Wondering how to use DALL·E 2? The AI art generator has been making waves online since it was announced in April, and it looks like it might be the most advanced tool of its kind to date. And while some are concerned about whether AI could replace human creativity, some artists and designers have been learning how to make the new tool work for them.

So how do you use DALL·E 2? The tool generates art based on text prompts. On the face of it, that couldn’t be more simple – you type in what you want, and DALL·E will create the artwork. In reality, though, it appears that results can be a little haphazard and that it can be useful to consider a few pointers to hone your prompts and increase the likelihood of getting the result you want. That’s where a new DALL·E 2 prompt book comes in. If you prefer to create your own original work the traditional way, see our guide to the best graphic design software; otherwise, read on to learn more about how to use DALL·E 2.

How to use DALL·E 2

DALL·E 2 has a simple premise. You type in a descriptive prompt of up to 400 characters, for example “an astronaut riding a horse in an impressionist style”, and AI magic will create the image. However, anyone who’s tried AI art generators has probably found that if you type the first text that occurs to you, the results can be a little – erm – weird. But now a handy DALL·E 2 prompt book provides some advice on how to phrase the prompts to get the results you want.

Created by Guy Parsons and published by the AI art website the DALL·Ery GALL·Ery, the DALL·E 2 prompt book (opens in new tab) is a visual resource designed to inspire your own creations using DALL·E 2, and it offers some valuable pointers on how to get the most out of the AI art generator.

The 82-slide guide covers techniques for eliciting the results you want from DALL·E 2 It covers aesthetics and vibes, recommended adjectives to use to get the feel or composition you’re after and tips on everything from photography to creating painterly portraits and landscapes, film and illustration styles, historic art styles and 3D art. For photography, it suggests including proximity, angles, lighting quality and even lens-type in the prompt. For illustration, it provides examples of different styles, media and textures. It also shows how you can use styles from art history to get interesting results.

The guide points out that even the creators of DALL·E 2 don’t know what the tool knows and doesn’t know. Instead, users have to work out what it’s capable of doing and how to get it to do what they want. One piece of advice is to be specific – state whether you want a close-up image or a particular angle. And remember that an adjective without further definition could be interpreted in different ways – to influence the whole look of an image or something as specific as the style of dress of the subject.

It’s unlikely that DALL·E 2 is going to give you the results you want the first time. But the prompt book also shows how to edit images by writing new prompts for specific elements within them. It also shows how you can use DALL·E 2 to combine separate images. 

We’ve not had access to the tool ourselves, but we have to admit that some of the results look scarily impressive. Our take, for now, is that shouldn’t be putting any artists out of work, but rather that there may be potential for creatives to make the tool work for them. For that, this new prompt book should be a useful resource for any creatives who’ve managed to gain access to the AI tool. If you’re out of the loop, here’s some more details on the tool.

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