One photo in · Reads at 28 pixels · Nothing to install
Emote Maker
Bold outlines, flat colour, one big expression — a chat icon that still reads when the platform shrinks it. Free to start, no vector software.
One laugh, one chat icon
A real run on Kavel, on a square source photo. Drag the divider: the curls, the beard and the hoodie survive the redraw, but the line weight and the expression are rebuilt for the small size. Every output is AI-generated, so your result varies with your photo — treat this as a guide to what the tool does, not a fixed result you will get back exactly.
Drag to compare before and after
What makes a good emote?
An emote is a tiny reaction icon that lives in a chat line on Twitch, Discord, YouTube or Slack. It is not a small illustration — it is a drawing designed backwards from the size it will be seen at.
Three constraints do all the work. The outline has to be thick and unbroken, because at icon size a thin line disappears into the chat background and the shape falls apart. The palette has to stay small and flat, since gradients turn to mud when the image is scaled to 28 pixels. And the expression has to be pushed further than feels comfortable at full size.
The redraw runs on the Nano Banana image model in the browser with free credits to start. Drop in the photo, name the reaction, and the credit estimate settles before you commit.
Creative engine
How the redraw works
Upload a square photo with one clear expression, say which reaction it should read as, and the credit estimate updates before you generate.
Drawn for the tiny version
Thick outlines, flat cel colour and an exaggerated expression — designed for the 28-pixel version rather than shrunk into it. The test is simple: shrink the result on your own screen, and if you cannot read the emotion, the drawing is too polite.
Nothing to install
It runs in the browser with free credits: no vector software, no commission queue, no account wall before you see a result. Naming the reaction matters more than describing the face — say shocked, smug, crying-laughing.
Neighbouring pages cover the rest of a channel's art: a die-cut look in the AI sticker generator, a captioned reaction in the speech bubble meme generator, and a collectible card layout in the Pokemon trainer card maker.
Make an emote in three steps
From one photo to a chat icon, with the cost shown before you commit.
Shoot square and close
Head and shoulders, face filling most of the frame, one unmistakable expression. Everything past your collar is going to be cropped away anyway.
Name the reaction
Crying with laughter, deadpan stare, rage, shock, smug. Say the reaction rather than the style and the drawing follows it.
Check credits and generate
Generate, then resize to 112, 56 and 28 pixels before uploading. A failed run is refunded unless it broke the content policy, so a second reaction costs you nothing.
Who needs their own chat icon
Streamers filling a subscriber tier, servers building an in-joke, teams that live in chat.
The affiliate with slots to fill
Unlocking emote slots and then having nothing to put in them is the standard bottleneck. A matching set beats one commissioned piece and five empty slots.
The Discord in-joke
The face somebody pulled on voice chat, immortalised where the joke actually happens — and a matching sticker for the same server.
The team channel
A tiny cartoon of each person makes standup threads readable at a glance, which is a real thing that a decorative avatar is not.
Chat icon FAQ
Common questions about turning a photo into a chat icon with Kavel.
Twitch takes 112, 56 and 28 pixel PNGs; Discord takes 128; YouTube takes 32. Generate at the largest size the tool offers and scale down from there — a small file scaled up is soft, and soft is exactly what kills an icon at chat size.
The generator returns a flat background you can knock out afterwards; ask for a plain solid colour behind the bust and it separates cleanly. Platforms accept flat backgrounds too, though transparency is what lets a set sit properly on both light and dark themes.
Yes, and that is the point of running it more than once. Use the same source photo, name a different reaction each time and keep the same style words in the prompt — that is what makes a row of them look like one set instead of five commissions.
Almost always because the drawing was too detailed for the size. Thin lines, many colours and small features vanish under resampling. Ask for heavier outlines, fewer colours and a bigger expression, and crop tighter on the face before you run it again.
Yes. Pets work particularly well because their features are already exaggerated, and the same redraw handles an object or a mascot. What it needs from any source is a clear subject that fills the frame and one readable expression.
The estimate is on screen before you press generate and moves with the format and resolution you pick, so nothing runs unpriced. Failed runs are refunded unless they broke the content policy, and a new account starts with enough free balance to fill a couple of slots first.
Read the terms for the current position on outputs before building a subscriber tier on them. Worth knowing separately: platforms have their own review process and reject uploads that carry someone else's trademark or a real brand logo, whatever the terms of the tool that drew it.
It should — those are the features regulars use to recognise you, so the redraw carries hair, facial hair, glasses and skin tone across. Small accessories can drop out at this size on purpose; if one matters, say it in the prompt and it comes back.
Kavel pricing — pay only for what you generate
Credits are shared across everything Kavel runs. You see the cost before each run, and a failed job is never charged.
Free
What's included
- 15 credits before you sign up
- +50 a week from daily check-ins
- = 232 a month — 46 images or 5 videos
- No card, no account
- Unlimited free engineGrok Imagine
- Photo editingNano Banana 2 Lite
Secure checkout by Stripe. Card details never touch our servers.
Starter
What's included
- 3,150 credits per month
- Up to 630 images or 78 videosGrok ImagineNano Banana
- Clean downloads, no watermark
- Every model unlockedVeo 3.1SeedanceNano Banana
- Cost shown before you generate
Secure checkout by Stripe. Card details never touch our servers.
Creator
What's included
- 7,200 credits per month
- Up to 1,440 images or 180 videosGrok ImagineNano Banana
- Clean downloads, no watermark
- Every model unlockedVeo 3.1Seedance 2Nano Banana 2
- No shared queue
Secure checkout by Stripe. Card details never touch our servers.
Studio
What's included
- 13,200 credits per month
- Up to 2,640 images or 330 videosGrok ImagineNano Banana
- Clean downloads, no watermark
- Every model unlockedSeedance 2.5Kling 3.0Veo 3.1
- No shared queue
Secure checkout by Stripe. Card details never touch our servers.
Charges appear as “KAVEL AI” on your card statement. You can cancel any time from Settings → Billing; cancellation takes effect at the end of the period you already paid for. Operator details, the full model list, and the refund window are on the about page.
Other art for a channel
Other one-photo passes that produce something you can post, pin or hand out.
Get an icon with your face on it
One photo in, a bold cartoon icon out — readable at the size chat actually shows it. Nothing to install and no commission queue to join.