Plain-language glossary

Use this page when a tool introduces an unfamiliar word. You do not need to memorize it before drawing.

Sprite

A small picture used as a character, object, or other game image.

Pixel

One square of color in the image.

Resolution

The image’s width and height in pixels. It is different from screen zoom.

Cluster

A connected patch of pixels used to build a readable shape or shade.

Canvas

The image area you work on; its bounds define the artwork size.

Transparency / alpha

How much a pixel shows what is behind it. The checkerboard visualizes empty transparent pixels.

Palette

A reusable set of colors. Indexed artwork uses a limited palette; RGBA artwork allows freely chosen colors.

Layer

One sheet of artwork in a stack. Higher visible layers may cover lower layers.

Frame

One moment in an animation.

Cel

One layer’s image at one frame: a cell in the timeline.

Selection

A marked area restricting eligible pixels for an operation.

Mask

A map defining affected pixels. In / Outpaint builds it automatically from canvas transparency and the current selection.

Prompt

The written instruction or description sent to an AI model. Example: “one centered green slime”.

Model

Downloaded learned data used by AI. Installing a runtime does not automatically install every model.

Runtime / backend / server

The program performing processing. Grimoire’s custom ComfyUI runtime runs on your own computer and is installed through the AI Install Wizard.

Hosted provider / API key

An online service performs processing. Its API key authorizes requests on your account; requests may be billed.

Generation / inference

Running a model to create a result, rather than training that model.

Checkpoint

A generation model file that can bundle main components together. The first-AI lesson uses checkpoint loading.

Diffusion model, text encoder, VAE

Separate components can create the image, interpret words, and convert between internal representations and image pixels. They must match when a workflow requires separate loading.

LoRA

A smaller add-on that changes a compatible base model’s behavior or style. Leave it empty in the first lesson.

Seed

A number controlling the random starting point. Reusing it helps comparisons but is not an exact-result guarantee across different setups.

Denoise

How much an image-based diffusion run may change its starting image; higher values generally allow larger changes.

Steps, sampler, scheduler

Controls for how diffusion generation proceeds. Keep the workflow’s defaults until you have a reason to compare them.

CFG / guidance

How strongly a supported diffusion workflow follows its conditioning/prompt. Higher is not always better.

ControlNet

A structural guide such as pose or depth, using matching model components.

Inpainting / outpainting

Regenerating a targeted region / extending artwork into prepared surrounding space.

Pixelation

Simplifying image detail into deliberate pixel-sized blocks or reconstructed pixel art.

Palette reduction / transfer

Limiting the number of colors / mapping colors to a chosen palette.

Nearest-neighbor scaling

Resizing without smooth blending between neighboring pixels; useful for hard pixel edges.

FPS

Frames per second: how fast an animation plays.

Spritesheet

Multiple frames placed in one image, usually in a grid.

History / preset

History reopens previous runs; a preset reuses settings. Neither replaces saving your artwork project.

VRAM / GPU / sidecar

GPU is graphics hardware; VRAM is its memory. A sidecar is an extra processing program bundled or installed alongside the editor.