[HN Gopher] Show HN: I used OpenAI's new image API for a persona...
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Show HN: I used OpenAI's new image API for a personalized coloring
book service
I've had an idea for a long time to generate a cute coloring book
based on family photos, send it to a printing service, and then
deliver it to people. Last month, when OpenAI's Sora was released
for public use I (foolishly) thought I'd manually drag-and-drop
each order's photos into Sora's UI and copy the resulting images
back into my system. This took way too much time (about an hour for
each of the few books I made and tested with family and friends).
It clearly wasn't possible to release this version because I'd be
losing a huge amount of time on every order. So instead, I decided
I'd finish off the project as best I could, put it "on ice," and
wait for the API release. The API is now released (quicker than I
thought it'd be, too!) and I integrated it last night. I'd love
your feedback on any and all aspects. The market is mostly family-
based, but from my testing of the physical book I've found that
both adults and kids enjoy coloring them in (it's surprisingly
cathartic and creative). If you would like to order one you can get
10% off by tapping the total price line item five times.
Author : darajava
Score : 10 points
Date : 2025-04-25 10:05 UTC (12 hours ago)
(HTM) web link (clevercoloringbook.com)
(TXT) w3m dump (clevercoloringbook.com)
| mmastrac wrote:
| The comics look pretty Miyazaki-inspired, like all of the comics
| I've seen lately. I've kinda started to dislike this look because
| it's _everywhere_ that low-effort comics are these days.
|
| Maybe worth trying to train a better style for this. This is
| probably something where you could put a little effort in up-
| front (ie: using a model that's for segmentation to get outlines,
| using some classic image-processing for boundary detection) and
| then have AI touch it up a little more lightly and a less of the
| "default" style.
|
| Also, do you have AI images for the "real world" samples on the
| left? They have a certain "I don't exactly know what, but it's
| creeping me out" vibe.
| ronsor wrote:
| It doesn't look particularly Miyazaki style to me; it's just a
| generic cartoon style.
|
| I think the Ghiblipocalypse has gotten people on edge.
| rafram wrote:
| This has zero resemblance to Miyazaki's style. (And I say that
| as someone who isn't a fan of this idea at all.)
| mmastrac wrote:
| Hard disagree. Sample #2 is totally the Miyazaki-vibe that is
| everywhere in OpenAI-generated comics.
| https://clevercoloringbook.com/samples/2_cartoon.png
|
| The cartoon owl at the top has a different vibe and would
| probably work for the comics as well.
| sharkjacobs wrote:
| from clevercoloringbook.com: > Please only
| upload photos that are in line with OpenAI's Usage Policy.
| > We are not able to include any photos that do not follow their
| policy in the final printed book.
|
| from openai.com/policies > Editing uploaded
| images or videos that contain real people under the age of 18 is
| not permitted.
|
| The first two sample pictures on the page contain of adolescent
| children. Are you concerned about this apparent contradiction?
| mdeeks wrote:
| I'm not the OP, but during the recent Studio Ghiblification
| craze there were a huge number of photos of families and kids
| passing along in facebook, twitter, and other social media. It
| was literally everywhere you looked. OpenAI obviously saw all
| of that. I don't think they actually care unless it's something
| bordering on illegal.
| ronsor wrote:
| I agree. In practice OpenAI is unlikely to care about
| families uploading their own photos. I think the policy is
| mostly to stop random people from engaging in creepy
| activities with the photos of children.
| mdeeks wrote:
| This is a cute and simple idea!
|
| I'd like to see what a real physical book looks like before I buy
| it though. Do you have real pictures of a printed one?
|
| I think our kids would appreciate seeing the original (even if a
| small thumbnail) along side it. You can't always tell from these
| AI drawings that it was originally you and your family.
|
| Also, it's REALLY expensive. $30 for a book that my kids will
| draw on in one or two nights and then never touch again is
| probably too much.
| themanmaran wrote:
| Nice and simple! I'm excited for all the fun micro businesses
| that get enabled by the new image API.
|
| Things like your coloring book, instant sticker/tshirt/swag
| creation, video game assets, etc.
|
| Also love the "tap 5 times for a discount" feature.
| vunderba wrote:
| You'll want to really drive home the niche (through your feature
| set) that it's for family photos, because the generic photo to AI
| vectorized coloring book service has been done to death.
| abaymado wrote:
| I like GPT wrapper's that let me personalize/customize existing
| real world things, and this a good example of that. I like it.
| rafram wrote:
| For what it's worth (and it's probably not much), it doesn't cost
| _that_ much to commission comic book-style art from an actual
| artist online. When you do that, the proceeds go to an artist,
| not to an AI company that stole from them and a software
| developer who wrote a wrapper around their API.
| kelvinjps10 wrote:
| Why not just an option to print the image?
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