Best practices

Best Practices

How to get the best results from ARKIA, for the fewest credits.

Jump to: Source images · Writing prompts · Enhance prompt · Image aliases · Choosing a model · Settings by scenario · Saving credits · Recommended workflows · Seed and aspect ratio · By project type · Judging a result

Source images

Resolution

• Minimum: 1024 px on the short side.
• Ideal: 2048 px or more.

A small source gives a soft result, even after upscaling.

Format and compression

• Formats: PNG, JPEG, WebP.
• Prefer quality over file size. Heavily compressed JPEGs carry their artifacts into the result.

Light and exposure

• Good: well-lit images with balanced contrast.
• Acceptable: slight under- or overexposure.
• Avoid: blown-out whites and crushed blacks; the model can't invent what isn't there.

Sharpness

• Good: sharp focus.
• Acceptable: slight softness.
• Avoid: motion blur or strong artistic blur.

The right kind of image

Give each template the image it asks for: a 3D view, a photo, an elevation drawing, a floor plan. A raw 3D viewport works well with Photoreal; a smartphone photo works well with Photo Enhance.

Writing prompts

Say what you want to see

Describe the result, not the process. A good prompt names the subject, the materials, the light and the mood:

Two-story house with a flat roof and charred-wood cladding, large black-framed
windows, mature oaks around it, late-afternoon sun, architectural photograph

Rules that work

1. Be specific. "Contemporary two-story house with a flat roof and wooden cladding" beats "nice house".
2. Most important first. Put the main subject and the main change at the start.
3. One change at a time when editing. "Replace the sofa with a grey linen one" works better than a list of five changes.
4. Describe what should be there. To get rid of something, describe the scene without it, or use Erase in the viewer on that area.
5. Cite your images. Refer to an image by its alias, for example @site_photo. See Image aliases.

Prompt patterns

Exterior

Architectural photograph of [building], [materials], [surroundings],
[time of day] light, [season]

Interior

Interior photograph of a [room] in [style], [main furniture],
natural light from [direction], [mood]

Urban and aerial

Aerial view of [district or site], [season], [weather], realistic drone photograph

Enhance prompt

Enhance prompt rewrites your prompt in a richer, more precise form: it adds materials, light and camera in ARKIA's architectural style, and it takes into account the images you cite.

How to use it

1. Write your idea in the prompt field, in a few words and in any language.
2. Click the wand in the bottom-right corner of the field, or press Ctrl + Shift + E (⌘ + ⇧ + E on a Mac).
3. The field shows the rewritten prompt. Switch between Original and Enhanced in the corner to compare, edit either one, then generate.
4. Click the wand again to get another rewrite from your original prompt.

It works in the main prompt bar, in the viewer's edit bar, in Prompt nodes, and for video, where it turns your words into a precise camera move.

Limits

Enhance prompt costs no credits. Each plan has a number of rewrites:

In an organization, the rewrites are shared by the team. Hover the wand to see how many you have left.

Image aliases

What is an alias?

Every image you add to the prompt bar or to an Image node gets an alias, shown as a colored tag. Type the alias in your prompt, with @ in front, to tell the model exactly which image you mean.

How aliases are named

• The alias comes from the file name, without the extension: north_facade.jpg becomes @north_facade.
• Aliases use lowercase letters, digits and underscores, up to 30 characters.
• An image taken from your gallery gets a @gallery_… alias.
• Click a tag to rename it. The prompt follows the new name.

Name your files clearly before you upload them: the aliases will be clear too.

Citing images

Type @ in the prompt field: the list of your images appears. Pick one with the arrows and Enter or Tab, or keep typing to filter.

Replace the sky of @site_photo with the sky of @sky_reference

Insert the building from @project_view into @site_photo, matching its light and perspective

Apply the materials of @reference_building to @my_project, keep its proportions

Only cited images are sent with the prompt. Each tag says Cited · sent or Not cited.

Good habits

Do

• Use short, descriptive aliases: @north_facade, @ground_plan.
• Cite the main image first.
• Use a Note node to explain what each image is for in a large graph.

Avoid

• Generic aliases such as @image or @photo.
• Deleting an image that a prompt still cites.

Choosing a model

ARKIA offers three image models. Pick one in the settings row of the prompt bar, or with the Generate node in Nodes.

Nano Banana Pro

The default, and the most capable on complex scenes: many references, insertions, full transformations. Use it for final renders.

Nano Banana Flash

About half the cost of Pro, and faster. It often keeps the framing and geometry of a source image more faithfully, which makes it a good first choice for edits, tests and series. It also accepts very wide and very tall formats (up to 8:1).

GPT Image 2.5

Strong at following long, detailed instructions and at precise edits of a source image. Two variants: Flare (faster, for everyday renders) and Sunburst (the most precise edits of your source). Its cost follows the quality you choose, from Low to Max: Low and Medium cost less than a Flash image, High (the default) costs more than Flash and about as much as Pro or less, and Max costs more than Pro. It has no seed.

A simple rule: test with Flash, finish with Pro, and try GPT Image 2.5 when the other two don't follow a precise instruction. The cost of each run is shown before you generate. See What a generation costs.

