One photo in · Reads at 28 pixels · Nothing to install
Emote Maker
Bold outlines, flat colour, one big expression — the reaction your regulars recognise before they read your name, even at chat size. No vector software.
One laugh, one chat icon
Drag the divider on this real Kavel run: the curls, the beard and the hoodie stay recognisable while heavier lines and a bigger expression turn a square source photo into a chat-ready icon.
Drag to compare before and after
What makes a good emote?
Your chat pays attention to reactions it can actually read. An emote is a tiny reaction icon that lives in a chat line on Twitch, Discord, YouTube or Slack — 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. Use the same source photo and name a different reaction each time—that is what makes a row of them look like one set instead of five commissions.
Check credits and generate
Generate at the largest size the tool offers, then scale down to the sizes your platform wants before uploading. A failed run is refunded unless it broke the content policy, so you only spend credits on the emotes that actually come back.
Who needs their own chat icon
Streamers filling a subscriber tier, servers building an in-joke, teams that live in chat — and creators turning the family pet into the channel mascot.
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.
Build your subscriber tier around your own face, pet or original character, so every emote slot strengthens the identity your audience already knows.
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 — you pay per generation, never per seat
Credits are shared across everything Kavel runs. You see the cost before each run, and a failed job is never charged.
- 9,600 Credits Per Year
- Up to 960 videos
- Up to 1,920 images
- No Queue, Instant Start
- HD, Watermark-Free Downloads
- Commercial Use License
- 38,400 Credits Per Year
- Up to 3,840 videos
- Up to 7,680 images
- No Queue, Instant Start
- HD, Watermark-Free Downloads
- Commercial Use License
- 86,400 Credits Per Year
- Up to 8,640 videos
- Up to 17,280 images
- No Queue, Instant Start
- HD, Watermark-Free Downloads
- Commercial Use License
Free plan
- Get 100 credits a week with check-ins
- 20 Free Credits with login
- Up to 2 videos
- Up to 4 images
- No Card, No Account
- A Free Video With Every Check-in
- Free Engine Every Day
Pay safely and securely with
Payments are processed by Stripe over an encrypted checkout. Your card details are handled by Stripe and are never stored by Kavel.
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. A new account starts with enough free balance to fill your first couple of slots, so the first reactions can be in chat tonight.