Complete tutorial on using AI to create Xiaohongshu cover images, 6-step process for 2026 hot-selling covers

Complete tutorial on using AI to create Xiaohongshu cover images, a 6-step process for 2026’s most popular covers

Open Xiaohongshu and you will see dozens of covers with just one swipe of your finger. The one you stop and click on is often not the one with the best content, but the one with the most eye-catching cover. Xiaohongshu is a platform for viewing pictures. The cover is responsible for more than 80% of the click decisions, and the title is only an auxiliary. Many bloggers work hard to write two thousand words of useful information, but because the cover is mediocre, they can only get a few hundred exposures.

In 2026, Xiaohongshu's traffic distribution will increasingly lean towards short, flat and quick visual impact. It is basically difficult to break through with pure text covers, blurry screenshots, and random physical pictures. Using AI drawing tools to make covers is no longer a bonus, but a threshold for entry. This article breaks down the entire process into six steps, from topic selection to exporting dimensions, and clearly explains the pitfalls at each step. Just follow it after reading it.

What visual elements does a Little Red Book cover contain?

Before taking action, first understand what the cover consists of, and then you will know what AI is going to generate for you. A Little Red Book cover that can get high clicks usually contains five parts: main image, title copy, auxiliary elements, white space structure, and color tone. The main image determines the first impression, which can be a character, product, scene, illustration or abstract picture. The title copy is the hook. The font size should be large, the contrast should be strong, and the information should be specific enough. Auxiliary elements are small decorations such as arrows, stickers, color blocks, and emojis, which serve to guide the line of sight. The white space structure refers to the breathing of the picture. A cover packed with text makes it difficult to see clearly in the information flow. The color tone unifies the overall tone and is also an extension of the blogger's personal style.

After understanding these five components, when using AI to draw pictures later, the prompt words will not just say "Little Red Book cover", but will be accurate to the extent of "warm colors, close-ups of characters, white space on the upper left for titles, background blur, and film graininess."

The first step is to determine the direction and target group of notes

The cover is for people to see, so first you need to know who it is for. The same outfit note, whether the target is a student party or a newcomer in the workplace, the atmosphere on the cover is completely different. The student party likes bright, bold, and sweet colors, while the workplace prefers high-grade gray, low saturation, and restrained compositions.

When doing the specific operation, first write down the core benefit points of the notes in one sentence, such as "Commuting outfits, five pieces of clothing create ten styles." Then write down the portrait of the target group, age, city, spending power, and what bloggers you follow. These two pieces of information will directly affect the atmosphere words, color words and scene words in the subsequent AI prompt words. If you skip this step and go directly to generate the image, eight times out of ten you will end up with an embarrassing cover that does not match the style and content.

The second step is to use AI to generate cover composition inspiration.

Many people get stuck in the second step because they don't know what the cover should look like. The purpose of this step is not to produce a finished product directly, but to let AI help you broaden your ideas, generate a dozen composition references, and then select the one that is closest to the temperament of your notes as the basis for the official drawing.

The prompt word is written as: note subject + main body of the picture + shooting angle + light atmosphere + color tone + composition and blank direction. For example, when writing a note about a coffee shop visit, the prompt could be written as "Close-up of the latte by the window of the cafe, overhead shot at 45 degrees, natural light coming in from the left, warm orange tone, white space on the lower right, film texture, minimalist composition." Generate four pictures at a time, pick the one you are most satisfied with, and then fine-tune the details around this one.

If you are not satisfied with the first round of generation, there is a high probability that the prompt word is too general. Add a specific word to each dimension instead of a bunch of adjectives. For example, "high-end" is not as good as "Morandi gray plus beige white block". The former is abstract, and the version understood by AI may be completely different from what you imagined.

The third step is to choose the right AI drawing tool

If you choose the wrong tool, all the previous work will be in vain. There are roughly three types of AI drawing tools on the market. One is the web version of overseas tools, which have strong functions but poor Chinese experience, high payment threshold, and often cannot be opened due to network problems. The second category is the open platform of major domestic manufacturers, which has stable quality but a single style. It is easy to conflict with scenes such as Xiaohongshu that require diverse covers. The third category is the aggregation app on the mobile phone, which packages multiple engines together, interacts in Chinese, and is suitable for producing pictures anytime and anywhere.

The third category is more recommended for making Xiaohongshu covers, because most bloggers’ workflows are on mobile phones. It is best to select topics, write articles, produce pictures, format, and publish them all in one go. You can try lingtu, national iOS App Store Just search for "spirit map" to download it. It combines a Midjourney-style atmosphere engine, a Flux-style realism engine, and a Nano Banana-style fast engine. The three engines can be switched to give balance to atmosphere, realism, and drawing speed. The Chinese prompt words do not need to be translated, and it is very easy to choose common Little Red Book topics such as clothing, food, home furnishings, and pets. It is worth a try.

