How to Use Idoli: A Beginner’s Guide to Images, Characters, and Videos

Your first Idoli session can start with a guided video example. After that, you can use your welcome credits to generate images, refine them through conversation, and create a saved character for later image and video projects.

The main thing to understand is that Idoli’s modes work differently. Image generation remembers the conversation. Character generation and video generation currently do not. Learning when to continue a conversation, when to select a specific image, and when to reference a saved character makes the workflow much easier to follow.

Try the free video example when you first sign in

After you register and sign in for the first time, Idoli opens a guided experience that lets you generate one free video example. You can choose the character’s gender and have the prompt randomly draw from an official style, giving you a starting point without having to build a prompt from scratch.

Follow the guide, make your selections, and generate the example. When the video is ready, download it if you want to keep it.

The guided example is download-only. It cannot be saved to your personal resource library. Do not expect to find it in your library later; keep a downloaded copy on your device.

This introductory experience is a useful first look at video generation. Creating your own images, saving characters, and referencing those characters in new videos are the next steps in the regular creation workflow.

Use your free welcome credits to try image generation

Newly registered users receive free welcome credits to try image generation. The free guided video example and the welcome credits are two distinct parts of getting started: the guide gives you a video example to download, while the credits let you begin creating images yourself.

For your first image, choose a subject and a simple setting. You can describe a person, clothing, surroundings, lighting, and the visual style you want. For example:

Create a realistic waist-up portrait of an adult woman with blonde hair and blue eyes. She wears a cream knit sweater and sits beside a sunlit window in a quiet café. Soft daylight falls across her face, with the tables behind her gently out of focus.

This gives the image a clear subject and a coherent setting. Once you see the result, you can decide which details to keep and which to change.

Follow-up edits are further generation requests; do not treat conversational editing as an unlimited free feature.

Continue the conversation to refine an image

Idoli’s image-generation mode has conversation memory. If you like the portrait but want a different hair color, you can continue in the same conversation with a focused request:

Change her hair to red. Keep her face, cream sweater, pose, and café setting the same.

You do not need to repeat the original description every time. Referring to what you want to change, and naming the important details you want to preserve, gives the next request a clear direction.

Use this approach for changes such as clothing color, hairstyle, or background details. Review each result before adding another instruction so that you can see whether the edit is moving toward your intended image.

If a long conversation starts producing unexpected results, open a new conversation. Earlier instructions can make the context harder to follow, especially after several changes of direction. Start again with a concise description and, when appropriate, the image you want to work from.

Use “Edit only this image” to choose the exact picture

When a conversation contains several images, continuing with “change the hair” may leave the intended starting point unclear. Use the “Edit only this image” option on the picture you want to modify.

The selected image is added to the conversation as a reference image. You can then describe an edit specifically for that picture:

Change the cream sweater to a dark green jacket. Preserve the person’s facial features, red hair, pose, and background.

This is useful when you want to return to an earlier version or work on one result from a set. Conversation memory helps you continue a discussion; selecting a specific image tells Idoli which picture should serve as the reference for the next edit.

After generation, check both the requested change and the details you asked to preserve. A clear instruction guides the edit, but it is still worth reviewing the face, clothing, and background before continuing.

Create and save a character before using a portrait in video

For a workflow that starts from a real-person photo, first turn the portrait into a character and save it. Then reference that saved character in your later image or video creation.

Follow this sequence:

1. Upload the portrait in character-generation mode.
2. Generate a character from the photo.
3. Review the result and use Fine-tune if you want to adjust details.
4. Save the character.
5. Select the saved character when creating your next image or video.

Character generation currently does not have conversation memory. Use the fine-tuning option on the generated character for detail adjustments rather than assuming that a separate short message will inherit the previous request.

Saving the character gives you a reusable subject for later projects. For real-person-photo projects, this is Idoli’s recommended route into image and video creation: create the character first, save it, and reference it in the generation mode you want to use.

Reference your saved character in video mode

Switch to video-generation mode and reference the character you saved. Then describe what should happen: the setting, action, duration, and camera behavior.

For a six-second garden scene, you could use this prompt:

0:00 - 0:02 | A steady medium shot shows the referenced character standing beside a flower bed in a sunlit garden. The character looks down at the flowers, shoulders relaxed.

0:02 - 0:04 | In the same continuous shot, the character slowly turns their head toward the camera. Their body remains in place, and the garden background stays consistent.

0:04 - 0:06 | The character finishes the turn and gives a small, gentle smile. Hold the framing and soft daylight through the final moment. No cuts.

The saved character establishes the subject you are referencing; the prompt describes the scene and performance. Time blocks make the intended action progression explicit without requiring a camera cut at every boundary.

Video mode currently does not have conversation memory. For another generation, include the complete instructions for that video and reference the intended character again. If you want a slower head turn, revise the full prompt to allocate more time to it instead of sending only “make it slower.”

Choose between a subscription and extra credit packs

Idoli offers three subscription tiers: Starter, Creator, and Studio. Studio provides access to all models. Subscriptions are available monthly or annually, with annual billing offering a lower equivalent monthly cost.

Subscription credits are issued once each month and reset on a monthly basis. Annual billing does not change that monthly credit cycle. Plan your usage around the monthly allowance rather than treating it as a permanent credit balance.

Idoli also sells extra credit packs. Purchased credit-pack credits never expire. They are separate from the monthly subscription allowance.

The practical distinction is straightforward: subscriptions provide recurring monthly credits, while extra packs provide a credit balance without an expiry date. Compare the current plan details, available models, and credit requirements in Idoli before purchasing.