How To Generate Ai Images

General
1

I’m trying to figure out how to generate AI images for a personal project, but I’m overwhelmed by all the tools, prompts, and settings people mention. I’m not sure which platforms are best for beginners, what kind of prompts actually work, or how to get high-quality, realistic results. Could someone break down the basics and share step-by-step advice or recommendations so I don’t waste time guessing what to do?

2

Short version so you do not get lost:

  1. Easiest platforms for beginners
    • DALL·E in ChatGPT or Bing Image Creator
    • Midjourney (Discord)
    • Leonardo.ai or Ideogram for web-based tools

If you want “click and go” with few settings, start with DALL·E or Bing Image Creator.
If you want more control later, move to Midjourney or Stable Diffusion.

  1. Simple prompt formula that works
    Think in 4 parts:

    1. Subject
      “a small robot fixing an old computer”
    2. Style
      “digital art, soft lighting, pastel colors”
    3. Camera / framing
      “medium shot, straight-on, centered”
    4. Quality hints
      “high detail, 4k, sharp focus”

Put it together:
“a small robot fixing an old computer, digital art, soft lighting, pastel colors, medium shot, straight-on, centered, high detail, 4k, sharp focus”

That will already give you decent stuff.

  1. Good starting prompts by type

Portraits:
“portrait photo of a 30 year old woman, natural daylight, shallow depth of field, 50mm lens, soft lighting, neutral background, high detail, skin texture visible”

Product / objects:
“minimal product photo of wireless headphones on white background, studio lighting, soft shadows, centered, high detail, for ecommerce listing”

Environments:
“cozy living room interior, warm lighting, modern furniture, large window, wooden floor, wide angle view, realistic style, high detail”

Cartoon / stylized:
“cute cartoon cat reading a book, flat vector style, bold outlines, bright colors, simple background”

You can swap words like “realistic” with “anime style” or “pixel art” to change the look.

  1. Where to start, step by step

If you want zero setup:
• Use Bing Image Creator or DALL·E.
• Type one of the example prompts.
• Save 2 or 3 images you like.
• Slightly tweak the prompt, change only one thing each time, like “soft lighting” to “dramatic lighting”.

If you do not mind Discord:
• Join Midjourney.
• Use command:
/imagine a small robot fixing an old computer, digital art, soft lighting, pastel colors, medium shot, centered, high detail
• Use the U buttons to upscale the ones you like.
• Use the V buttons to get variations.

  1. When you feel overwhelmed by settings

Ignore advanced stuff for now.
Skip “CFG scale”, “negative prompts”, “seeds”, “samplers”.
Focus only on:
• Prompt text
• Aspect ratio (1:1 square, 16:9 wide, 9:16 vertical)
• Upscaling if offered

Once you get consistent results with text alone, then look up “negative prompt examples” for your specific tool.

  1. Rough tool comparison

For beginners:
• DALL·E / Bing: easy, limited tweaking, solid quality.
• Midjourney: excellent quality, more learning, Discord based.
• Leonardo / Ideogram: nice web UIs, templates and presets.

For tinkerers later:
• Stable Diffusion with ComfyUI or Automatic1111, runs local, lots of control, more learning time.

  1. Simple practice plan

Day 1
• Pick one tool.
• Make 10 images of the same subject, change only style words.

Day 2
• Keep same style.
• Change subject 10 times.

Day 3
• Try different aspect ratios and close-up vs wide.

You will start to see what each word does.

  1. Last thing

If you share the type of project, portraits, logos, game art, thumbnails or something else, people here can give you 2 or 3 ready-to-use prompts tailored to it.

3

You’re not alone, the AI image scene looks like a cockpit at first.

@reveurdenuit already nailed the “what to click” part, so I’ll hit the parts that usually trip people up mentally rather than technically.

1. Decide what you actually need first

Before picking tools, answer this in one sentence:
“I need images for ______ that look ______.”

