Finishing benches are where credits go to be spent confidently and, too often, wastefully. An upscale cannot repair a wrong face; a swap cannot rescue a frame that never matched its card. At the ember desk, no frame is tended until it has passed five checks, each scored against the written ember card.
The five checks
1. Identity. Is she the woman on the card? 2. Continuity. Do hair, signature and wardrobe register agree with the frames beside this one? 3. Light. One source, behaving consistently across skin, satin and stone. 4. Edges. Hair against the hearth, fingers against the desk, lace against skin. 5. Purpose. Does the frame do the one job it was briefed for?
The threshold that saves money
Score each check out of two; eight of ten earns finishing spend — an edit at 21 credits, a swap at 26, an upscale at 61. Below eight, the frame returns to the generator at 6 credits, where correction is cheapest. Note the scores on the card and keep them with the set.