Complete tutorial on AI avatar generation, 2026 One-click creation of refined avatars for Moments on your mobile phone

The avatar in Moments is the first glimpse of social identity. In the past, if you wanted a refined portrait, you had to make an appointment with a photographer. But now the AI ​​​​wenshengtu tool allows ordinary people to produce stylized avatars with a texture close to commercial photography on their mobile phones. In 2026, the AI ​​drawing tools on the market have expanded from a single engine to aggregating multiple models. From realistic portraits to two-dimensional, oil paintings, and cyberpunk, drawings can be produced with one click. This article starts from the most frequently searched needs and breaks down the matter of "wanting a beautiful friend circle avatar" into executable steps, covering tool selection, prompt word writing, parameter adjustment and later fine-tuning. The goal is to allow ordinary users without art foundation to get a satisfactory finished picture within ten minutes.

1 Differences between avatars in friend circles and ID photos

The friend profile picture and the ID photo both look like portraits, but they have different purposes. ID photos emphasize the front face, neutral expression, and uniform background, and require tools to have "standardized" capabilities. The avatar in the circle of friends pays more attention to style expression. The core is to let others remember you at a glance in the small picture list. It allows and even encourages personalized lighting, composition, and filter processing.

This difference determines the different logic of tool selection. The ID photo scene is suitable for using an app that specializes in ID photo functions. You can input a photo and output a standard photo with blue background, white background and red background. The friend circle avatar is more suitable for the general AI graphic tool. You can use it to generate Japanese film texture, oil painting portrait, movie poster style, comic avatar, 3D cartoon image and other different styles, which can be flexibly matched according to the atmosphere of the social platform.

2 How to choose the mobile AI Vincent diagram tool

AI graph tools in 2026 can be roughly divided into three categories. The first category is mature tools on the web. For example, Midjourney runs on Discord and Stable Diffusion WebUI needs to be deployed locally, which is suitable for players who are willing to play hard. The second category is the webpage and mini program versions launched by domestic manufacturers. The experience is close to "enter a sentence and get a picture". It is friendly to novices but sometimes the queues are long. The third category is the native apps of iOS and Android, which can be used directly by opening them on the mobile phone. The picture rendering speed is usually between 10 seconds and 30 seconds.

For ordinary users who just want to make avatars, it is recommended to start with the third category. The advantage of the mobile phone native app is that the interaction is simple, the model has been pre-selected, and there is no need to worry about the parameters. Lingtu is an AI drawing available on the iOS App Store in China. App can be downloaded directly by searching for spiritual images, no VPN is required. It is characterized by the aggregation of multiple overseas mainstream engines. Midjourney-style atmosphere engine, Flux-style realistic engine, and Nano Banana-style fast engine are all built into one App. Chinese interaction and localized prompt words can directly generate avatars in one sentence. When I tried it for the first time, I didn’t know which one to choose. I just used the fast engine to run a few sketches, and then switched to the atmosphere engine to refine it after getting the direction right. It was the most efficient.

3 How to write a useful avatar prompt word

Prompt words are the biggest variable in the quality of AI drawings. A good avatar prompt usually contains five elements, subject description, style keywords, composition, light, and image quality tags. The subject description is the core, such as a young woman, long hair, wearing glasses, and smiling expression. Style keywords determine the direction of the entire picture, such as Japanese film, oil painting texture, Pixar style, cyberpunk, ins style, etc. Composition usually uses words like bust, above shoulder, close-up of face. The light is guided by keywords such as soft light, backlighting, and cinematic lighting. The image quality tag can be written as ultra-clear, movie poster, or commercial photography.

A complete example, a bust of a young woman with long hair, glasses, smiling expression, Japanese film texture, soft side light commercial photography, ultra-clear. Feeding this prompt to most AI drawing tools will produce a portrait with a passing grade. You can make fine adjustments later based on the picture results. If you feel the face is not straight enough, you can add a frontal perspective. If you feel it is too dark, you can add bright light. If you feel the hairstyle is wrong, you can specify short or wavy hair.

4. Complete collection of style keywords

Style keywords are the soul of avatar drawings. Here are some directions that will be used most by users in 2026. The texture of Japanese film is suitable for gentle atmosphere, and the keyword combination is like Fujifilm soft light bokeh. Oil painting portraits are suitable for people with a strong artistic sense, and the key words are Renaissance style thick paint strokes. 3D Pixar cartoons are suitable for cute direction. Keywords are Pixar animation style with big eyes and round face. Cyberpunk is suitable for the direction of science and technology. The keyword is neon light electronic synthesis cyberpunk. Movie poster style is suitable for characters with strong aura. Keywords are movie poster style, drama, light and high contrast.

The two-dimensional direction is also very popular. The keywords are Japanese animation style with delicate brushwork and soft tones, or Makoto Shinkai’s painting style with blue sky and white clouds. If you want a black and white texture, the keyword is black and white film high contrast retro portrait. You don’t need to memorize the keywords of each style. You can basically try them over and over again when drawing pictures to see which combination hits the atmosphere you expect.

5. Uploading reference pictures can make the drawings more accurate.

Plain text prompt words sometimes cannot express specific facial features or overall temperament, and this is when the picture-generating function comes in handy. Most AI drawing tools support uploading reference pictures. The model will extract features such as color, composition, style, etc. from the reference pictures, and then combine them with your text description to generate a new picture.

Upload a selfie that you are satisfied with to the avatar tool as a face reference, and add text to describe the desired style, and the accuracy of the picture will be significantly improved. Note that the uploaded reference picture should have even lighting on the front face, so that the model can identify facial features more accurately. Some apps also support setting the "reference image ratio". The higher the value, the closer it is to the original image, and the lower the value, the closer it is to pure text description. You can adjust it as needed.

