Photo to Anime API

About Photo to Anime

Photo to Anime redraws one uploaded photo as an anime illustration with line art and cel shading. Add an optional note to guide details, choose an output aspect ratio and save as JPEG, PNG or WebP.

Call it with the model name popnow/photo-to-anime-v1/edit on POST /jobs/createTask, from $0.05.

Introduction

Photo to Anime turns a photo into anime art. Send a portrait, a couple or group shot, or a photo of your pet and get back an anime image of the same subjects in the same outfits and place, without a local install, a GPU or a ComfyUI workflow. It is the reverse of Anime to Real, which turns drawings into photographs.

Key features

Built on the Photo-to-Anime LoRA

The tool runs Alibaba's open Qwen-Image-Edit-2509 with the Photo-to-Anime LoRA by AutoWeeb, an MIT-licensed adapter trained to redraw photos as anime. Compared with the base model on the same photo and seed, it kept a woman's brown eyes and auburn hair where the base model switched them. You do not have to host the weights, pick a sampler or tune a LoRA strength.

A built-in redraw instruction

The tool starts with the LoRA author's "transform into anime" prompt and adds a clear instruction to redraw the whole photo as anime artwork. Any optional prompt text is appended after that built-in instruction.

Composition stays

Framing, pose, clothing and the scene follow the photo, so a couple holding hands on an autumn path is still holding hands on the same path. A photo on its own is a complete request; an optional line in prompt is appended after the built-in instruction.

Request parameters

Pricing

Prices are in USD. The API uses a separate USD balance. Website credits cannot be used or transferred to it, and API funds cannot be transferred to website credits. When a task is accepted, we reserve the maximum quoted amount from your API balance. On completion, we charge for actual usage, never more than the hold, and release the remainder. If the task fails, the hold is released.

Send the same request body to POST /jobs/quote to see the estimated and maximum USD charge before running. A quote does not run the task or charge your balance.

Use cases

Anime avatars and profile pictures

Turn a selfie or a portrait into an anime avatar for a profile, a channel or a community badge, keeping the hair colour, eye colour and outfit that make it recognisably yours.

Couples, friends and gifts

Redraw a couple, family or group photo as anime art for a card, a print or an anniversary post. Everyone keeps their place in the frame.

Pets as anime characters

Turn a photo of your dog into an anime character lying in the same spot with the same coat colour, ready for a sticker, a phone wallpaper or a birthday card.

Prompt guide & pro tips

Start with no prompt

The built-in instruction already asks for a full anime redraw that keeps the subjects, pose, clothing and colours. Run your photo once without a prompt and look at the result before adding anything.

Use sharp, large faces

The LoRA author recommends high-resolution photos. A face that fills a good part of the frame keeps its features; a tiny face in a wide landscape shot comes back simplified.

Expect a photographic background

People and pets are redrawn first. Busy backgrounds such as a skyline or autumn trees often keep much of their photographic look, and in our runs a line asking for a painted anime background changed them only slightly.

Compare with a fixed seed

Keep the same seed when you try a prompt, so you can see what your line changed rather than a new random draw. The seed makes comparisons fair; it does not promise an identical image every time.

API quick start

Call the Photo to Anime API in three steps

1. Create an API key. Sign in to PopNow and create a key in the API console. Keys start with sk-popnow-. API calls use your separate USD balance.
2. Send the request. POST /jobs/createTask with model popnow/photo-to-anime-v1/edit and an input object that follows the parameter table. The response returns a task ID straight away.
3. Get the result. Poll GET /jobs/recordInfo with the task ID, or pass a callBackUrl and we post the result to it. Download the output links when the task succeeds.

# 1. Create the task. Keep the Idempotency-Key if you retry after a network error.
export IDEMPOTENCY_KEY="$(uuidgen)"
curl -X POST https://api.popnow.ai/api/v1/jobs/createTask \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $POPNOW_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "Idempotency-Key: $IDEMPOTENCY_KEY" \
  -d '{
  "model": "popnow/photo-to-anime-v1/edit",
  "input": {
    "image_url": "https://media.popnow.ai/influencer/examples/marco.webp",
    "output_format": "jpeg"
  }
}'

# 2. Copy data.taskId from the response, then poll until state is succeeded, failed, canceled or expired.
TASK_ID="TASK_ID_FROM_RESPONSE"
curl "https://api.popnow.ai/api/v1/jobs/recordInfo?taskId=$TASK_ID" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $POPNOW_API_KEY"

Replace the prompt and any links with your own. The API tab has the response, polling and callback reference.

Photo to Anime API questions

Other image APIs

• Qwen Image 2.1 Pro APIUp to six detailed 2K images from one promptFrom $0.036 per image
• GPT Image 2.6 Sunburst APIOpenAI's precision tier for detail that holds across repeated edits, up to 4KFrom $0.02232 per image
• GPT Image 2.6 Flare APIOpenAI's fast tier for quick drafts, edits and short GIF loopsFrom $0.02232 per image
• Seedream 5.5 API4K images with small multilingual text, transparent PNGs and layer splitsFrom $0.0195 per image

More about Photo to Anime

Try it

Photo to Anime AI Image Editor onlineCreate images with Photo to Anime in PopNow

Docs

Photo to Anime model ID and input schema in the API docsPopNow API quickstart: send your first requestImage generation guide for the PopNow APIWebhooks: get Photo to Anime results without polling