Examples:

  • “YouTube thumbnails that look bold and a bit cartoony”
  • “Background art for a cozy game, 2D, painterly”
  • “Realistic product photos for a small shop”

Once you have that, ignore any tool that is clearly overkill. If you just need fun visuals for a personal project, you probably do not need local Stable Diffusion, custom checkpoints, or any tutorial that starts with “first install Python.”

2. Tool choice, but with a sanity filter

I slightly disagree with starting on too many platforms like people often suggest.

Pick exactly one from this list and stay there for a week:

  • Want realistic or “illustration but clean”:
    DALL·E in ChatGPT / Bing
  • Want stylized, artsy, very pretty:
    Midjourney
  • Want text on images (posters, logos, memes):
    Ideogram

Don’t hop tools mid‑session because something “might look better on X.” That is how you end up reading about samplers at 2am instead of having images.

3. Prompts: treat them like talking to a lazy intern

A lot of prompt advice is overcomplicated. Think of it like giving a lazy intern instructions:

  • Tell them:
    • What it is
    • What it looks like
    • Where/how it’s seen
    • One or two “vibes”

Example for a game background:
“cozy fantasy tavern interior, warm lighting, wooden tables, fireplace, painterly style, wide shot, used as video game background, no text”

That’s it. You don’t have to say “4k ultra realistic masterpiece super detailed” twelve times. In many tools, it does almost nothing except clutter your brain.

4. One trick that helps more than fancy words

Use comparisons instead of obscure adjectives:

  • “like a Studio Ghibli background”
  • “in the style of a watercolor children’s book illustration”
  • “lighting like a movie poster”
  • “composition like a magazine cover”

You will sometimes get blocked words on specific artists or brands, but the idea still stands: describe with references, not just adjectives like “beautiful, gorgeous, stunning, breathtaking” (the model already thinks everything is stunning).

5. Mini workflow so you don’t drown

For each image you need:

  1. Write a simple prompt in one sentence.
  2. Generate.
  3. Out of the 4 results, pick 1 that is “closest” even if not perfect.
  4. Change only one thing in your prompt:
    • the style word
    • or the camera / distance word
    • or the lighting

Repeat 3–4 times. If you tweak 8 things at once, you never learn what caused what. This is the part people skip, then they think they need complex settings.

6. When settings show up, ignore 80%

You’ll see stuff like:
CFG / guidance, steps, samplers, seeds, tiling, etc.

For now, treat them like the “advanced” tab in a printer dialog. Don’t touch unless you have a specific problem.

The only ones worth caring about early:

  • Aspect ratio (1:1, 16:9, 9:16)

    • Thumbnails / icons: 1:1
    • Desktop / landscape: 16:9
    • Phone / stories: 9:16

  • Upscale / “enhance” button
    Use it only on images you already like. Upscaling a bad image just gives you a sharper bad image.

7. What actually improves results fastest

Weirdly, it is not better prompts, it is consistency:

  • Use the same core phrasing for a series.
  • Example for a project:
    • “cute stylized illustration of [subject], soft pastel colors, flat shading, white background, simple, clean, consistent character design”

Then just swap [subject]:
“a dog”, “a cat”, “a robot”, etc.
This gives you a set that feels like one collection.

8. When the model keeps doing something you hate

Instead of immediately learning “negative prompts” and 20 new terms, try this:

  • Explicitly say what not to do in plain English:
    • “no text”
    • “no watermark”
    • “no people in the background”
    • “plain background, not busy”

In many tools that alone works surprisingly well. Only when it clearly doesn’t, then look up “negative prompt examples for [your tool]”.

9. Practice idea that is less boring

Take your actual project and do a “mini test batch”:

  • Pick 1 scene or 1 character you need.
  • Make:
    • 3 realistic versions
    • 3 cartoony
    • 3 painterly / textured

Don’t worry which one is “objectively best.” Just decide which style feels right for the project. Once you pick a style, reuse those words everywhere.

If you say what your personal project is (game, comics, thumbnails, blog, whatever) and what vibe you want, it’s easy to write 3 very specific prompts you can paste into DALL·E / Bing / Midjourney and tweak from there.