Sky replacement

Start sky replacement by looking below the horizon. Hard ground shadows suggest directional light; a softly lit building suggests a more diffuse source. A dramatic sunset may look appealing in isolation but conflict with a scene that still reads as flat midday light.

Choose a modest change if you want the photograph to remain plausible. Thin clouds in a pale blue sky may fit an evenly lit scene better than a bright low sun. If your goal is an intentionally fictional image, you can choose a stronger treatment, but keep the desired relationship between sky and foreground explicit.

The most demanding sky replacement boundaries often belong to small details: bare branches, antennas, railings, and distant rooflines. Check whether those details are visible in the source. If the sky and a white building merge into one bright area, the model has less evidence for the true boundary.

Use JPG, PNG, WebP, or HEIC up to 20 MB. Avoid starting from an image that has already been heavily sharpened or compressed when a cleaner original is available. Existing halos around trees can become more obvious against a new sky, even if the generation itself follows the broad request.

Separate the brief from the review. A specific request gives you a practical standard for judging whether the new version improves the intended image.

1. 1

   Describe the sky

   Name the color, cloud type, and general time-of-day appearance. Soft blue with thin high clouds is easier to assess than a request for a beautiful sky.

2. 2

   Protect the skyline in the brief

   Ask to preserve buildings, branches, antennas, and the horizon. If a mountain outline is important, mention it explicitly rather than grouping everything under the background.

3. 3

   Inspect light and reflections

   Compare ground shadows, bright surfaces, windows, and water. A new visible sun should not conflict with the direction of the existing shadows.

4. 4

   Check the downloaded image

   Look at the result at full size and at its intended display size. Keep the original file, especially if the photograph is also needed as a factual record of the location.

Sky replacement can make a scene feel smaller or larger depending on cloud placement. Very large, high-contrast clouds close to the horizon can overwhelm a modest building. A quieter cloud pattern may leave the main subject easier to read.

Think about where you need open sky. If the image will support a headline, a less busy region may be useful, but do not assume the generator will create a precise text-safe layout without checking. The following are illustrative briefs, not tested output examples.

With a mountain scene, compare the new clouds with the distant ridgeline. Sky replacement should not turn atmospheric haze into a solid white outline or introduce a peak that was absent from the source. Keep recognizable landforms as part of your acceptance check, especially when the location itself is the subject of the photograph.

After sky replacement, zoom into the spaces between branches and around railings. A patch of the original sky can remain inside a narrow gap, creating a mismatch that is difficult to see in the overall preview. Conversely, a branch can disappear into the generated region.

Inspect pale roof edges against darker clouds. A bright fringe can make the sky replacement look pasted in, while an altered roofline can change the building itself. Reject structural changes that were outside your brief. When the skyline is especially complex, a simpler sky request may give you a more manageable result to review.

A lake can still reflect the original clouds after sky replacement. The new sky above and old reflection below may disagree even when the horizon looks clean. State whether reflected sky should follow the change and check the result carefully.

Large reflective surfaces make a sky-only request less local than it first appears. You may need to choose between preserving the foreground exactly and making the entire scene visually coherent. This general generation workflow does not guarantee automatic reflection matching. For a separate lighting reinterpretation, use the relighting workflow and review the scene again.

Sky replacement changes what the photograph appears to document. A fictional evening treatment can be appropriate for a creative image, but it should not be mistaken for the weather or lighting that existed when the original was taken.

Keep your original and label the edited version clearly when context matters. For property, travel, or product presentations, avoid adding visual conditions that create a misleading impression of the subject. This is also a useful practical habit: the original remains your reference when a later reviewer asks which parts of the scene were changed.

Each sky replacement variation uses image generation credits: 10 for 1K, 20 for 2K, or 30 for 4K. New variations are paid; internal retries for the same job do not add another charge. Test a clear sky direction before combining cloud changes with a major foreground relight.

Export PNG, JPG, or WebP after checking the skyline. Free crop and resize controls can prepare the selected version for its destination. Keep enough image resolution to inspect fine branches, but remember that a larger output cannot guarantee accurate reconstruction of detail missing from the source.