Forget about searching through clipart or Google Images, there is a whole new crop of websites that can generate exactly the image you need in seconds just by typing in a few keywords!
It’s all thanks to Artificial Intelligence – these websites have been “taught” how to make art by looking at the attributes of millions of images.
DALL·E 2 started the trend, with a system that can create realistic images and art just by typing in a few words. It comes from OpenAI, the same folks behind ChatGPT.
Once you type in your words, you get multiple images to choose from. You can download them and use as you like, even for commercial purposes.
You get a limited number of free images every month, you can pay for more credits.
Dream is super simple to use, and doesn’t require a sign up or login.
Downloads may have a watermark on them… if you make something really great, you can publish it for others to find.
If you want to make art on the go, Dream has apps for iOS and Android, too.
Craiyon is from some of the same folks who built DALL·E.
It’s easy to use with no signup. Generating images takes a bit longer, but you get 9 initial images to choose from.
If you love what you make, you can print it on a t-shirt.
Stable diffusion is known for generating really high quality images, but perhaps they’re too realistic. Adobe is suing the startup, alleging that they used millions of Getty images to train their AI, without permission or licensing.
Have I mentioned that many artists aren’t necessarily a fan of this new type of artwork?
Stable Diffusion is often so busy you might get an error on your first try.
An app called Picsart has an AI art generator built in.
Type in a few words about what you want, then choose stylistic options like cyberpunk, cinematic lighting or epic fantasy. You can also have the app auto choose for you.
Hit Generate Image to see the results, which you can then edit to your liking.
You get 10 free generations per day, no paid plan necessary.
Bottom line: these sites don’t always get it right the first time around, and even their existence can be controversial, but they are certainly fun to play around with and even generate just the image you need for a report, presentation or fun.