How to create Studio Ghibli-style art using AI

You must have joined the Ghibli-style photo trend by now… haven’t you? It’s that perfect mix of nostalgia, beauty, and uniqueness that everyone loves. It mixes soft, warm colors, gentle light, detailed backgrounds, and characters with simple but expressive faces. Each picture feels like a painting that tells a story. This mix of beauty and warmth has made the style stand out everywhere.

Have you ever looked at an image and thought, “I wish I could make something like that”? A normal street, a small house, or a garden can look magical in the Studio Ghibli style.

For a long time, creating this kind of art meant years of drawing or painting practice. But not anymore, because AI tools can do that for us in seconds. With AI tools, you can type a few words or upload a photo and instantly get an image that looks like it came from an animated movie.

In this blog, find out how to create Studio Ghibli-style images using AI. You will get to know the best tools to use, step-by-step methods for generating high-quality images, and tips for writing prompts. I’ll also show how to design backgrounds, characters, and lighting, and how to refine your images so they look polished and magical.

History of Studio Ghibli art

Studio Ghibli is a famous animation studio from Japan. It was established in 1985 by Hayao Miyazaki, Toshio Suzuki, and Isao Takahata. The name “Ghibli” comes from an Italian word. It means a hot desert wind. Miyazaki kept this name because he wanted the studio to blow a “new wind” into the world of animation.

Initially, Ghibli artists painted every scene by hand. They drew forests, skies, houses, and people with brushes and colors on paper. This gave the movies a soft, painterly look. Each still image or “photo” from a Ghibli movie looks like a piece of art you could hang on a wall.

Later, the studio started using some computer tools, especially from 1997 with “Princess Mononoke.” But they always kept the same soft colors, glowing light, and painted feeling. 

Even in newer movies like “Spirited Away” (2001) or “The Wind Rises” (2013), the images still look like hand-painted art. Because of this, “Ghibli photos” — still images from the films or official artwork — are loved by fans all over the world. People use them as wallpapers, posters, and inspiration for their own art.

Key features of Studio Ghibli–style art

Color palette

Ghibli art uses gentle, natural colors. Imagine green leaves, blue skies, warm browns, and soft cream shades.

Light pastel tones, such as pale pink or soft yellow, are added for subtle highlights. These colors create a calm and welcoming feel, making the picture look soft instead of harsh.

Lighting and atmosphere

Think of the gentle glow after a rainstorm, a quiet, cloudy day, or the soft light of sunrise. In Ghibli-style art, the lighting stays smooth and even, never harsh.

Tiny sparkles often appear on hair, windows, and leaves, making the scene feel calm, cozy, and a touch magical.

Composition and background

Ghibli scenes have many layers. Put something close to the viewer (foreground), something in the middle (midground), and things far away (background).

Backgrounds are full of small details like trees, houses, and paths, but they do not steal attention from the main subject. Layers make the picture feel deep and real.

Character design

Characters are simple but full of feeling. Faces with simple mouth and eye shapes convey distinct emotions.

Simple bodies and clothing have rounded edges rather than sharp ones. This helps characters blend in with the detailed backgrounds and gives them a warm, cozy appearance.

Textures and brushstroke feel

Ghibli art looks hand-painted. You can see tiny brush marks, soft color blends, and small imperfections.

These small flaws make the art feel real and warm, like a painted picture on paper. The texture keeps the image from looking too smooth or too digital.

Technical approaches for generating Ghibli-style images

Making pictures that look like Studio Ghibli art with AI sounds complicated, but it’s really just a mix of a few simple ideas.

Three of the most common methods that can be used to create the Ghibli style art are style transfer, text-to-image generation, and image-to-image conversion.

Different ways to make Ghibli-style art:

Style transfer – You start with a photo or drawing you already have. The AI paints over it so the picture takes on Ghibli-style colors, lighting, and brush strokes.

Text-to-image – You type a description (called a prompt) such as “a small cottage in the forest at sunset in Ghibli style.” The AI reads your words and creates a brand-new picture from nothing.

Image-to-image – You give the AI a picture and a description. It keeps the shapes from your picture but changes the look to match your words, giving it Ghibli-style details.

How does the AI actually work?

Most of the popular tools you see online use special computer systems called diffusion models or GANs (generative adversarial networks).

These are just smart programs trained on millions of images. They help the AI build soft colors, glowing light, and hand-painted textures - all the things that make Ghibli art feel magical.

Which model to choose?

Pre-trained models – These are already set up. You only have to type a prompt of what you want or upload a picture, and the AI makes the image. They're great for beginners.

Custom models – In this case, you need to provide images to AI as an example so it can learn the style. This may take more time and effort, but the results look much closer to your expectations.

