# Hero_Photo: photos and short videos for your posts

Hero_Photo is the AI photo studio in Heropost. Describe a shot or pick a preset, add your product, yourself or a model, and it makes photos, graphics, short videos and resized versions that go straight into a post.

Last checked: Oct 8, 2026 on the live app. Source: https://heropost.ai/docs/ai/hero-photo/

**Where:** **Hero_Photo** in the left menu, under **Home**. On a phone: **＋** in the bottom bar → **New photo**.

## How it works

Hero_Photo makes pictures for your posts: product photos, headshots, text graphics, short videos and resized versions. Describe the shot, or pick one of 75 presets. Add a subject (yourself, a model, your product or your brand look) and Hero_Photo keeps it true to life in every picture. Results go into your Media Library, ready for any post.

Hero_Photo runs on photo credits. The **Generate** button shows the exact price before you start, and that's what you pay. A photo uses 2 credits, a graphic 1 and a 5-second video 20. Layout presets are free. Every plan includes 10 credits once, to try it; the Growth, Pro and Agency plans include 100, 250 or 600 a month. See [Hero_Photo credits](/docs/ai/hero-photo-credits/).

[Screenshot: The Hero_Photo studio: Subject and Create on the left, results in the middle, Hero_Agent on the right]

## Make your first photo

1. Open **Hero_Photo**. It starts on the **Create** tab, in **Photo** mode, with the subject **Brand**.
2. Under **Subject**, choose who or what is in the picture: **Brand**, **You**, **Model** or **Product**. To add one, press **＋ Train a subject**. See [Train a subject](/docs/ai/hero-photo-subjects/).
3. Describe the shot, for example "our sneaker on a model, golden hour". Or open **◆ Preset** and pick one, or **Browse all presets →**.
4. Choose **How many** (1, 2, 4 or 8; 4 at first) and **Format**: **Auto**, **Feed 4:5**, **Square 1:1**, **Story 9:16**, **Wide 16:9** or **Google 4:3**.
5. Check the button, for example **Generate 4** with "~40s · 8 credits".
6. Press it. Placeholders appear in **Create** with a progress counter, and the pictures land in about 40 seconds.
7. Hover a result and press **Use in post**. Heropost opens a new draft with the picture attached, in the post editor.

## What you can make

Pick a mode under **Create**:

| Mode | What it makes | What you give it | Credits |
|---|---|---|---|
| **Photo** | Photos from a description or a preset, and text graphics from typography presets | A description or a preset, and optionally a subject | 2 a photo, 1 a graphic |
| **Video** | A 5- or 10-second clip with a camera move | A photo to animate, or your saved product for **Turntable** and **Giant product** | 20 for 5 seconds, 40 for 10 (+2 when Hero_Photo makes the first frame) |
| **Try-on** | Your garment worn by you or a model | A garment (your saved product or a clothing photo), **Worn by** and a **Scene** | 2 a photo |
| **Hold product** | Your product held by you or a model | Your product, **Held by** and a **Scene** | 2 a photo |
| **Repurpose** | One image resized for other platforms | A source image and the sizes under **Resize for** | 2 per size |

Layout presets, such as **Story Cover** or **Listing Card**, place your own photo and text in your brand fonts and colors. They're made in your browser in about 2 seconds and cost nothing. All presets: [Hero_Photo presets](/docs/ai/hero-photo-presets/).

### Video

- **Source:** a photo from your computer or library, or **Make video** on any result.
- **Motion:** **Zoom loop** (selected at first), **Slow push-in**, **Handheld**, **Turntable**, **Crash zoom**, **Giant product** or **Dusk timelapse**, or describe the movement yourself.
- **Duration:** **5s** or **10s**. **Sound** (off at first) asks the video model to add sound.
- The button reads **Make video**, with about 1 to 2 minutes for 5 seconds and 2 to 3 minutes for 10.
- The video model won't animate a photo with people in it. Use a product or scene photo.