Settings by scenario

Light changes

Fixing the light, changing the season, adding people or cars.

Templates: Lighting Change, Season Change, Populate the Scene, Add Vehicles.

Medium changes

Changing style, materials or surroundings.

Templates: Material Swap, Style Variants, Landscape Design, Floor / Wall Swap.

Full transformations

Sketch to render, 2D plan to 3D, a new scene.

Templates: Sketch to Render, 2D Plan to 3D Isometric, Virtual Home Staging.

Saving credits

Costs depend on your plan. The examples below use the Explorer rate; the app shows your own cost before each run. See Credits.

Draft, validate, finish

1. Explore at 1K, with Flash (12 credits an image on Explorer) and 2 to 4 images per run.
2. Validate at 2K, 1 or 2 images, with the model you'll use for the final.
3. Finish at 4K only for the image you deliver.

Generate small, upscale the keeper

1. Generate at 1K or 2K
2. Upscale the image you keep with Quick: 4K for 4 credits
3. Keep 4K generation for the images where fine detail really matters

Free (×2 on your graphics card) costs nothing and is enough for a quick look. Quick stays faithful to the image and goes up to 4K. See Upscale.

Edit instead of regenerating

If one area is wrong, open the image and use Select or Erase on that area. Only the selection is sent, and the rest of the image stays untouched.

Avoid

• Testing directly at 4K: Pro at 4K costs 51 credits on Explorer, twice a 1K or 2K image.
• Four 4K images at once: generate the four at 1K, then upscale or regenerate the best.

Recommended workflows

Client project

1. Brief → Sketch to Render or Photoreal (1K, Flash) → 4 variations
2. Pick the best → adjust it in the viewer → Upscale Quick → client presentation
3. Client approval → a final image at 4K (Pro) → delivery

Real estate listing

1. Property photo → Photo Enhance (1K)
2. Empty or dated room → Empty the Room, then Virtual Home Staging (2K)
3. Exterior → Virtual Twilight (2K)
4. Upscale Quick → export for the listing

Renovation of an existing building

1. Current facade photo → Facade Restoration (1K) → 2 to 4 options
2. Access and greenery → Accessibility Upgrade, Living Facade
3. Before / after → Compare node
4. Export the images for your presentation

Seed and aspect ratio

Seed

• New seed (Vary): explore, discover unexpected variations.
• Same seed: reproduce a result and change only the prompt.
• Neighbor seeds (42, 43, 44…): close but distinct variations.

GPT Image 2.5 has no seed.

Aspect ratio

• Auto: follows your source image. The safest choice when you edit an image.
• 16:9 or 3:2: exteriors, urban views.
• 4:5 or 3:4: facades, towers, social posts.
• 1:1: thumbnails.

Pick a fixed ratio when you know the final format. To change the format of an existing image without cropping it, use Resize in the viewer.

By project type

Contemporary architecture

• Prompt words: "clean lines", "exposed concrete and glass", "precise shadows".
• Settings: 2K, 16:9 or 3:2, 2 to 4 variations.
• Templates: Photoreal, Material Swap, Lighting Change, Sky Replacement.

Heritage renovation

• Prompt words: "restored historic facade", "original details kept", "authentic materials".
• Settings: 2K, a precise prompt, the same seed across options.
• Templates: Facade Restoration, Material Swap, Common Areas Refresh.

Interior design

• Prompt words: "[style] interior", "natural light", "attention to textures".
• Settings: 2K, 4 variations to compare styles.
• Templates: Virtual Home Staging, Style Transfer, Floor / Wall Swap, Evening Ambience.

More tips

1. Chain templates in Nodes: Empty the Room → Virtual Home Staging → Floor / Wall Swap → Upscale.
2. Use a style reference: add a reference image and cite it, for example "in the style of @reference".
3. Prepare seasons in advance: run Season Change once per season on your key views.
4. Work by point of view: one scene per view keeps your project and your graphs tidy.

Judging a result

Keep it

• Clean edges, no blur.
• Consistent perspective.
• Believable materials, light and shadows.
• No visible artifacts.

Fix it in the viewer

• A small artifact or one wrong object: Select or Erase that area.
• Slightly soft: Upscale with Quick.

Regenerate

• Major distortions (bent windows, impossible structure).
• Shadows that contradict each other.
• Deformed people.

Learning path

Beginner

1. Start with the featured templates: Photoreal, Photo Enhance, Empty the Room.
2. Work at 1K while you learn.
3. Open your best results and look at their settings (prompt, model, seed).

Intermediate

1. Build a first graph in Nodes: Image → Generate → Upscale.
2. Use Enhance prompt, then refine the rewrite by hand.
3. Keep the prompts that work in Note nodes.

Advanced

1. Multi-step graphs that chain templates.
2. Several references, cited by alias.
3. Fixed seeds to compare one change at a time.

See also

• Templates: the full catalog
• Nodes: node reference
• Troubleshooting: solve issues
• Tutorials: step-by-step guides

Last updated: October 18, 2026