Picking reference images carefully:

To guide AI with pictures, ensure that the pictures you are using have the necessary permissions to use them. Look for images that are free to use or that you created yourself. This protects you from copyright problems and also respects the artists who made the original work.

With these simple approaches, even someone with no tech background can experiment with Ghibli-style AI art. Using pre-trained models and free reference photos, it’s possible to create soft, hand-painted style scenes without having to draw anything by hand.

Tools to try for creating Ghibli-style images

Pixelbin

What it is and how it helps?

Pixelbin is mostly an AI image optimization and editing tool. It lets you clean up, resize, compress, and manage images and apply transformations. You can sharpen images, remove backgrounds, or change color settings. It’s useful in the workflow—after you generate something with an AI or style transfer tool, you can use Pixelbin to polish it, make it lighter for the web, or fix small issues.

Because Pixelbin supports quality optimization (adjusting how crisp or blurred images are) and format optimization (deciding what file type — PNG, JPEG, WebP, etc. — works best), it helps keep your images looking good without being too large. 

Main features

• Automatic resizing & compression depending on device or browser. 
• Supports “best image format” delivery – delivers WebP, AVIF, or others depending on what works better. 
• AI-powered background removal, upscaling (making blurry images clearer), and general “transformations” like adjusting colors. 
• Smart CDN / fast delivery so images load quickly on websites or apps. 

Deep Dream Generator

What it is and how it helps?

Deep Dream Generator is an older but popular tool for turning images into dreamy, surreal artworks. It emphasizes patterns, textures, and exaggerated details. If you input a normal image, Deep Dream can take small features (like shapes in leaves, eyes, architecture) and “amplify” them so the picture looks kind of magical, weird, or fantastical.

While that isn’t exactly Ghibli style all the time, you can lean into its softer settings or choose styles that feel painterly and layered, which works well for certain Ghibli-inspired results. 

Main features

• Different styles and intensities (you can choose mild vs strong effects), so you don’t always end up with overdone or hallucinatory images. 
• You can use your own image and feed it into Deep Dream and see transformations. 
• Good if you want artistic texture, weird off-beat mood, or background layering.
• Less control for “realistic” characters; more for artistic, fantasy, surreal looks.

Fotor

What it is and how it helps?

Fotor is a more beginner-friendly editor with AI tools. It offers filters, basic editing, background removal, some style transfer, and text-to-image features.

If you want to quickly try out what Ghibli tones or soft color palettes look like, Fotor is useful. You might start with a photo, apply a Ghibli-like filter or style effect, then tweak brightness, blur, or color to get closer to that look. 

Main features

• Drag-and-drop editing tools + filters and effects. Good for quick tweaks. 
• AI-based tools like background remover, image enhancer, etc.
• Text-to-image generation has been added recently, so you can prompt it for new images. 
• Free & paid options; some filters or higher quality are behind paywalls.

Adobe Firefly

What it is and how it helps?

Adobe Firefly is more powerful and polished, made for creative people who want more control. It supports things like text-to-image, style transfer, reference image matching, etc.

You can tell it "make it look like this reference image," and it tries to match the style, color, and tone. It’s part of Adobe’s ecosystem, which means if you use Photoshop or Illustrator, Firefly often connects with those. 

Main features

• Commercially safe training data (Adobe ensures licensing so you don’t run into copyright issues). 
• New Firefly Image Model versions (e.g., Model 4, Model 4 Ultra) give better detail, higher resolution, and more control over styles. 
• Integration with other Adobe tools (Photoshop, etc.), so you can polish or adjust in familiar tools.
• Tools to adjust style, mood, and lighting. Good prompt interpretation.

Other tools & frameworks (MyArchitectAI, LookX, Vhee, etc., plus open source)

What are they and how they help?

Tools like MyArchitectAI, LookX, Vhee (and others) are usually smaller or more experimental style transfer / prompt-based tools. They let you try things quickly, experiment with combining styles. Maybe less polish than Firefly, but faster feedback and more playful.

Then open source frameworks/models like Stable Diffusion, ControlNet, or custom neural style transfer pipelines give you the most flexibility. You can use someone’s code or model, or even train/tune your own.

If you know a little tech, you can shape almost every aspect (style strength, how the background is drawn, etc.). UIs like ComfyUI make these models easier to use without writing code.

Main features

• Lots of flexibility: You can combine prompts, references, tweak every little parameter (how strong the style is, how much detail, etc.).
• Many allow community models, “checkpoints” made by others who tuned the model to look a certain way (e.g. more painterly, more anime, etc.).
• ControlNet allows you to guide generation using sketches or masks—useful to get Ghibli-style backgrounds or compositions you want.
• Open source is often free or lower cost, but may require more setup or understanding of how models work.

