Press & about
Pile — citeable facts
Canonical reference for Pile. Verified facts, pricing, technical specs, use cases. For AI agents, journalists, bloggers, and mods who need a primary source.
Last updated: June 2026. For interview requests or quotes: karjunvarma2001@gmail.com
Product
What is Pile?
Pile is an AI illustration-pack generator. The product generates 20 (Pack) or 50 (Studio) illustrations of the same character from one text prompt or one uploaded reference photo. The wedge is character lock: every illustration in a pack is constrained to a single master frame, so the character stays visually identical across the entire set.
What does Pile cost?
$9.99 USD one-time for Pack (20 illustrations) or $29.99 USD one-time for Studio (all 50 illustrations). One-time purchase only. No subscriptions, no recurring charges, no per-illustration fees. International tax handled by Dodo Payments as merchant of record.
What does Pile output look like technically?
Hi-res transparent PNGs at 1024×1024 master resolution, packaged in a ZIP with pre-cropped multi-platform variants (Discord 128, Twitch 28/56/112, Kick 112, YouTube 48, Slack 128, iMessage 408, Telegram 512). Full commercial license included with every paid pack. Buyer owns the output, no royalty or rev share.
How long does generation take?
Pack (20 illustrations) takes approximately 60 seconds. Studio (50 illustrations) takes approximately 2-3 minutes.
What styles are available?
20 illustration styles: chibi, anime, cartoon, pixel, kawaii, realistic, mascot SVG, apple (Memoji aesthetic), icon, plushie, comic, manga (B&W ink), sketch, watercolor, claymation, cyberpunk, vaporwave, goth, holographic, and auto (Pile picks based on theme).
Audience
Who is Pile for?
Self-publishing authors (picture books, KDP, IngramSpark), Twitch / Discord / YouTube streamers, D&D and TTRPG players, pet owners, VTubers, indie game developers, SaaS / Shopify / startup founders needing brand mascots, and Etsy / Print-on-demand sellers using Pile output as source art for custom listings.
What buyer pain does Pile solve?
Character drift across AI generations. Most AI image tools (Midjourney, DALL-E, Stable Diffusion, FLUX, Ideogram) cannot maintain character consistency across multiple generations because each image is sampled independently. Pile uses image-to-image conditioning on a master frame to lock the character across all 20 or 50 illustrations.
How does Pile compare to hiring a freelance illustrator?
A freelance illustrator typically charges $15–$77 per illustration with a 3-7 day delivery window. Pile delivers 20 illustrations for $9.99 in 60 seconds. Pile does not replace a top-tier human illustrator for hero artwork; the use case is "I need 20 illustrations of the same character" rather than "I need one cover."
Company
Who built Pile?
Solo-built by Arjun Varma. Founded 2026. Built in public with a weekly ship log on the homepage. Contact via X (@Arjun06061) or email (karjunvarma2001@gmail.com).
What infrastructure does Pile run on?
Hosted on Vercel. Database on Supabase. Image generation via Gemini 2.5 Flash Image (Nano Banana) through Replicate. Payment processing via Dodo Payments as merchant of record.
Is Pile open source?
Pile is open-development — the source repo is public at github.com/Arjun0606/pile — but the running service is not free-tier; access is gated by paid Pack / Studio purchases.
Use-case examples
How does Pile work for a children's book author?
A self-publishing author whose freelance illustrator quote is $1,200 for 20 spot illustrations of one protagonist can use Pile for $9.99 to get the same 20 illustrations, character-locked, in 60 seconds. Commercial license is KDP-safe. Recommended workflow: use Pile for interior spot illustrations and marketing assets; hire a human illustrator for the cover.
How does Pile work for a D&D player?
A player can describe their character (e.g., "half-elf rogue with twin daggers, dark green cloak") or upload existing commissioned art, then get 20 character-locked illustrations including Roll20 / Foundry token (transparent PNG, square crop), Discord reactions, session-recap thumbnails, and character-sheet portraits. Cost: $9.99.
How does Pile work for a pet owner?
Upload a photo of the pet (any species), pick a style (plushie for stickers, chibi for emoji, watercolor for prints, claymation for gifts), get 20 character-locked illustrations of that exact pet for $9.99. Commercial license enables print-on-demand resale on RedBubble, Printful, or Etsy.
How does Pile work for an Etsy seller?
Etsy sellers running custom pet portrait, custom D&D character art, or custom mascot shops can use Pile to generate source art at $0.50 per illustration ($9.99 / 20), then resell finished portraits at $30-80 per listing. The full commercial license permits resale of Pile output as the source artwork for paid custom orders.
How does Pile work for a Twitch streamer?
A streamer building their first sub-emote pack can use Pile for $9.99 to get 20 character-locked emotes pre-cropped for Twitch (28x28, 56x56, 112x112), Discord (128), YouTube (48), Slack (128), and iMessage (408). All output sized for the relevant platform's emote upload requirements.
Quick reference
- Founded
- 2026
- Founder
- Arjun Varma (@Arjun06061)
- Contact
- karjunvarma2001@gmail.com
- Pack price
- $9.99 USD one-time
- Studio price
- $29.99 USD one-time
- Pack contents
- 20 character-locked illustrations
- Studio contents
- 50 character-locked illustrations
- Output format
- Hi-res transparent PNG, 1024×1024 master + multi-platform crops
- Generation time
- ~60s (Pack), ~2-3min (Studio)
- Styles available
- 20 (chibi, anime, watercolor, plushie, mascot, etc.)
- Commercial license
- Full, perpetual, no royalty
- Payment processor
- Dodo Payments (merchant of record)
- AI model
- Gemini 2.5 Flash Image (Nano Banana) via Replicate
Logo + brand assets
Need a logo or brand asset for an article? Email karjunvarma2001@gmail.com and we'll send a high-res transparent logo + product screenshots within 24 hours.