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    AI Image Generators

    Type "watercolor cat at sunset" — get a picture in 10 seconds.

    Fun things to make

    • Custom birthday card images for grandkids.
    • Holiday illustrations for the family newsletter.
    • "Imagine our dog as a knight" — pet portraits.
    • Custom backgrounds for video calls.
    • Posters for senior center events.

    ChatGPT Plus (DALL-E 3)

    $20/mo

    Easiest. Just describe what you want — "A watercolor painting of a sunflower field at sunset". Get an image.

    Best for first-timers.

    Google Gemini Imagen

    Free with Gemini

    Free image generation. Solid quality.

    Best free option.

    Microsoft Copilot (DALL-E)

    Free

    Same DALL-E engine as ChatGPT, free in Copilot.

    Best free DALL-E.

    Midjourney

    $10-60/mo

    Most artistic results. Used by professional designers. Steeper learning curve (lives in Discord).

    For serious creative work.

    Adobe Firefly

    Free with Adobe Creative Cloud

    Trained on legal/owned images only. Safe for commercial use.

    Best for businesses.

    Apple Image Playground

    Free with iOS 18+

    Built into iPhone. Cartoon-style images. Family-safe.

    Best for iPhone users to start.

    Writing good prompts

    More detail = better images. Try this format:

    "[Subject], [setting], [style], [mood]"

    Examples:

    • "A golden retriever puppy, in a sunlit kitchen, watercolor painting style, cheerful"
    • "An elderly couple holding hands at a beach, photorealistic, soft warm sunset"
    • "A birthday cake with 90 candles, cartoon style, bright colors, party setting"

    Important warnings

    • Don\'t generate images of real people without permission — especially celebrities or public figures.
    • AI images can\'t be copyrighted in the US — anyone can use yours; you can\'t legally use someone else\'s commercially.
    • Recognize AI images — strange hands/teeth, weird text, "smooth" backgrounds. Many photos shared online today are AI-made.
    • Adobe Firefly is the safest if you\'re selling anything (only trained on legal images).

    Where to start

    Open Microsoft Copilot at copilot.microsoft.com (free, no signup needed for some). Type "Make me an image of a cat reading a newspaper". 30 seconds. Magic moment.