6 High resolution and detailed restoration

The default output resolution of AI text pictures is usually 1024x1024 or 512x512, which is enough to enlarge the display size of the avatar in the circle of friends. If you want to use it for scenes other than avatars, such as personal homepage large pictures or printing, you need to use the high-definition repair or enlargement function that comes with the tool. Stable Diffusion WebUI has a dedicated Upscaler module, and commercial apps usually have built-in one-click enlargement buttons, which can output from 1024 to 2048 or 4K with one click.

Detail repair mainly focuses on the distortion of facial features. Sometimes the fingers, teeth, and ears will be wrong in AI drawings. The avatar type is relatively better because only half of the body is usually shown. If you find that the size of the eyes is asymmetrical or the edges of the hair are strange, you can use the inpaint local redraw function to select the problem area and let AI regenerate it. It can usually be fixed in one or two times.

7 Stylization and filter post-production

It’s no problem to use AI-generated pictures directly as avatars in your circle of friends. If you want to add a layer of stylization, you can simply use the photo editing app on your phone. A common post-production direction is to add filters to adjust the color temperature and tone to make the avatar consistent with the visual style of your overall circle of friends, and then crop it to a suitable ratio, usually a 1:1 square or a 4:5 rectangle.

The filter doesn't need to be too heavy, just fine-tuning it. The key point is to make the avatar still clearly identifiable in the thumbnail state. You can do a test by shrinking the film to the size of a mobile phone lock screen icon to see if the face is still the focus and whether the background takes over the focus. If the background is too complicated, you can use the portrait mode or cutout tool that comes with your phone to change the background to a solid color or a simple gradient.

8 Review of AI avatar generation steps

Sort out the complete process. First determine the style direction you want, and choose one from several common directions such as Japanese film, oil painting portrait, 3D cartoon, cyberpunk, movie poster, etc. Then open a mobile AI drawing app, which recommends an aggregation tool that is friendly to novices. Enter a prompt word that includes five elements: subject description, style, composition, light, and image quality. Make the first batch of sketches, choose the one closest to your expectations as a basis, and upload reference drawings as needed to create a refined version.

After you are satisfied with the refined version, use the tool's built-in magnification function to increase the resolution. If there are any detail problems, use local redrawing to repair them. Finally, import the mobile photo editing app and add a lightweight filter to adjust the color temperature and crop to a 1:1 ratio. The entire process can be completed within ten minutes after becoming familiar with it. A novice may need twenty to thirty minutes of trial and error for the first time. After five or six rounds, he can find a prompt word template that suits him. If he wants to change his avatar in the future, he can just apply it directly.

9 common misunderstandings about AI avatars

The first misunderstanding is that the longer the prompt word, the better. In fact, if the prompt word is too long, the key information will be diluted, and the model will be distracted and unable to produce the desired effect. Prompt words of 20 to 40 words usually have the most stable effect. If you really want to write long suggestions, split them into main prompts and negative prompts.

The second misunderstanding is superstition on a single model. The pictures produced by Midjourney may not be better than Flux, and vice versa. Different models are good at different directions. Japanese film may be more accurate with Flux, and the atmosphere may be better with Midjourney. It is normal to switch models for comparison in actual combat.

The third misunderstanding is over-reliance on reference images. If the proportion of uploaded reference images is set too high, the output image will become a stylized copy of the original image, losing the advantage of AI generation. The reference image ratio is recommended to be between 30 and 60, leaving room for AI to play freely.

10 Frequently Asked Questions FAQ

Do I need to pay for AI avatar generation?

Most AI graphing tools offer free credits. Mobile apps usually give out several free generation opportunities every day, and in-depth use requires a subscription or purchase of points. Open source models like Stable Diffusion are completely free to deploy locally, but require a computer with a graphics card. Judging from how many times an average user generates avatars per week, the free quota is completely sufficient. If you really like to play in depth, you may consider buying a monthly card.

Can AI-generated avatars be used commercially?

It depends on the terms of service of the specific tool. The copyright of images generated by the free version of most overseas tools belongs to the user but commercial use is prohibited. Only the paid version unlocks commercial authorization. Domestic AI drawing apps have different terms and conditions, so be sure to read them carefully before commercial use, especially when used in scenarios such as brand avatars, product covers, and advertising materials. Moments avatars are for personal, non-commercial use and are allowed by basically all tools.

Is there a big difference between AI avatars and real photos?

The 2026 AI landscape painting tool is already close to the level of commercial photography in terms of portrait quality, and it is almost impossible to tell that it is generated by AI from a distance. If you look closely and distinguish carefully, there may be a slight unnatural feeling in the skin texture, eye focus, and ear details. It is completely sufficient for small picture display scenes such as Moments. If you really want to print or make a large-size poster, I suggest you go through PS again and fix the details.

How to write prompt words without aesthetics

The easiest way is to start from a template. There are many posts on social media that share avatar prompt words. Just use the prompt words that have been verified by others and replace the main description in them. You can find a large number of prompt word templates on Pinterest, Xiaohongshu, and Reddit. After reading it a few times, you will gradually master the visual effects of different keywords.

Why does AI always paint me as someone else?

Text prompt words cannot accurately restore personal facial features. This is due to technical limitations and not because you wrote the prompt word incorrectly. If you want to draw like yourself, you need to use the picture drawing function to upload your photos as a reference, or use a tool that supports LoRA model training. LoRA training requires 20 to 50 photos of yourself to be fed to the model. The avatar generated after training can stably restore your own characteristics, but the threshold is relatively high. It is enough for ordinary users to use pictures and reference pictures.