "Mrs Pemberton" does not match a page that only says "Mrs".

Renaming a character. Pages still say the old name until you change them, and a page that no longer names a character no longer gets their picture. So when you rename one, the studio says how many pages still use the old name, for example "5 pages still say 'Fen'". Update them changes the name in those pages' directions and words in one go; Keep leaves them as they are. Check the count first: a name that is also an ordinary word ("a quiet fen") is changed too.

Under each direction, the page plan shows exactly what that page will be drawn with:

• Drawn with Fen — the page names her, so her picture rides.
• Drawn with Fen — the default look — the page names none of your cast, so the default look is used instead (see below).
• No reference picture — the page names nobody, and nothing is marked as the default look. The page is drawn from words alone. Write a name to fix it.
• Old Wick has no picture yet — the page names him, but only his description can be sent until he has one.

Up to three pictures ride any one page. More than that pulls the composition toward characters who are not in the scene, so any beyond three are left off, and the page says who.

Your character library

A character belongs to you, not to one book. Everyone you make — here, or in a novel's story codex — goes into your character library, and any book can use them.

• From your library, under the cast list, shows everyone you have made for your other books. Add one and they are in this book too — the same character, with the same picture and the same description. Nothing is copied.
• When a character appears in more than one book, the studio says where: Also in “Little Builder Stories”. They are one character, so a change here changes them there too — redraw her ears once, and every book that uses her draws the new ears from then on.
• Pictures you have already rendered stay as they are. A change steers the pages you draw next, in every book.

Your plan sets how many characters your library can hold: Starter 20, Creator 60, Premium 200, Studio 600. One book's cast holds up to 40. The whole library — with merge and delete — is under Characters on the bookshelf.

When the writing assistant suggests adding a character you already have in another book, its card offers Use the … from your library as well as adding a new one. The app never decides two characters are the same person; you do.

The default look

Tick Use this look on pages that name no one for one character, and their picture is sent with every page that names nobody, so the whole book keeps one look. One character at a time has it; ticking it for one unticks it for the others. The first character you add starts with it.

It needs a picture to do anything. Until there is one, the cast says default look · needs a picture.

What to watch for

• A name is how a page finds a character. A character with no name, or a one-letter name, can never be matched, and the cast says needs a name.
• Changing a picture does not redraw pages you have already rendered. It steers the pages you draw next.
• Removing a character takes them out of this book only. They stay in your library with every picture, and From your library can add them back. Other books that use them are not touched.
• Drawing costs credits; going back to an earlier version does not. The price is on the button.