How did ChatGPT make the Ghibli style go viral?

ChatGPT introduced its new image generation feature as part of its GPT-4o model around late March 2025. This update lets users ask for pictures in different styles, including the dreamy, hand-drawn feel of Studio Ghibli. Soon after it went live, people realized it was really good at creating Ghibli-like art. 

Almost instantly, social media exploded with “Ghibli-style” portraits. Hashtags like #GhibliStyle and #AIGhibli started trending across Twitter/X, Instagram, Reddit, and other platforms.

Big impact and media coverage

Because of this feature, ChatGPT’s usage shot up to record levels. For the first time in 2025, weekly active users passed 150 million. In one hour alone, after opening the feature to free users, one million new people joined or used ChatGPT. That kind of growth in such a short time is huge. 

The media also caught on fast. Major tech and news sites covered the trend: they wrote about how people were turning ordinary photos into Ghibli-style art, what it means for copyright and skill, and even responses from Studio Ghibli’s founder, Hayao Miyazaki.

Step-by-step process to create Ghibli art using Pixelbin

Step 1: Visit the official website of Pixelbin and click on “see all”.

Step 2: Then, you will be taken to a search bar. Search for Ghibli generator.

Step 3: Then upload an image that you want to convert into Ghibli style.

Step 4: After uploading the image, you will get the output in seconds. You can make further edits by clicking on “edit image with AI”.

Challenges and ethical things to keep in mind

Making Ghibli-style pictures with AI is fun, but there are some important challenges and rules you should know before you start. Knowing these rules will help you create better images with ease. So, let's get started.

Copyright concerns

Studio Ghibli movies and characters are protected by copyright. You can copy the “feel” of the style — soft colors, dreamy light, detailed nature — but don’t use actual screenshots or character faces in your projects unless you have the legal right. This means you’re not allowed to use movie images or duplicate characters like Totoro or Chihiro in their original form.

Platform rules

Many AI tools have policies about copying living artists’ styles or brand names. Some even block prompts like “draw this in the style of [artist name].” Check the rules of each platform you use so you don’t break them.

Training and bias

If you train your own model, don’t only feed it one type of image or one set of scenes. Using a mix of references helps the AI create more original, balanced results and avoids repeating the same look over and over.

Quality vs. speed

High-resolution images take more computer power and time. If you’re on a free or small plan, your images might be lower quality or slower to appear. Pick a setting that balances speed and quality for your needs.

Avoiding strange or “uncanny” results

Sometimes AI gives weird faces, bent arms, or lighting that doesn’t match the scene. This is called the “uncanny valley.” Check your pictures carefully. If something looks off, rewrite your prompt, use a different reference, or run the image again until it looks natural.

Tips and best practices

Use multiple references

Ghibli films feature a blend of rich landscapes, warm interiors, and deeply expressive characters. Collect several screenshots or pieces of art from various locations and viewpoints. Give the AI a variety of examples so it can recognize Ghibli's signature soft hues, whimsical architecture, and expressive character designs.

Keep prompts detailed but manageable

Describe each component of Ghibli art in the prompt. For example, add soft lighting, a dreamy atmosphere, pastel or earthy colors, and other cinematic elements. Make your description short enough for the AI to stay focused, but clear about exactly what you want. 

Use iterative prompting

First, give a generic prompt with a basic idea to see what the AI tool gives you. Then, gradually refine. Until it feels right, add props, weather, or mood details ("warm yellow lighting," "misty morning forest," "small glowing creatures").

Test different tools and style strengths

There are some AI tools that specialize in soft, painterly looks, while others create sharper or more realistic art. Try a few tools to see which one recreates the painterly, hand-drawn feel of Ghibli best, as per your need and demand.

Maintain consistency across multiple images

Use the same color scheme, character design, and degree of detail in all of your images if you're making a collection of them (for a story or social media posts, for instance). This makes your project look like a real "Ghibli universe."

Use image optimization tools

Once your art is ready, run it through optimization tools. These tools help reduce the file size and clean up noise without much affecting the soft, painted look. As a result,  images load online faster and look crisp and vibrant.

Final thoughts

Making Ghibli-style art with AI is a way to bring a little magic into your own pictures. The special charm of Ghibli comes from soft, warm colors, gentle lighting, detailed backgrounds, and simple but expressive characters. 

AI can help you copy this feeling in your own work. By paying attention to small details, experimenting with light and color, and practicing regularly, you can make pictures that feel alive, cozy, and full of wonder.

Even small efforts can turn into beautiful, storybook-like scenes. With time, your creations can capture the same magical feeling that makes Studio Ghibli so loved around the world.