Leonardo AI Cheat Sheet
Last updated: April 2026
Quick Facts
Pricing
Freemium model with a generous free tier and paid plans scaling from $10 to $48/month based on token volume.
Free Plan
Yes, includes 150 daily tokens, access to core models, and basic features.
Rating
4.4/5
Best For
Game developers and digital artists who need production-ready assets and fine-tuned control over style and detail.
Key Features
- ✓Fine-Tuned Models
Pre-trained models like Leonardo Diffusion or RPG 4.0 are game-changers. I tested them for fantasy armor and got coherent, stylistically consistent assets immediately.
- ✓Real-Time Canvas
The in-painting and out-painting tool is my daily driver. You can edit any part of an image with new AI prompts directly on the canvas.
- ✓Texture Generation
It creates seamless, tileable textures for 3D models. In my experience, the 'Texture' mode produces perfect stone, metal, or fabric patterns in seconds.
- ✓AI Canvas Upscaling
This isn't just a simple enlarge. It intelligently adds detail. What surprised me was upscaling a 512px sketch to 4K while preserving artistic intent.
- ✓Prompt Magic & Alchemy
These are secret sauce features. Alchemy (a paid feature) dramatically improves color, detail, and depth. It makes outputs look like finished concept art.
- ✓User Model Training
You can train a model on your own images (e.g., a character sheet). My trained model reliably reproduced my art style, which is a huge time-saver.
- ✓Asset Generation with Transparency
It can generate game assets like icons, weapons, or foliage with transparent backgrounds (PNG). This is production-ready and saved me hours of manual editing.
- ✓Control Features (Pose & Edge)
Use a reference image to control composition. The Pose feature locks character stance, while Edge uses outlines. Essential for iterative design.
- ✓Image-to-Image
Upload a sketch or photo to use as a base. I use this to refine my rough drafts, letting AI handle rendering and lighting.
- ✓Remix & Variations
Click 'Remix' on any generated image to create variations with the same seed and settings. My go-to for exploring design alternatives quickly.
- ✓Community Models & Feed
Browse and use models trained by other users. The community is incredibly active, offering specialized styles for everything from cyberpunk to pixel art.
- ✓Token System
Actions cost tokens. The free 150/day is great for testing. Paid plans offer bulk tokens that don't expire monthly, which I find very fair.
Tips & Tricks
Always start with a Community model related to your goal (e.g., 'Pixel Art') before using the base models for better style adherence.
Use 'Prompt Magic' at high strength (70-80%) for complex prompts; it dramatically improves coherence and reduces bizarre artifacts.
For consistent character design, generate a good base image, then use 'Image Guidance' and 'Remix' for all subsequent poses and angles.
Train a custom model on a small, consistent dataset (10-15 images) of your style; it's more effective than trying to perfect a text prompt.
When generating UI icons, use the 'Elements' style model and specify 'flat design, vector, white background' in the prompt for clean results.
Limitations
- -The interface can feel cluttered and overwhelming for absolute beginners compared to cleaner competitors.
- -While great for assets, it struggles with highly realistic human photorealism, especially faces, compared to DALL-E 3 or Midjourney.
- -The token system for training custom models is expensive, and failed training runs still cost tokens, which is frustrating.