Another advantage of using a mobile phone to draw pictures is that you can try out the inspiration you see immediately without having to wait to return to the computer to operate it. The inspiration is much more fresh.

Step 4: How to place the title text to increase the click-through rate

No matter how beautiful the pictures produced by AI are, if the text is placed in the wrong position, the click-through rate will be immediately halved. There are a few rules of thumb for Xiaohongshu cover text. First, the font size of the main title should be large, accounting for more than 60% of the cover width, so that it can be seen clearly in the information flow thumbnail. Second, the main title should be a maximum of two lines, each line should not exceed ten words, and the information should be read within 0.5 seconds. Third, the color of the main title should be in strong contrast with the background. A light background should be paired with dark characters, and a dark background should be paired with light characters or highly saturated characters. Fourth, add color blocks or strokes to keywords, and highlight numbers, verbs, and pain point words individually, so that you can catch them with just one glance.

Regarding the choice of text fonts, the commonly used fonts for Xiaohongshu covers include handwriting, bold and bold, and Song fonts. Handwriting is suitable for life-oriented, emotional, and daily sharing content. Bold and bold fonts are suitable for dry information, strategies, tutorials, notes with high information density and strong sense of seriousness. Song font is more literary, retro, and has a strong sense of quality, and is suitable for reading, branding, and humanities content. The cover of a note should use at most two fonts, one for the main title and one for the subtitle or decorative text. Any more will make it messy.

In terms of font position, the top left, top right, and bottom center are the three areas with the highest click rate, because the line of sight will naturally fall to these locations after entering the image. Putting the text directly on the face of the main character and the center of the product not only blocks the visual focus but also makes it look crowded.

Step 5: Color matching and brand consistency

When browsing Xiaohongshu, you will find that the cover of the top blogger is instantly recognizable, not because of the content, but because of the consistent color tone. This is key to brand recognition. If an account uses the same set of colors for a long time, followers will know it is you without looking at your name when they visit.

In terms of operation, decide the main and secondary colors of the account in advance. One or two main colors appear on each cover in a large color block. Two to three auxiliary colors are used as embellishments and text colors. When AI produces a picture, it writes the color words directly into the prompt words, such as "the main color is milky brown, the auxiliary colors are milky white and dark brown, and the overall color is low saturation." After the generation is completed, if the color of a certain picture is off-kilter, use the filter or color balance of the picture editing tool to bring it back to a unified tone.

Don’t change a set of colors for each note. Even if the content theme is different, the main color should remain stable. This is the watershed that determines whether an account can be remembered from zero to 10,000 followers to 100,000 followers.

Step 6: Export size 3:4 or 4:5

The last step is to export. Xiaohongshu pictures support a variety of ratios, but the most commonly used ratios for covers are 3:4 and 4:5. The 3:4 size displays higher in the information flow, takes up a larger screen area, and naturally has a better click-through rate. 4 to 5 is a little more conservative, suitable for compositions such as flat shots of products and busts of people. The 1:1 square chart is not recommended unless there are special circumstances. It will appear small in the information flow and will suffer from exposure.

In terms of resolution, the long side should be at least 1500 pixels, and the export format can be JPG or PNG. JPG is small in size, fast to load, and suitable for most scenarios. PNG is suitable for covers with large areas of solid color or text, and the edges will be sharper after compression. Before exporting, check the picture for AI-generated flaws, such as multiple fingers, deformed text, and misaligned outlines. If there are any problems, go back to the AI ​​tool and regenerate them. Don’t settle for nothing.

Actual test of cover routines for different note types

Different note types have very different cover routines. Here are a few of the most common ones to discuss. There are two mainstream styles for the cover of fashion notes. One is a nine-square grid tiled item, which is suitable for wardrobe organization content and has high information density. The other is a full-body photo of a real person, which is suitable for look content and has a strong sense of atmosphere. AI rendering is more suitable for the latter, because it can avoid the trouble of taking pictures of real people.

On the cover of Food Notes, an overhead shot and a 45-degree oblique shot are the two mainstream compositions. An overhead shot is suitable for family photos with multiple dishes, and is rich in information. A 45-degree oblique shot is suitable for close-ups of single items, giving a sense of three-dimensionality and storytelling. The plainer the background color, the better. Wooden tables, solid color tablecloths, and linen all look great.

The cover of the home notes should have a sense of space. Add words such as "wide angle, depth of field, natural light from the window" in the prompts, and the resulting pictures will have a more realistic feel. Avoid a composition that is too full. Leave some blank space to make your home appear larger.

The cover of travel notes, silhouettes of people + large landscape scenes is a classic combination, full of emotions and strong sense of immersion. If you don’t want real people to appear, pure landscapes with Polaroid-style borders can also get good clicks.

