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Create your first AI-generated image

Create your first AI-generated image from an imaginary subject and learn to check the result before sharing it.

Practice this skill
Read first: Can you train AI yourself? — the basics of fine-tuning
Estimated time
About 10 min
Contents
  1. Need an image for an invitation or blog post, but cannot draw?
  2. Your first image in four steps
  3. Try this
  4. Review and refine
  5. Privacy and sharing
  6. Once you know the basics

Need an image for an invitation or blog post, but cannot draw?

You may know the situation: you need an image for an invitation, poster or blog post. You cannot draw, and you cannot find a suitable photo that is free to use. An AI image generator can create an image in seconds from a text description alone. The result is still a draft: always check the details, any text, and whether the image is suitable for its intended use.

Start with an imaginary subject

A landscape, an object or a wholly imaginary character makes a good first experiment. You can practise describing it right away: colours, mood and composition shape the result.

Your first image in four steps

  1. 1

    Describe the subject and setting

    Decide what is in the image and where it takes place, such as the season, location and main subject. The more clearly you describe these, the closer the result may be to what you imagined.

  2. 2

    Add a style and mood

    Describe the colours, lighting and mood in a word or two, such as warm evening light or a fresh watercolour feel.

  3. 3

    Keep the request focused

    Ask for one image with one clear composition. Avoid brand names and too many details in the same request.

  4. 4

    Review the result

    Compare the image with what you imagined: do the composition, colours and details work? If something is off, change just one thing at a time.

Try this

Both examples exclude people and text, two common trouble spots in AI-generated images: faces can be distorted and letters can be jumbled. These limits make the first result easier to assess.

Practice prompt

An imaginary Nordic lakeside scene in autumn, birch trees on the shore, glass-still water, a watercolour-like mood, no people, no text in the image.

Compatible with: Your chosen image generator

Second practice prompt

The display window of a bakery in an imaginary small village, in the early morning light, fresh sweet buns in a basket, a little steam in the air, a warm, soft palette, no people, no text in the image.

Compatible with: Your chosen image generator

Turn an image idea into a reviewable draft

A common request:

Make a beautiful image of this subject.

Try asking this instead:

An imaginary reading nook in an old library in the morning light, a leather armchair and a stack of books on a small table, soft sunlight through the window, a warm, peaceful mood, photographic style, no people, no text in the image.

A clear subject, setting, mood and style guide the model more than a general request to make a beautiful image.

Review and refine

Change just one thing at a time

Keep the image’s main subject, mood and all other details unchanged. Remove only the text from the image.

A focused edit helps you see how one change affects the image. Check the new version as carefully as the first.

Privacy and sharing

Check rights before publishing

If an image shows an identifiable person, assess its privacy and personal-data impacts before using or sharing it, as the European Data Protection Board advises. Check whether consent or another legal basis is needed for your intended use, and follow the provider’s rules. Image usage rights also vary by service. For Ideogram, check the current terms, acceptable-use policy and any plan restrictions before commercial use; this guide does not establish which subscription, if any, your use requires.

Once you know the basics

Next, you can learn to describe images more precisely and build an image in parts.

Free practice on this website

Write an image prompt using only the information provided

Write a prompt for an image generator that describes a scene from the material below. Use only information in the material. In the second round, change only one thing in the prompt at a time.

Your prompts stay in this browser tab. They are not sent to AI Licenses servers or analytics.

Question 1/2

Question 1/2

Write one prompt for an image generator describing a scene based on the material below: what is happening and where. Also mention the time of day or lighting, such as morning, evening or soft light.

Use the practice activity in your own AI service (optional)

Change one word. See what changes.

A description guides an image, but does not control it. Make one image, change one word, then compare. The difference teaches you more than a long instruction.

Image experiment · about 10 min

Where do we start?

How the prompt is put together

Subject
An imaginary harbour pier, no people
Mood
Late evening, streetlamp light
Limits
No identifiable people, no text

An imaginary small harbour pier late in the evening, boats by the shore, streetlamp light reflected in still water, a peaceful mood, no people, no text in the image.

Ready to try an image tool?

Ideogram works in a browser and has a free tier with limits that may vary. The same description also works with other image tools.

Open Ideogram (opens in a new tab)

Keep the subject imaginary: The subjects in these examples are imaginary. The result is always a draft, not a finished publication.

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Skills and concepts in this guide

Publication details and sources

Published:
July 16, 2026
Sources checked:
September 4, 2026

Sources

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