Ad variant factory

Take one approved concept and explode it into 10-30 shippable ad variants for A/B testing on Meta, Google, TikTok, and Pinterest. Built for speed (parallel batch) and for direct upload to ad accounts (deterministic naming).

When to Use

User has a hero / concept and needs many variants across headline × visual × CTA × background for A/B tests.
"Fan out 30 variants of this ad for Meta" / "generate a test matrix" / "multiply this creative".
Prepping a new ad-set launch — needs 9:16, 1:1, 16:9 with 3-5 visual variants each.
Do NOT use for a single hero (use
```
gen-ai generate
```
) or for cross-channel creative (use
```
marketer-campaign-kit
```
). This skill is for depth on one concept, not breadth across channels.

Prerequisites

Ask up front if the brief doesn't cover it (combine into one message):

Hero asset — path or URL to the approved concept image.
Axes to vary — visual direction (1-5), background/scene (1-5), focal composition (close-up vs wide), optional: color treatment.
Platforms / aspect ratios — Meta needs 9:16 + 1:1, TikTok is 9:16, Display wants 16:9. Confirm which.
Variant count — how many total? 10-15 is typical for a first test, 30+ for broad exploration.
Naming convention — what does the ad platform require (e.g.
```
{campaign}_{axis}_{variant}_{size}.webp
```
)?
Brand guardrails — colors (hex), forbidden elements, existing brand.md?

If the user just says "a lot", default to 5 visuals × 3 ratios = 15 variants.

How to Run

Anchor on the hero. The hero is the reference image — every variant should feel like a sibling, not a cousin. Upload to Drive first if it's local so downstream jobs can reference a URL.
Define the variant matrix. Keep axes explicit. 5 visual directions × 3 aspect ratios = 15 jobs. Don't mix 8 axes — the test becomes unreadable.
Write the manifest. One job per variant, unique
```
id
```
that maps to your ad-platform naming convention. The
```
image
```
field references the hero.

Estimate + dry-run.

bash

gen-ai batch run variants.json --dry-run

Run at concurrency 6-8. Image variants are fast and independent — push concurrency higher than the default 3. Watch for 429s; back off to 4 if you see them.
bash
```
gen-ai batch run variants.json -c 8 -o ./ad-variants
```
Audit and resume. Filter
```
results.json
```
for non-completed jobs, retry.
bash
```
gen-ai batch resume ./ad-variants
```
Hand off. Ads platform uploaders expect a flat folder with standard naming —
```
results.json
```
has every path + URL for direct CSV import to Meta Ads Manager / TikTok Ads / Google Ads.

Quick Reference

Naming convention

{campaign}_{visual}_{composition}_{size}

keeps downstream uploads clean.

json

{
  "defaults": {
    "model": "recraftv4",
    "negativePrompt": "low quality, watermark, busy background",
    "imageUrls": ["https://cdn-pipeline-output.picsart.com/.../hero.webp"]
  },
  "jobs": [
    { "id": "launch_bright_closeup_9x16", "prompt": "bright daylight variant, close-up focal, warm tones", "aspectRatio": "9:16" },
    { "id": "launch_bright_closeup_1x1",  "prompt": "bright daylight variant, close-up focal, warm tones", "aspectRatio": "1:1"  },
    { "id": "launch_bright_closeup_16x9", "prompt": "bright daylight variant, close-up focal, warm tones", "aspectRatio": "16:9" },
    { "id": "launch_studio_wide_9x16",    "prompt": "studio lighting, wide shot, neutral backdrop",        "aspectRatio": "9:16" },
    { "id": "launch_studio_wide_1x1",     "prompt": "studio lighting, wide shot, neutral backdrop",        "aspectRatio": "1:1"  },
    { "id": "launch_studio_wide_16x9",    "prompt": "studio lighting, wide shot, neutral backdrop",        "aspectRatio": "16:9" },
    { "id": "launch_urban_medium_9x16",   "prompt": "urban street setting, medium shot, cinematic",        "aspectRatio": "9:16" },
    { "id": "launch_urban_medium_1x1",    "prompt": "urban street setting, medium shot, cinematic",        "aspectRatio": "1:1"  },
    { "id": "launch_urban_medium_16x9",   "prompt": "urban street setting, medium shot, cinematic",        "aspectRatio": "16:9" }
  ]
}

9 variants from 3 visual × 3 ratios. Scale to 15 or 30 by adding visual rows. Remember: no

count

field — emit one job per variant.

