Utility nodes

Small, local, free — the glue between generation steps.

#Conform

Brings stills to one aspect ratio before generation, so a set of mixed-ratio renders becomes a clean, consistent batch (video models in particular want a single ratio).

• Choose a target aspect ratio and a method — crop or pad.
• Per-image ✂ crop editor: drag an aspect-locked rectangle to choose which part of each still survives the conform (the default is a center cut — architecture rarely sits dead-center). The crop is stored per image; the engine crops the original at full resolution.
• Each image gets its own output plug, so you can route conformed stills individually.
• Each row's 🔍 opens the lightbox on the conformed result — ←/→ pages the whole set, so you can flip through the batch and check every cut.

Conform runs entirely on your machine (local PIL) — free, never metered.

#Preview

Inspect any output at screen size. Wire an image or video into a Preview node and it shows inline on a resizable frame; the image inlet displays video too. Hover a tile and its 🔍 opens the lightbox — wheel-zoom, and ←/→ pages through everything on the node. When several images are shown, the ‹ › buttons on each tile reorder them. Preview is the "show me the result" node you'll drop at the end of most branches; the full-resolution files live in the project's output folder.

#Compare

Two images, one verdict. Wire any two takes into the A and B inlets — a Gemini attempt against a GPT attempt, an original against an Annotate correction, yesterday's keeper against today's re-roll — and the node shows them side by side, live, without running anything. Hover it and the 🔍 opens the real thing: the before/after wipe slider, both layers sharing one zoom and pan, so you can drag the divider across a facade while zoomed into the brickwork. The slider labels pick up the source nodes' names, so it reads "Image → Image vs Annotate & Correct", not "before vs after".

Compare is a viewing surface, not a processor — free, local, no output port and no ▶ (there is nothing to run; the tiles follow the wires live — route the winner onward from its source node). It's the generalization of the Upscale node's built-in input-vs-result compare: same slider, any two wires you choose.

#Note

A sticky note for the canvas — annotate your graph the way you'd annotate a whiteboard: intent for future-you, instructions for a teammate opening the project later, review remarks next to the branch they're about.

Notes aren't nodes — they're placement tools, living in the rail's Organize section (with Stamp, Group and Composite). Click the rail's sticky-note icon and the note rides your cursor: click the canvas to place it at the default size, or click-and-drag to draw its size (Shift places several, Esc or right-click cancels). While you're placing, the nodes underneath freeze — you can drop a note on top of anything.

• Double-click to write, click elsewhere to finish. Notes support a light markdown: # heading, - bullet, **bold**, *italic*, `code`.
• Select a note for the toolbar: five sticky colors, four fonts (Sans / Display / Hand / Mono), text sizes up to 64px, bold, plus resize handles.
• Display order is fixed so annotations always show: stamps over notes over nodes (selecting anything still brings it to the front).
• Notes have no ports and never execute — free, local, never sent to any provider as part of a run.
• Notes travel: they're saved in graphs, templates and composites, so a library template can ship its own usage notes. Tidy moves them with the graph — each note keeps its position relative to the node it sits next to.
• Marcel reads them. A note sitting next to a node is exactly the kind of intent he should see — ask him about the graph and the notes are part of his picture. He can write them too.

#Stamp

A frameless emoji mark — the quickest possible annotation. Click the rail's stamp icon, pick your emoji from the flyout, and it rides your cursor; click to drop it — on empty canvas or right on a node (Shift-click for a trail of them). Drop a ⭐ on the keeper, a 🚧 on the branch under construction, a 💩 on what it deserves. Select a stamp to swap the emoji, resize it by its frame (like a sticky), or delete it. Free, local, no ports.

#Pen

Draw on the canvas — made for Wacom people (mouse works too). The rail's Pen icon (or the ring's Pen slice) enters draw mode: sketch freely, pen pressure sets the stroke weight, pick a color (theme ink + the five sticky colors) and a width, Alt-click erases a stroke, and Esc or ✓ finishes — the whole session lands as one frameless drawing you can move, resize (it scales as a unit) and delete like any annotation. Free, local, never sent anywhere.

#Text

A clean label — for those who prefer tidy organization over stickies: the same note machinery with the paper removed. No fill, no shadow, just typed words on the canvas — perfect for titling regions of a big graph. The label auto-sizes to its content (the font size is its scale control), it gets the full note toolbar (four fonts, sizes to 64px, bold), and the colors apply to the text itself, with a theme-ink default.

#The ring menu

Right-click any empty spot on the canvas and a radial menu opens under your hand — every organize tool one flick away. The center names the ring you're on and clicking it cycles three states: Organize (note · stamp · pen · text · group · composite · add node · tidy) → your most-used nodes (learned from your own placements) → your recent stamps. Nodes land where you right-clicked; the annotation tools (note, stamp, text) hop onto your cursor so you place — or click-drag-size — them exactly like from the rail. Power move: press the right button, drag onto a slice, release — picked, no clicking. The rail keeps every tool too; the ring is just the fast hand.

That's the whole palette. Back to Nodes & graphs for how they run together, or on to the Providers.