### Try-on and Hold product

- **Try-on:** **Worn by** **You** or **Model**. For a model, click **Model** again to choose **Auto — Hero_Agent casts** or an age and gender. **Scene:** **Street style**, **Studio white**, **Mirror-Selfie Haul**, **3 Ways to Style It**, **Jewelry On-Body**, **Café** or **Beach**, or describe one. The first four need you or a model saved as a subject.
- **Hold product:** **Held by** **You** or **Model**, and a scene such as "café table, morning light". Use **or pick from Shopify ▾** to add a product from its page.

### Repurpose

- **Resize for:** **IG Story 9:16** and **IG Feed 4:5** (both selected at first), **FB Feed**, **LinkedIn** and **X 16:9**, up to 5 at a time. LinkedIn and X share one 16:9 version.
- **Keep brand kit** (on at first) keeps logos and text whole in every size and fills new space with your brand colors, at the same price.
- **Schedule after** opens the finished sizes together in a new post, for you to pick the accounts and the time.

### Advanced

Under **Advanced** ("Hero_Agent sets these — change only to fine-tune."):

- **Creativity ↔ resemblance**, from **Creative** to **Faithful**.
- **Avoid**, for example "text, extra people, logos".
- **Model:** leave it on **Auto — Hero_Agent picks ✦**. **GPT Image 2 — text & typography** (1 credit) applies only to a described photo with no preset and nothing to copy, such as a product, person or photo. Otherwise **Nano Banana Pro — photographic** is used.

## Work with your results

The tabs in the middle: **Create** (what's running and what you made, newest first), **Presets**, **Library** (everything, by date), **Videos** and **Favourites**. Each has its own search and filters. Badges show **Unused** or **✓ In {n} posts**.

Hover a result for its actions:

| Action | What it does |
|---|---|
| **Use in post** | Opens a new draft with the picture, in the post editor |
| **Download** | Saves the file |
| **View** | Shows it full screen |
| **Remix** | Loads its description and preset on the left to tweak and generate again |
| **Edit** | Opens the editing tools: background swap, relight, remove an object, phone photo fix and more |
| **Upscale** | Makes a sharper, larger 4K version straight away (4 credits) |
| **Make video** | Uses the picture as a video source |
| **Swap subject** | Same shot, someone or something else in it |
| **Repurpose** | Resizes it for other platforms |
| **Copy prompt** | Copies its description |
| ♡ | Adds it to **Favourites** |
| Bin | Deletes it |

[Screenshot: A result with its actions: Use in post, Download, View, Remix, Edit, Upscale, Make video, Swap subject, Repurpose and Copy prompt]

- **Several at once:** press **Select**, tick the pictures, then **Download**, **Add to post** (one new post with all of them) or **Delete**.
- **Delete:** "This can’t be undone." A picture used in posts shows "Used in {n} posts — those posts aren’t affected and still go out."

## Where your pictures go

- Every result is also in the workspace **Media Library**, so you can add it to any post. Deleting it in one place removes it from both; posts that use it keep their copy.
- Each workspace has its own studio and library.
- Photos you upload only as inputs, such as a photo to edit or a subject's photos, aren't added to your Media Library.

## Your brand in every picture

- AI pictures use your brand kit colors (the first is your primary, the second your accent, the third your neutral) and your heading and body fonts, where a preset has brand-colored text or backgrounds.
- Layout presets place your real logo. AI pictures don't draw your logo.
- The **Brand** subject uses your brand photos as a style reference.

Set it up: [Teach Hero_Agent your brand](/docs/ai/brand-kit-and-knowledge/).

## Ask Hero_Agent

- **In the studio:** type in **Ask Hero_Agent…** on the right and press Enter. Home opens with your request typed in, ready for you to send.
- **On Home:** ask "Make a square photo of our matcha bottle on a sunny café table and attach it to Friday's draft." Hero_Agent makes one picture at a time (2 credits for a photo, 1 for a graphic), and it shows up in Hero_Photo too.
- **For a batch:** choose **Create images with Hero_Photo** on the **Create posts in bulk** card. It makes up to 10 pictures per batch.

Videos, image sets and presets with text fields are made here in the studio.

