Cheap paint filter ðŸ˜I am tracing/editing every image which takes ages... feedback taken on board though
Didn't mean to break your heart ckyman (not a native english speaker, apologies), the filter I speak of looks like the Photoshop "median" filter. Hence why I said it looks "Cheap", not trying to degrade the hours you spent working on the images. :)
Since these filters tend to remove fine detail in images (such as in Anna's face) when used on them and usually also removing any thin lines like those seen in stylized art. Speaking of, something I noticed too was that your images suffer from the same broken line work as the game's, solid lines being stippled instead of solid like one would see in pixel/Stylized Art.
Below is two examples that would hopefully explain better what I mean: (I'm terrible at explaining stuff, apologies)
Notice how the filter removes a lot of details as well as blur the image, compared to the original image (left).
Just a rough rework in photoshop, but look at Anna's face in specific (I know it is hard to focus on that xD), see how her lips, nose and even parts of her head and her eyes are missing lines/details, then look at the rest of the lines on her hair and body, in the original they are almost completely missing, broken up, solid lines are used to define one shape being in front/above the one behind/underneath it.
Her breasts should have a much clearer line defining the shape, since her breasts are in front of her body and her arms (notice the left shoulder close to her breast on the original), in the original the way the lines look right now, implies the breast is attached directly to her upper arm instead of her chest due to the missing line detail.
Last bit of criticism if I may, not sure how the image generators work, but it does look like the images were small resolution, and then upscaled/scaled, which looks weird, since one pixel now seems to be the size of +4 pixels, this also leads to some lines being thicker than they should, and messing with fine details in the image even more.
I hope this helps, again, I do apologise if I came accross as trying to degrade you or the effort you put in. :)
Hey, thanks for taking the time to write all that out and for the clear side by side examples. I appreciate it 🙂
I understand exactly what you’re seeing with the median-filter softness, the broken/stippled lines, the missing detail on Anna’s face (lips, nose, eyes, hair edges), and the way some of the body contours (especially the breast/arm separation) feel incomplete. Those are fair observations if you’re looking at it from a clean, solid-line stylised or pixel art perspective
The thing is, I’m deliberately not going for that clean aesthetic. I am intentionally introducing blurs, light blooms, and softened details to push the images closer to real-life photography rather than crisp illustration
With the studio pieces in particular, the setting is supposed to feel like a converted basement with neon lighting and a hastily put together backdrop. In that kind of environment you’d naturally get strong light bloom, soft focus, slight haze, and finer details getting partially lost or obscured by the lighting and atmosphere. I lean into those effects on purpose so they feel present and part of the scene instead of cleaning everything up to look polished and sharp
That same approach is why some of the line work ends up softer or broken, and why the overall image can feel a bit lower resolution or upscaled the softness and bloom are baked into the look I’m after
That said, your notes about readability are still useful. Even with the photographic softness I want the major forms (especially the face and the separation between breasts and body/arms) to stay clear enough that the shapes don’t start to merge. I will keep a closer eye on those areas going forward so the softness doesn’t undermine the structure
Thanks again for the constructive feedback