Icon sets: Recraft reference_images across a batch

An icon set is a stack of files that have to match. It is not a brand kit. Recraft's reference_images on a generate_images call pins stroke and corner across a batch. A kit stores hex and a logo. Do not confuse the two.

A Recraft alternative is twelve Recraft rows on one credit pool, raster and true SVG, plus reference_images for a multi-asset set. Recraft 4.1 text to image is the published 4-credit raster row. The Utility SKU is priced the same — a lightweight raster pass, not a design system.

A stack is not a kit

Brand kit is one named save: colors, fonts, logo, tone, defaults. set_brand_kit writes those values. It does not draw a cart glyph that matches yesterday's bell. Putting "2px line icons" in the kit as a tone sentence is prose. Forty interpolations is forty near-misses.

A stack is the same Recraft call, the same references, a batch of subjects. Icon one is an image. Icons two through forty see that image. That is reference_images on the same generate. The job is a forty-icon set where the fifth glyph matches the first one's stroke weight and corner radius. num_images renders several candidates in one call so you review a family together.

reference_images is the lock

Text is a weak lock. "Clean 2px line icon" is a suggestion. Each independent generate is free to interpret it.

1. Write one spec sentence. Change only the subject noun.
2. Generate a small test batch until stroke and fill actually hold.
3. Feed the keepers back as reference_images for the rest of the set.
4. Do not "try a different vibe" mid-stack. That is a new stack.

Icon families from prompts is the spec-sentence version. This page is the Recraft mechanism: references across a batch. A reference image carries actual thickness and radius that a prompt can only approximate.

Utility is a raster row, not a design system

The Recraft hub is every model in that roster. V4.1 Utility text-to-image is a lightweight raster SKU at 4 credits, same as standard V4.1 T2I. Pro Utility is 21. Neither is "the icon product."

If the toolbar must live as SVG, that is a Text-to-Vector row, not Utility. Text to vector is that file-format job. A PNG of a "vector-style" cart is still a PNG. Use Utility when the stack is pixels. Use vector when the file has to be paths. Use reference_images in both cases. Branding is the kit. The stack is the batch.

Generate as a batch, then split

Where the model will give you a sheet, take a sheet. Split a grid is a deterministic slice: you supply rows and cols, it cuts cells. It is not a generate. Each tile is a fraction of the source, so upscale keepers after you pick them.

Generate an image from text is the agent door. Name Recraft. Pass the references. Lay the full set out at true size, side by side, once.

FAQ

Is reference_images the same as saving a brand kit?

No. A kit stores hex, type, logo, tone. reference_images pins a look on a Recraft generate so the next glyphs match the ones you already kept. The kit does not draw the set.

Should I use Recraft Utility for a forty-icon SVG system?

No. Utility is a raster text-to-image tier. Paths come from Recraft's Text-to-Vector rows. Use Utility when the stack is pixels and you want the cheap consistent pass.

Can I prompt forty icons separately if I reuse the same spec sentence?

You can. They will drift more than a batch with reference_images. The sentence is necessary. It is not sufficient. Lock with pictures of the keepers.

Do I upscale every tile in the grid?

No. Split, pick, upscale the keepers. A tile is a fraction of the sheet. Enhancing the discards is the same waste as upscaling takes you will not ship.