## On a phone

- The phone version is a gallery: **New photo**, **＋ Train a subject**, then everything you've made, newest first.
- **New photo:** pick a **Subject**, one of six presets (Lifestyle Scene, Clean Packshot, In-Hand UGC, Colour-Block Hero, Studio Headshot, Personal Brand Lifestyle), optionally **Describe it**, then **Generate**. It makes 4 pictures unless the preset sets the number.
- Tap a result for **Use in a post**, **Save to Photos**, **Share** and **More like this**.
- Video, Try-on, Hold product, Repurpose, the editing tools, the full preset list and the brand kit are in the studio on a computer or tablet: "More tools on your computer — open Heropost on desktop."

[Screenshot: Hero_Photo on a phone with the New photo sheet open]

On tablets and narrow windows you get the full studio, with the panels stacked.

## Who can use it

| Role | What they can do |
|---|---|
| Owner | Everything, including buying credits and upgrading |
| Admin and Editor | Generate, edit, favorite, delete and save subjects, using the owner's credits. Admins can also change the brand kit. |
| Viewer | Look, download and ask Hero_Agent. Can't generate, delete or save subjects. |

Credits belong to the workspace owner and are shared by all the workspaces they own.

## If it doesn't work

Results that fail cost nothing: their credits go back automatically.

| What you see | What it means | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| **Get more credits** or **Not enough credits**, with "This needs {n} — you have {m}" | Not enough photo credits for this run. | Make fewer, or get more credits (the owner): [Hero_Photo credits](/docs/ai/hero-photo-credits/). |
| "Your account doesn't have an active plan. Please upgrade to use this feature." | The workspace owner has no active plan. | The owner picks a plan in Billing. |
| "This preset needs a product — pick a saved product or train one first." | The preset puts your product in the picture. | Add a product under **＋ Train a subject**. |
| "This preset needs a person — pick You or a Model, or train one first." | The preset needs a person. | Pick **You** or **Model**, or add one. |
| "Describe what you want, or pick a preset." | The description is empty and no preset is set. | Describe the shot or pick a preset. |
| "The description is too long — keep it under 2,000 characters." | Over 2,000 characters. | Shorten it. |
| "Pick a photo — videos can't be used as an input here." | A video was picked as a source. | Pick a photo. |
| "Pick up to five sizes at a time." | Too many Repurpose sizes. | Choose 5 or fewer. |
| "That prompt was declined by the image service's safety filter. Rephrase it and try again." | The description was refused. | Rephrase it. |
| "The image service is busy — try again in a minute. Nothing was charged." | Too many requests right now. | Try again in a minute. |
| "This took too long and was stopped. Nothing was charged — try again." | The picture timed out. | Try again. |
| "This video model won't animate a photo with people in it. …" | The photo has people in it. | Use a product or scene photo. |
| "An input image could not be read — use a JPG, PNG or WEBP photo." | The file isn't a usable photo. | Use a JPG, PNG or WEBP. |
| "That image is too large to use (over 40 megapixels) — pick a smaller one." | The photo is too big. | Use a smaller version. |
| "Viewers cannot create or modify content in this workspace." | Your role is Viewer. | Ask the owner for a higher role. |
| "Something went wrong making this. Nothing was charged — try again." | Something else failed. | Try again. If it keeps happening, contact support with the time and what you were making. |

## Questions

**Where do my pictures go?**

Into Hero_Photo's **Library** and your workspace's **Media Library**, so you can add them to any post.


**Can I use my own photos?**

Yes. Edit them with the editing tools, animate them in **Video**, resize them in **Repurpose**, use them in layout presets, or save them as a subject.


**Do failed pictures use credits?**

No. If a picture fails, its credits go back automatically.


**Can Hero_Photo make a video of a person?**

Not from a photo of people: the video model won't animate one. Videos work from product and scene photos.


**Can I make a carousel?**

Yes. **Tips Carousel** makes a cover plus one slide per tip, and **3 Ways to Style It** makes three try-on photos. Add them to one post with **Select** → **Add to post**.


**Can I use Hero_Photo without a Hero_Agent plan?**

Yes. Every plan includes 10 credits once to try it, about 5 photos. Monthly credits come with the Growth, Pro and Agency plans.