Artwork policy
No generative AI. None.
Every piece of artwork on a SolarSystem.city card is made by a person. Work made with generative AI is not eligible.
Last updated: 7 August 2026
The rule
No part of a commissioned artwork may be generated by, traced from, or composited from the output of a generative AI system.
Completely fine
- Any digital painting tool — brushes, layers, blend modes, custom brushes.
- Filters, adjustment layers, curves, color grading.
- Transforms, warps, liquify, perspective correction.
- Scanning, dust and scratch removal, straightening, cropping.
- Non-generative resizing and sharpening.
- Working from your own photo references, or public-domain ones.
- Vector tracing your own drawing.
Not acceptable
- Image generators, in any part of the piece.
- Generative fill, generative expand, generative remove.
- AI upscalers.
- AI sky replacement, background replacement or object insertion.
- Painting over, tracing, or collaging from a generated image.
- Using a generated image as a composition or color study.
- AI style transfer applied to your own work.
- Generated textures, patterns or brushes made from model output.
There's a third answer, and it's "ask us". Tools change faster than this page does, and plenty of them now bundle a generative feature next to a conventional one under the same button. If you're unsure about something specific, ask before you use it. Asking is never held against you, and we'd rather answer in advance than have this conversation about a finished piece.
Why we're this firm
The point of commissioning a local artist is to directly support an artist and their craft. Using generative AI in the creation of artwork feels dystopian, and we feel no obligation to support it. If you want to generate artwork for your own personal use, we ask you to kindly keep it to yourself.
How it's checked
- By talking to the artist!
- We ask for layered source files with every commission — we're excited to see both your work and your process.
- We will ask for work in progress — layer history, timelapse, or photos of the partially finished piece. We want to showcase each artist's finished piece as well as their process, and asking for this upfront, as part of the commission, also helps protect us both from AI claims.
The whole point of this platform is to form and foster human connection. There's a chance we'll get it wrong, or that someone slips something past us that we don't catch.
If you spot something
If you believe a piece of artwork on this site was made with generative AI, or copied from someone, tell us. We'll look properly, we'll say what we find, and if we got it wrong we'll pull the card and say so publicly.