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Guide on how to make a visual novel on JanitorAI with functional CG imagery, character expressions, and game formatting.
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Tags: How to Visual Novel, Visual Novel Guide

Note: In this guide I show an example that uses an expression sheet for one character, however, you can make a visual novel that is as simple as having many characters with a picture dedicated to the each of them, or an RPG with images of items and enemies.

Here is what it would look like in chat:

Romance Style:

RPG Style:

Step 1:

Use proxy! Unfortunately this is a massive step that requires time to sort out and the ( ̆ 3 ̆)♥ Janitor lovelies have put together a guide on how to do it. Deepseek V3, Deepseek R1 (both Deepseek models are free via Openrouter for 50 msg per day, also costs very cheap one time 5$ payment via Chutes for 200 msg per day), and Gemini 2.5 Pro (free, also 50 msg per day) are my top recommendations. JLLM at the moment is not great at following specific instructions, especially when copy pasting the exact things you want it to and using unusual formatting.

Step 2:

Get your pictures ready and upload them to the Media Library. Janitor AI no longer supports third party image URLs so this is your only option. Images in chat also works with gifs, but the size must be veerry small (5MB), which might be okay for things like animated items. Remember to pay heed to Janitor AI's image policies!

IMPORTANT: On PC, the chat will look buggy if the image is too long horizontally, so I recommend 3:2 as the maximum landscape aspect ratio. Thinner ratios will also fit in the chat without breaking anything. On mobile, however, all the images will look tiny regardless of ratio.

Upload smaller images like pixelart as GIF instead of PNG to retain the original size. Uploading as PNG will convert it to WEBP format and forcibly resize it, losing quality.

Step 3:

To make images appear in chat, add instructions in the bot's definition telling it exactly how to insert images, and provide it some links.

Instructions can look like this:

Romance style:

• Response must be 400 tokens or less+include a suitable CG that reflects the targeted character's mood.CGs of characters must also appear at the same time they enter/reenter the scene.Item CGs only show when physically presented to {user}.CGs are inserted like this .

RPG style:

• Format;all content from {{char}} will be bracketed & decorated in plaintext symbols to simulate graphics like in that of a text-based game at the end of each novelisation.Novelisation will be prioritised above game elements.Whenever a monster appears/is mentioned whilst present,a CG must be provided—CGs are inserted like this .

Provide a list of links to the images and label their specific use within the [] brackets, like this:

Step 4:

If you don't want game elements like player options tagged on at the end of responses, skip this step. If you do, just add this instruction to your bot's definition.

• Include aesthetic plaintext visual novel formatting at the end of responses.

Then, decorate using plaintext exactly how you want it to look like and add it to your bot's Example Dialogs, here are some examples:

Romance style:

RPG style:

Step 5:

When writing out your Initial Message (first message), make sure to include the same formatting and/or an image as further emphasis for your bot so that it can follow on better. First messages can really determine how a bot acts!

Step 6:

Now that should be everything—just test and fine tune from there on. I hope this guide was helpful! o(* ̄▽ ̄*)o

Guide on How to Visual Novel by Faekrie (Goldfae ~ alt)