What Picrew is
Picrew (picrew.me) is a website run by the Japanese company TetraChroma Inc. Artists upload "image makers", which are sets of layered drawings. Visitors combine the layers to build a picture, usually a character portrait. The site can be shown in Japanese, English or Korean, but each maker's title and description stay in the language its artist used.
Step 1: Open the site and accept the terms
The first time you open Picrew, a window asks you to read the Terms of Use, Guidelines and Privacy Policy and press "Agree and play". You cannot use a maker until you do. A language switch sits at the top of that window.
Step 2: Find an image maker
There are three ways to browse.
- Search. Type a word such as "oc", "fantasy" or "couple". Results can be filtered by the four permission types.
- Discovery. A feed of pictures other people made. Tap one to open the maker behind it.
- Hot Now and tags. The home page lists popular makers and tags such as cute, character, fantasy and avatar.
Step 3: Check the permissions before you start
Every maker shows four labels: Personal, Non-Commercial, Commercial and Processing. Lit labels are allowed, greyed labels are not. Many artists add extra rules in the description, for example asking for credit or forbidding edits. Reading this first saves you from building a picture you are not allowed to use. See the permissions guide for what each label means.
Step 4: Build your picture
Inside a maker, the preview sits at the top and the part categories sit below it. Tap a category, then tap a part. Most makers offer a small set of colors per part, chosen by the artist.
- All Random rerolls the whole picture.
- Item Random rerolls only the category you are in.
- Reset clears the current category and Reset All clears everything.
- Keep stores your progress so you can return to it.
Step 5: Finish and save
Press Finish when you are done. Picrew renders the final image and shows options to save or share it. On a phone, you can usually press and hold the finished image to save it to your photos.
When a different tool is easier
Picrew is at its best when you want a particular artist's style. If you only need an original character quickly, with free color choice and no usage rules to read, the OC maker on this site opens ready to use and lets you download a PNG straight away.