Quick Reference

Sub-task	Model	Why
Brand-consistent variants from a hero (default)	`recraftv4`	Strongest at keeping design language consistent across many renders
Photoreal product / lifestyle variants	`flux-2-pro`	Best photoreal adherence, great for Meta/TikTok product ads
Variants with readable headline text baked in	`ideogram-v3`	Only model that reliably renders legible copy — use when you can't overlay
Face/character continuity across variants	`gemini-3-pro-image`	Nano Banana Pro locks subject identity best
Background swaps on a fixed subject	`gen-ai change-bg` (subcommand)	Keeps the subject pixel-identical, only swaps the scene
Ultra-cheap exploration before the flagship run	`gemini-3.1-flash-image`	~5x cheaper, fast — use to pick winning prompts, then regenerate with flux/recraft

Confirm IDs with

gen-ai models --mode image

Procedure

Explicit variant axes. Decide 3-4 axes up front (visual, composition, color, setting). Scattershot prompts make A/B results unreadable.
Hero as reference image on every job. Use the
```
image
```
field in
```
defaults
```
— every variant inherits the brand look.
Deterministic naming = direct ad-platform import.
```
{campaign}_{visual}_{composition}_{size}
```
parses cleanly in Meta/TikTok/Google ads CSV templates.
Draft cheap, upgrade winners. Run 30 variants through
```
gemini-3.1-flash-image
```
for ~$1. Pick top 8. Regenerate those 8 through
```
flux-2-pro
```
or
```
recraftv4
```
for the final upload.
Text-safe zones per platform. Meta Stories reserve 250px top + 310px bottom. TikTok reserves ~300px at bottom for UI. Prompt focal into the center 60% of the canvas.
Concurrency 6-8 for image variants. Images are fast — higher concurrency finishes a 30-variant run in under 2 minutes. Drop to 4 if you see 429s.
Never overwrite silently. Unique
```
id
```
per variant means unique output filename — resume is safe and collision-free.
Never claim results in the prompt. "Viral ad, 10M views" doesn't improve output; describe framing, subject, lighting, mood.

Pitfalls

Too many axes → unreadable A/B. Vary 3-4 at most. If you change visual + composition + color + setting + headline in one variant, you can't isolate the winner.
Missing the hero reference. Without
```
image
```
in defaults, each variant drifts visually — the bundle doesn't feel like one campaign.
Wrong aspect ratio for the platform. TikTok is 9:16 full-bleed, Meta Reels is 9:16, Meta feed is 1:1 or 4:5 (not 1.91:1 anymore), Google Display is 300×250 / 728×90 / 160×600 — check the ad set requirements before fanning out.
Text in the image without localization plan. Baked-in copy blocks localization — keep ad copy in the ads-manager overlay unless it's a one-market run.
Running 100 variants in one go with no draft phase. 100 full-price flagship renders = wasted credits. Draft → pick → upgrade.
Overwriting results on re-runs. Keep output dirs per run (
```
./variants-$(date +%F-%H%M)
```
) so resume + audit work cleanly.

Verification

Run

gen-ai whoami

to confirm authentication, then re-run the failed command with

--debug

Cost & time

Variant count	Model	Credits each	Total	Wall time @ concurrency 8
9 variants	`recraftv4`	~2	~18	~45s
15 variants	`recraftv4`	~2	~30	~90s
30 variants (exploration)	`gemini-3.1-flash-image`	~0.5	~15	~2 min
30 variants (flagship)	`flux-2-pro`	~2	~60	~3 min
30 drafts + 8 upgraded	mixed		~30	~4 min total

Always confirm with

gen-ai batch run variants.json --dry-run

and pause if the estimate exceeds the user's cap.

marketer-ad-variant-factory

NPX Install

Tags

SKILL.md Content

Ad variant factory

When to Use

Prerequisites

How to Run

Quick Reference

Quick Reference

Procedure

Pitfalls

Verification

Cost & time

See also