DALL·E is a neural network(an Artificial Intelligence technology) that can generate images from text inputs in natural language.
DALL-E is created by the AI company OpenAI, the creators of GPT-3. In fact, DALL·E is also a version of GPT-3 that is custom trained on text-image pairs.
DALL-E 2 is version 2.0 of the AI model from OpenAI.
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
- What does DALL·E do?
- How to get access to DALL-E
- Installing DALL-E
- Using DALL-E
- DALL-E alternatives
- DALL-E cost
- DALL-E Terms of usage
- DALL-E API
- DALL-E Product Ideas
- DALL-E Resources
What does DALL·E do?
If you input a text phrase to DALL·E, it will generate an image that will be very similar to the concept described in the text phrase. These images are generated from scratch and do not previously exist before they are generated.
DALL·E can generate all kinds of images – anthropomorphized animals, combining multiple concepts, etc.
For example below image was created by DALL·E from the text phrase “A photo of an astronaut riding a horse”.
Image courtesy OpenAI
How to get access to DALL-E?
In order for you to start using DALL-E, you will need to apply for access. Follow these steps to get access to DALL-E:
- Open DALL-E 2 waitlist form in your browser
- Fill in the below information in the form:
- First Name
- Last Name
- Twitter profile
- Instagram profile
- Linkedin Profile
- Choose your profession
- Professional artist
- Developer
- Academic researcher
- Journalist or online creator
- Other
Make sure to enter all information correctly. Your social media profiles are optional but entering it will help in getting access to DALL-E faster.
- Submit the form
This will add you to the waitlist for DALL-E. You will be notified by email when you have access to DALL-E.
Filling out the form will put you on a waitlist. Currently, there might be a limited number of spots available. You might be up for a little bit(maybe longer) oF wait before you can get your hands on DALL·E.
Do I need to install anything to use DALL·E?
No, you need not install anything to use DALL-E. The current version of DALL·E is available as a web application that can run from your browser. Once you have access, in order to start using DALL-E, follow these steps
- Open DALL-E Playground in your browser
- Sign in with your account where you have access to DALL-E
- Write a prompt for the image you want to generate and click on the “Generate” button
- Six variants of image for your prompt will be generated and displayed in the browser
Using DALL-E
These are a few different features of DALL-E.
-
Generate Images from a text prompt
-
Generate variations of an image
-
Edit and generate variations of the edited image
-
Generate variations of your own uploaded image
Writing great DALL-E prompts
I don’t have DALL·E, what do I do?
Well, you and millions of others are waiting for their invite from OpenAI to start using DALL·E. There doesn’t seem to be a way right not to skip the queue. However, you can check out some DALL-E alternatives.
Here are a bunch of images I generated using the DALL-E mini
Is DALL·E free?
Every user gets 15 generations free per month. Unused credits do not roll over to next month.
Beyond 15 generations, the user needs to purchase credits in the increment of $15. $15 gives one 115 generations. Unused credits remain active for one year.
Also, people who have DALL-E access can generate up to 50 images per day. If you go above the limit, you will be blocked from using DALL-E for a day.
Things that can get you blocked from using DALL·E
There are certain kinds of images that can get you blocked from using DALL·E, if you try to generate them. Namely, if your DALL-E prompt has a word related to
- Violence
- Sexual content
- Politics
- Real people
You will get a warning couple of times before they suspend your account.
Who owns DALL-E-generated images?
The user who generates the image owns the image. Generated images can be used for any personal or commercial use.
Using DALL·E API to build your own image generator application
Currently, there is no official API from OpenAI for DALL·E.
There might be an API endpoint access in future versions for developers to use in building applications but right now there has not been any hints from OpenAI when that would be.
However, it’s inevitable, given how GPT-3 was rolled out that at some point in future versions of GPT-3, there will be an API endpoint for developers to use.
Till then you can one of the alternatives to building your own image generator applications.
Product Ideas and use cases for DALL·E
Here I list some product ideas and use cases for the OpenAI DALL·E image generation AI model. Feel free to use these ideas and use cases in your own projects.
- Blog and article cover image generation
Generate cover and header images from blog posts and articles using DALL·E by using the title as the text prompt.
- Instagram post generation
Use DALL·E to generate Instagram posts.
- Music Cover Art
Generate cover art for music using DALL·E.
- Animation and video generation
Use DALL·E to generate clips and artwork for animations and videos.
- NFTs
Generate NFTs using DALL·E.
- Teach art history
Use art created by DALL·E to teach art history to students.
- Logos
Generate logos using DALL·E.
- Stock images
Generate stock images using DALL·E.
- Product images
Generate product images using DALL·E.
- Print on Demand (PoD)
Generate print-on-demand images using DALL·E
- Product packaging
Generate product packaging images using DALL·E.
- Illustrations for books
Generate illustrations for books using DALL·E.
- Posters
Generate posters using DALL·E.
DALL·E Resources
While you are waiting for your DALL·E invite, you can check out these resources:
- DALL·E Access Request form
- All about DALL·E 2
- DALL·E Research paper
- OpenAI Twitter
- Open Source DALL·E alternative
- User claims DALL·E has a secret language
- DALL·E has a secret language counter cliam
- Playing with DALL·E by lesswrong
- How DALL-E 2 Actually Works
- DALL·E 2 limitations
- A Few Things To Try With DALL·E
- stratechery on DALL-E
- Vox: The AI that creates any picture you want