# Image Critic

> Score an image for realism, anatomy, prompt adherence, style or character consistency, and route it by the result to build automatic quality checks.

Source: https://nodaro.ai/docs/nodes/image/image-critic

The **Image Critic** node scores an image with a vision model and tells you what to fix. You choose what to check, such as realism, anatomy or character consistency, and set a pass mark. The node returns a score from 0 to 1 with short feedback. It sends the feedback out through **Approved** or **Rejected**, so the rest of the workflow can act on the verdict.

- Found in: Image › Understand
- Output: data
- API type: `image-critic`

## When to use it
- Check every result of [Generate Image](https://nodaro.ai/docs/nodes/image/generate-image) and send the failures to a fix step.
- Check that every generated image of a character matches its reference picture.
- Score images against a brand's style reference.
- Catch broken hands, eyes or faces before [Lip Sync](https://nodaro.ai/docs/nodes/video/lip-sync) or [Motion Transfer](https://nodaro.ai/docs/nodes/video/motion-transfer).
- Compare several candidates by their aesthetic score.

## Quick start
### Add the node

Press Tab on the canvas and choose **Image › Understand › Image Critic**.

### Connect the image and what to compare with

Drag the image to check into the **Image** input. For **character-consistency** and **style-match**, also wire the reference picture into **Reference**. For **prompt-adherence**, wire the prompt into **Prompt**, or type it in the settings panel.

### Choose the check

Open the settings panel. Choose a **Mode** and set the **Threshold**, the score an image needs to pass.

### Connect the outputs and run

Wire **Approved** to the step for good images and **Rejected** to the fix step. Connecting only one of them is fine. Click **Run**.

Workflow: Image Critic checks the anatomy of a generated image; when it fails, the feedback becomes the prompt of a fix step that uses the first image as a reference.

- Generate Image → Image Critic (image)
- Image Critic → Generate Image (prompt (rejected))

## Inputs
| Input | Accepts | What it does |
| --- | --- | --- |
| **Image** | Image nodes, such as Generate Image, Modify Image and Upload Image | The image to score. Required. |
| **Reference** | Image nodes, such as Upload Image | The image to compare with. Needed for **character-consistency** and **style-match**, and used by **all** when it is connected. |
| **Prompt** | Text nodes, such as Text | The prompt the image was meant to follow. Needed for **prompt-adherence**, and used by **all** when it is set. A wired prompt wins over a typed one. |

Image Critic has two outputs. Both carry the same feedback text, and only one of them carries it on each run:

| Output | Carries the feedback when |
| --- | --- |
| **Approved** | The score is equal to or above the threshold |
| **Rejected** | The score is below the threshold |

## Modes

| Mode | What it scores | Needs |
| --- | --- | --- |
| `realism` | Photorealism. It calls out plastic skin, broken anatomy and impossible lighting. | Image |
| `anatomy` | Typical AI failures: hands, eyes, extra limbs, broken faces | Image |
| `aesthetic` | Composition, lighting, framing and color, graded like cinematography | Image |
| `prompt-adherence` | Whether the image shows what the prompt asked for | Image and prompt |
| `character-consistency` | Whether two images show the same person: face geometry, hair and defining features | Image and reference |
| `style-match` | How closely the palette, mood and treatment follow a style reference | Image and reference |
| `all` | Every check that the connected inputs allow. The score is the lowest of the checks. | Image, plus the reference and the prompt when you have them |

## Settings
| Setting | What it does |
| --- | --- |
| **Mode** | What to check. The default is `realism`. See [Modes](#modes). |
| **Threshold** | The pass mark, from 0 to 1. The default is 0.7. An image is approved when its score is equal to or above the threshold. |
| **Prompt (or wire via input edge)** | The prompt to check against. It appears for `prompt-adherence` and `all`. |
| **AI Model** | The vision model. The default is Claude Sonnet 4.6. |
| **Reasoning Effort** | How much the model reasons before it answers, on models that support it. The default is **Auto (model default)**. |
| **Advanced mode** | Gemini models only. Runs the model on the provider directly, so that **Temperature** and **Max Tokens** take effect. Costs one credit tier more. |
| **Pre & post text** | Text that is always added before and after the prompt. It is hidden from people who use your workflow as an app. See [Prompt pre and post text](https://nodaro.ai/docs/concepts/prompt-pre-post-text). |

Changing the mode after a run clears the old score, so a score never belongs to another check. Changing only the threshold re-checks the existing score at once, without a new run.

## Build a fix step

The feedback is written as short instructions, such as "Reshape the left hand", so it works as an edit prompt.

1. Set the **Threshold** near 0.7.
2. Wire **Rejected** into the prompt of the node that fixes the image. For example, use the **Prompt** input of a second [Generate Image](https://nodaro.ai/docs/nodes/image/generate-image) node that has the first image as a reference.

Both outputs carry text, not the image. Take the image itself from the node that generated it.

For `prompt-adherence`, wire the same prompt that you gave the generation node. A different prompt gives a misleading score. For `character-consistency`, wire the reference straight from the source of truth, such as an [Upload Image](https://nodaro.ai/docs/nodes/image/upload-image) node or the character's approved picture. A regenerated copy may have drifted.

## Credits
A run costs 5 credits with the default model, Claude Sonnet 4.6. Other models cost up to 20 credits, depending on their tier, and **Advanced mode** moves the price up one tier. The `all` mode scores every check in one call, so it does not cost more than a single check.

## Tips
- **Use all for batch checks.** One call scores every dimension, at the price of one check.
- **Expect English feedback.** The feedback is written in English, whatever the language of your editor.
- **Tune the pass mark without paying again.** Changing the threshold re-uses the existing score.
- **Pick the best of several.** To choose one image from many candidates, see [Choose Best](https://nodaro.ai/docs/nodes/automate/choose-best). For text checks, use [QA Check](https://nodaro.ai/docs/nodes/automate/qa-check).

## Frequently asked questions

### What does Image Critic return?

A score from 0 to 1 and one to three short sentences of feedback. The feedback leaves through Approved when the score reaches your threshold, and through Rejected when it does not.

### How many credits does Image Critic cost?

5 credits per run with the default model, Claude Sonnet 4.6. Other models cost up to 20 credits. The all mode scores every check in one call, so it does not cost more.

### Which mode should I use?

Use realism or anatomy to catch typical AI mistakes, character-consistency or style-match to compare with a reference image, prompt-adherence to check the prompt, and all to run every check your inputs allow.

### Can I check that a character looks like the reference?

Yes. Choose character-consistency and wire the reference picture into the Reference input. The critic checks whether both images show the same person, from the face geometry, the hair and the defining features.

### What language is the feedback in?

English, whatever the language of your editor.