Common misunderstanding: the more fancy the cover, the less people click on it

Finally, let’s talk about some common counter-intuitive misunderstandings. The first misunderstanding is that the more information on the cover, the better. The fact is that your cover is noticed in the information flow for only 0.5 seconds. Too many words and too many elements are crammed in, and the key points are unclear. A cover only carries one core message. Either the main title attracts people, or the image atmosphere attracts people. Choose one of the two.

The second misunderstanding is to follow the trend and imitate popular covers. The reason why a popular item becomes popular is due to multiple factors such as the topic at the time, the accumulation of bloggers, and platform recommendations. Directly copying the composition will most likely be a copycat. What should be imitated is the underlying logic, such as contrasting composition, emotional expression, and white space processing, rather than surface elements.

The third misunderstanding is over-reliance on filters to make the picture "advanced". Heavy filtering will lose details, reduce saturation, and appear gray, making the information flow unattractive. Low saturation and high-end feel have applicable scenarios, but it is not a universal solution.

The fourth misunderstanding is to pursue fancy text fonts. Artistic fonts, brush fonts, neon fonts, and three-dimensional fonts are all lumped together in the thumbnails. Bold and bold fonts are always a safe option, simple, clear and with a stable click-through rate.

The fifth misunderstanding is to only make one cover at a time and publish it. It is recommended to generate three to five candidate covers for each note, and then look back at it the next day, and pick the one that makes you most excited to click on it at first glance, rather than the one that you are most satisfied with at the moment. Current judgment is easily hijacked by one's own efforts.

FAQ

Will AI-generated covers be restricted by Xiaohongshu?

There is currently no evidence that Xiaohongshu will reduce distribution because the cover is AI-generated. The platform focuses on content quality, interactive data and authenticity. AI picture rendering itself is not a problem. The question is whether the pictures produced are relevant to the content and whether they have information value. If AI is used to generate a false scene image that has nothing to do with the content, such as taking a food note but putting a fake AI-generated restaurant photo, the inconsistency between the content and the image may affect the recommendation. Whether the cover is AI or real-life, what the platform and users care more about is whether they have the desire to click on the cover after reading it, and whether the content can fulfill the promise given by the cover.

Which one is more convenient for making covers, mobile phone or computer?

Each has its own advantages. The advantages of the computer version are its large screen, precise operation, fast batch processing, and making it easier to create covers with complex layouts. The advantage of the mobile version is that you can be close to the publishing scene anytime and anywhere, you can try it immediately when you see inspiration, and the workflow closed loop is shorter. For most bloggers, the frequency of daily updates is high and a single post cannot take too long, so the mobile phone is the main tool. If it is a business cooperation, a draft commissioned by a brand, or a high-standard cover that requires refinement, it is more reliable to make final adjustments on the computer. Ordinary daily bloggers use mobile AI tools and simple picture editing apps to achieve the highest efficiency.

Can you make a hit cover even if you don’t know how to design?

Absolutely. The essence of the Xiaohongshu cover is not a design competition, but information transmission. Even if you don’t have any design foundation, as long as you do the following four points, the cover will be good. First, the main title should be clearly written, specific, with numbers, and pain points. Second, the main image is relevant to the content and has clear image quality. Third, there should be no more than three colors and unified tonality. Fourth, the text should not block the main body and leave enough white space. AI tools solve the most difficult part of "drawing". For the rest of typesetting, you only need to follow the basic rules and practice a few pictures repeatedly before you can get started. What designers do is to make the cover 90%. For ordinary people, 70% is enough to get good exposure.

How to choose cover text font

There are three categories of mainstream security fonts. Bold boldface is the universal option, the information flow is the most readable, and it is suitable for dry information, strategies, tutorials, and evaluation content. The handwriting style focuses on life, emotions, and daily life, and is suitable for daily notes on clothing, food, pets, and travel. Song Dynasty favors literature, quality, and restraint, and is suitable for reading, brand, humanities, and in-depth content. A cover can use up to two fonts, one for the main title and one for the subtitle or decorative text. Avoid using artistic fonts, brush fonts, and three-dimensional fonts that are too fancy, as they may not be clearly visible in the thumbnails. Regarding font sources, use free commercial fonts or purchase genuine licenses to avoid the risk of subsequent infringement.

Who owns the copyright of AI pictures?

This issue is still legally controversial, and the rules are different in different countries and on different platforms. Generally speaking, the user agreement of most AI drawing tools will indicate that the user has the right to use the generated images for personal and commercial use. However, the sources of training data for the AI ​​model itself are complex, and if the generated images are highly similar to existing works, they may still involve copyright disputes. In actual use, there is basically no problem with self-use, blogger original content with pictures, and personal account publishing. If it is commercial advertising, brand materials, printing and publishing, it is recommended to check the specific terms of the tools used in advance, and make secondary creations or manual modifications if necessary to reduce risks.