DALL-E 2, the AI image-generating tool created by OpenAI had a public release recently. You can use it to create images simply by describing the image in the text format. For example, type ‘Dog speaking on a smartphone while running on the road’ and you will instantly see results for the same. You can also modify existing images similarly. It’s not only easy to use, but also free to get started. Here’s how to signup and use DALL-E 2 to create AI-generated images.
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What Are DALL-E 2 Credits
DALL-E 2 is free to get started and you get 50 credits free for the first month. You will lose 1 credit every time you generate an image with DALL-E 2. However, they will replenish 15 credits each month. You can also buy credits to generate more images. As of now, you can get 115 credits for $15.
The free credits provided by DALL-E will expire in 30 days. So there is no option to store your 15 credits for the next month. Paid credits that you have bought will also expire in a year. Both free and paid credits have the same rules and you can use these images for commercial purposes too.
How to Signup for DALL-E 2
The steps are easy as is the case for most services these days.
1. Open the DALL-E 2 website and click on the Sign Up button at the top right corner.
2. Here, you can use your email ID to create an account. Alternatively, you can also signup using your Google or Microsoft account.
3. On the next page, enter your name and click on Continue.
4. Then enter your phone number for verification and the code sent via SMS to get verified. In case you are wondering, DALL-E uses the phone number verification barrier to prevent bots from signing up on their server.
5. You are almost done. Click on Continue in the pop-up. You will get 50 free credits if this is the first time you are signing up. Click on the Start creating with DALL-E button to get started.
How to Use DALL-E 2 to Generate Images
This is the fun part. You can use DALL-E 2 immediately and play around with words to generate interesting images. You are only limited by your imagination here.
1. Upon signing up, you should see a text box on the home page of DALL-E 2. Enter a description of the image that you have in mind and click on Generate to see them materialize in real time.
2. In a couple of seconds, DALL-E 2 will provide you with the results that you need.
3. You can click on the kebab menu (three-dot menu) on each image and select the Download option to download it.
4. Clicking on the Edit image button will take you to DALL-E 2 edit page. I have covered the editing images part below.
5. Finally, click on Generate variations option to get even more results similar to the image you have selected. This will also consume 1 credit from your account as you are generating images.
DALL-E 2 Tips and Tricks to Get Better Results
DALL-E 2 can provide some mediocre images, but you can make them better by typing a better description.
1. Describe the subject in detail
DALL-E 2 normally provides minimal art-style subjects without a proper description. Instead of just saying ‘A man’, be more descriptive and say ‘Sweaty man in a t-shirt’. Of course, you can describe according to your need to get the result that you want.
2. Don’t forget about the background
Sometimes DALL-E 2 just provides the subject with a white background. It can be dull and boring. Sometimes, it adds a background that feels wrong to you. Instead, add the background details right in your description like ‘A small giraffe on the busy city road’.
3. Get the Mood Right
We mentioned ‘a giraffe on the city road’ in the previous point, but we did not mention the mood in the description. When you mention that the giraffe is sad or happy and add day or night, DALL-E picks will set the mood for the image. It can even add more details as you are more precise about the feel of the image.
4. Include Art Style
When you don’t add any details about the art style, DALL-E 2 is capable of deciding on its own. It can give you a realistic photo, a cartoon, an oil painting, digital art, pixel art, etc. You can add the detail directly in the description sentence like ‘A cartoon of a cat sitting beside the door’ or you can add it at the end after a comma like ‘A cat sitting beside the door, cartoon’.
In short, be more descriptive about everything to get better results overall.
How to Use DALL-E 2 to Modify Existing Images
Instead of creating fresh images out of the blue with nothing but words, you can upload images to DALL-E 2 and make further changes to them.
1. There are two ways to reach the editing page. Click on the Upload an image button below the search bar to upload the image from your system.
2. Or if you prefer to edit an image generated by DALL-E 2, click on the kebab menu (three-dot menu) on the image and then select the Edit image option.
3. The images generated by DALL-E 2 are mostly square in shape and if you are uploading an image, you may need to manually crop the image before uploading.
4. On the editing page, you can do two things mostly — inpainting and outpainting.
5. Inpainting – The editing page has an eraser tool that you can use to erase any object, background, etc. from the image. Once done, add a description to fill in that erased area. For example, here I am erasing one dog with the eraser tool.
6. Then I enter a description ‘A dog running alone’. DALL-E 2 outputs exactly what I want in the same lighting, art style, feel, etc. by filling in the empty area.
7. Instead of removing an object, you can also add subjects if needed. Here is an example of ‘a dog running with a lion cub’ in the same example.
8. You can also erase the entire background and add a new background like beach, bridge, mountains, etc. Here’s an example of the same ‘dog running on a beach’.
9. In case you do not need any part of the image that is generated or the image has glitches, then select that area and regenerate to help DALL-E 2 render a better image.
10. Outpainting – Outpainting is an extended version of changing the background. Instead of directly uploading the photo, you have to upload a photo that has some space around it for manipulation. In DALL-E 2, you can erase that extended space and ask DALL-E to ‘extend the background‘ or image.
11. This way, you can extend the image and create a background that was not even available to you in the original photo.
How to Buy More Credits on DALL-E 2
With all these features and capabilities, you can easily run out of free credits provided by the DALL-E. Also, it can take multiple searches to get the image that you want and can actually use.
1. To buy, just click on the profile icon at the top right corner and then click on the Buy credits button.
2. DALL-E 2 currently provides 115 credits for $15. Enter how many credits you want to buy and then click on Continue.
3. Here add the card details as DALL-E 2 only accepts card payments. Then enter the name on the card and also the billing address. Once done, click on the Add button to add the payment and complete it.
Generating Conclusion
While most results are amazing and it’s hard to comprehend what’s happening under the hood, there is still a lot of room for growth. Especially, when it comes to faces and words, as the results are often bad and unusable. You can also find some art effects, sometimes it’s asymmetric and sometimes, it gets the color off.
Keeping all this aside, DALL-E 2 is good for the most part and gives amazing results when you enter in-depth descriptions. It can at least work as a starting point or an idea-generating tool.
