🎨 Pixflux Batch Generation

Generate hundreds of unique pixel art variations with complete transparency about what was created

⚡ Quick Start

# Clone this beauty
git clone <repo-url>
cd pixellab-batch-generator

# Install frontend
npm install

# Start backend (in new terminal)
cd backend
npm install
npm start

# Start frontend (in original terminal)
npm run dev

That's it! Visit http://localhost:5173 and start creating magic ✨

---

🚀 Why This Tool Will Change Your Pixel Art Game

🎲 Dynamic Wildcard System That Actually Makes Sense

Forget copy-pasting prompts. Create reusable collections that work like magic:

Your prompt: "a __mood__ __creature__ with __colors__"
What happens: "a mysterious dragon with neon colors"

• File-based storage - Your wildcards are actual .txt files you can share
• Click-to-add - Just click any wildcard name to insert it
• Auto-append magic - Active wildcards automatically enhance every prompt
• See what was chosen - Complete transparency about selections

🔀 Variation Syntax That Multiplies Your Creativity

One prompt, infinite possibilities:

"a {young|adult|ancient} {fire|ice|shadow} dragon"

This generates 9 unique combinations from a single line. Combine with wildcards? Now we're talking thousands of variations!

📦 Batch Queue That Respects Your Time (and API Limits)

Generate 1 to 100 images with:

• Visual progress tracking - See exactly what's happening
• Smart rate limiting - Never hit 429 errors again
• Pause/resume anytime - Full control over your generation
• Individual failure handling - One fail doesn't stop the show

🏷️ Metadata System That Preserves Everything

Every PNG contains its complete generation history:

• Original prompt template
• Final processed prompt
• Every wildcard selection made
• All generation settings
• Timestamp and seed

Drag and drop any image back to see exactly how it was made!

👁️ Complete Selection Transparency

Know exactly what happened in every generation:

🎲 __styles__ → anime style
🔀 {cute|scary} → cute
🎲 __quality__ → masterpiece (auto-appended)

No more guessing why an image turned out great!

🎯 Smart UI That Gets Out of Your Way

• Collapsible sections - See only what you need
• Server status indicator - Know where your wildcards live
• Keyboard navigation - Arrow keys in gallery
• One-click downloads - Single images or entire batches as ZIP

💾 Persistent Storage That Survives Everything

• Port changes? No problem - Wildcards live on the server
• Browser crash? All good - Everything's in files
• Want to share? Easy - ZIP your wildcards folder
• Version control? Sure - It's just text files

🎨 Real-World Magic This Enables

For Game Developers

Generate complete sprite sheets with variations:

• 100 character portraits with different moods
• 50 item icons with rarity variations
• 20 environment tiles with weather effects

For Artists

Explore styles systematically:

• Test your subject with 20 different art styles
• Generate mood boards with consistent themes
• Find unexpected combinations that spark joy

For Content Creators

Build asset libraries at scale:

• Create themed collections in minutes
• Generate variations for A/B testing
• Build consistent visual languages

🔥 Features That Make This Special

The Wildcard Manager

• Pre-loaded with 120 curated options across 6 categories
• Create unlimited custom wildcards
• Edit wildcards in-app or directly as text files
• See exactly which wildcards are active with visual badges

The Batch Generator

• Real-time status with beautiful animations
• Graceful error handling with clear messages
• Memory-efficient processing
• Export everything with embedded metadata

The Image Viewer

• Gallery with smooth navigation
• Progress bar showing your position
• Copy prompts with one click
• See all generation details at a glance

The Metadata Reader

• Drag & drop any generated image
• Extract complete generation data
• See all dynamic selections made
• Perfect for learning what worked

🛠️ Technical Goodies

• React + Vite - Lightning fast development
• Tailwind CSS - Beautiful dark theme out of the box
• Express Backend - Simple, reliable file management
• No database needed - Everything is files
• Standard PNG metadata - Compatible with other tools
• Clean, documented code - Easy to understand and modify

📚 What's in the Box?

├── 🎨 6 default wildcards with 20 options each
├── 🔄 Dynamic prompt processor with variation support
├── 📦 Batch queue with visual feedback
├── 🏷️ Complete metadata preservation
├── 📁 File-based wildcard storage
├── 🎯 Selection transparency
├── ⚡ Smart rate limit handling
└── 💜 A tool built with love for pixel artists

🌟 Why We Built This

Traditional AI image generators are black boxes. You put in a prompt, you get an image, but you don't know:

• Which wildcard options were selected
• What random variations were chosen
• Why some images are better than others

This tool changes that. Every image comes with a complete record of its creation, making it a learning tool as much as a generation tool.

🚀 Coming Soon

• More settings
• Full dimensional capabilities of pixflux
• Better UX for image viewer
• More...? (not sure what else to do here...yet!)

💝 Built With Love

This tool was crafted with care for the pixel art community. Every feature was designed to give you more control, more transparency, and more creative possibilities.

Special thanks to the PixelLab AI team for their amazing API!

---

📖 Documentation

For detailed guides, visit the /docs folder:

• Getting Started Guide
• Wildcard System Deep Dive
• Dynamic Prompting Mastery
• Tips and Tricks

🤝 Contributing

We love contributions! Check out CONTRIBUTING.md to get started.

📄 License

MIT License - Use this tool to create amazing things!

---

Made with 💜 by pixel art enthusiasts, for pixel art enthusiasts

Stop wondering what happened. Start knowing.