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  • Overview and pricing
  • Generate new images
  • Modify iStock images

Generative AI by iStock

Bring your ideas to life with our AI image generator

Create your own commercially safe, ready‑to‑license images with text‑to‑image generation.

Start Generating

iStock’s AI Generator comes with legal coverage built in.

Trained exclusively on our high‑quality visual library and data, our AI image generator helps enhance your creativity and efficiency, but also ensures you and your AI‑generated images are legally protected.

Commercially safe

Unlike some other AI tools, your generated images will not include brand logos, characters, or other IP.

Robust legal protection

Generated images include iStock’s standard legal indemnification, up to $10,000 USD per image

Safeguarded content

Generate fearlessly knowing your images will never be added to our library for others to license and use

No extra clearance required

Immediately download and license any image you create without having to request additional rights

Flexible usage

Generated images can be licensed for social media, online promotions, print marketing, and more!

Turn text into images that are one of a kind and ready to use

Use generations to explore concepts and modify the results to create AI‑generated imagery that perfectly fits your needs.

Effective AI image prompts made easy

With our powerful prompt builder to guide you, simply use the optional fields to describe your image or concept and see it come to life in moments. Each prompt produces 4 images—you just need to tell the AI generator:

• Main subject: Who or what is the focus of the image
• Action: What is happening in the scene?
• Surroundings: Where is the action taking place
• Visual aesthetics: Define the mood or visual style

Start generating >

Refine your AI images

Once you have an AI‑generated image you love, you can further tailor it using Refine* to add, replace, or remove specific elements. You could infuse a cityscape with a pop of color, remove storm clouds to reveal a vibrant blue sky, or adjust just about anything else to bring the image closer to your vision.

Start generating >

Extend your AI images 

Use the Extend* feature to make room for copy and new elements, reveal more of the scene, or create the right size for your needs. Simply choose a new aspect ratio or use Freeform to drag the image edges to your desired dimensions. iStock’s AI image generator will fill in the new areas based on the background and an optional prompt.

Start generating >

Additional AI image generator features

Regenerate

Explore 4 additional options using the same prompt

Variations

Create 4 new images based on a previously generated visual

Generation history

Access past generations to download, iterate on, or use for inspiration

Aspect ratio

Preset the dimensions you need your image, from square to wide cinematic

Color & Mood

Set the atmosphere or palette for your generated images

Download high‑res version

Upscale from Medium to Large* for print and other projects where you need a higher resolution

What will you create with iStock’s AI Generator?

Prompt used:

Child looking into a glowing orb, stars are reflected in their eyes, contemporary clothing, in a bedroom

Prompt used:

A bar graph made of green christmas trees, studio setting, pastel colors, natural light, graduated heights...

Prompt used:

Snail house on top of a cliff, surreal, fantasy, digital art, pastel colors

Prompt used:

A bar graph made of spirals, studio setting, pastel colors, natural light

Prompt used:

Two senior men eating food from street vendor, urban location, selfie, pizza, senior, silver hair

Prompt used:

An open refrigerator in the dark at night, blurred kitchen background, refrigerator is filled with different types of apples...

Prompt used:

robot sits upright, modern yoga studio setting, robot is meditating, out of focus yoga studio in the background, human students in yoga class, robot is meditating...

Prompt used:

Surrealism illustration of recycling can floating in space, sustainability, brush strokes

Prompt used:

A woman in japan, walking down a busy road, smiling, japanese apartment buildings out-of-focus in the background...

Prompt used:

Close up of bacteria and fungi in petri dish, macro, details, abstract

Prompt used:

Robot hand putting dog food in a dog bowl, for a happy pet dog in kitchen

Prompt used:

hand drawn illustration of a community of peopleHand drawn illustration of a community of people, smiling, group...

Prompt used:

people of different professions sharing laughter at a vibrant farmers market

Prompt used:

abstract colorful liquid color gradient background

Prompt used:

A brown egg sits on a wall, at edge, close to falling, gray wall, blue cloudless sky

How to use the iStock AI image generator:

1. Describe the image using text in the prompt box
For best results, provide specific details of your main subject, location, and activity. 


2. Adjust the creative settings for the image you want 
Define Content type, Aspect ratio, and Color & Mood.

3. Generate your commercially safe images 
iStock’s AI image generator creates 4 one‑of‑a‑kind, ready‑to‑license images.

4. Customize and refine your image 
Tailor your image by adding new elements or create variations based on an image that's almost there.

5. Download and license your generated image 
Each Medium or Large* image includes legal indemnification of up to $10,000.

Frequently asked questions

How are these AI generated images made?

Generative AI by iStock is powered by NVIDIA Picasso, a custom machine learning model, trained exclusively using high‑quality content and proprietary data from iStock’s creative library. Customers then use text prompt‑to‑image generation to direct the model in fabricating imagery based on our content and data.

What is AI image generation?

AI image generation is the process of creating never‑before‑seen images using artificial intelligence (AI) technology trained on a large data set. iStock's AI Generator, powered by NVIDIA Picasso, was trained exclusively on our own creative image library and proprietary data, and allows customers to enter text prompts that the AI model then uses to generate four unique images that are commercially safe and ready to license.

What is text prompt‑to‑image generation?

Text prompt‑to‑image generation lets you create unique images in seconds by describing the image that you want to see. The AI Generator will then generate visuals relevant to those prompts that can be used across your creative process, from ideation to execution.

How do I create an AI image prompt?

To create a prompt to generate an AI image, open iStock's AI Generator (sign in and purchase required) and type a description of what you want to generate into the text field provided. Your prompt can be up to 50 characters long. The more details you provide, the better your results will be. Need help constructing a prompt? Try our innovative prompt builder which guides you through the process by having you fill in specific fields. Once complete to your satisfaction, click "BUILD PROMPT" and the tool will transform the individual descriptions into a single prompt, ready to generate imagery.  

Can I generate AI images for free?

Currently, AI image generation on iStock is not free and each generation request a user submits uses 1 generation credit, which can be purchased in bundles from the iStock Pricing page. This ensures we can continue to support creators and artists on an ongoing basis by compensating them for allowing their work to be part of our AI model.

Are AI art generators illegal?

No, AI art or image generators are not illegal. However, how they are trained and in what context can determine if their output is legal. Questions to consider: Was the AI model trained on data that did not have the proper permissions or artists' consent? Do any of the AI‑generated images infringe on a copyright or contain harmful content? Some competitor AI image generators do, in fact, use data scrapped from the internet. The visuals they generate run the risk of violating the copyright of content creators and brand IPs, creating the risk of liability for anyone using them.  
 
That's why we are vigilant in ensuring our AI model is only trained on iStock's creative library and proprietary data and have safeguards in place to significantly decrease the risk of generating problematic visuals, so the images you generate are immediately safe and cleared for commercial use.

Can I sell AI‑generated art?

iStock AI‑generated images include the same standard licensing agreement offered with our pre‑shot content. It allows for usage in a wide variety of projects including social media, online promotions, print marketing, and more. However, the license does not permit the use of images created using iStock's image generator in products for resale, including print‑on‑demand products and electronic templates.

How do I use the AI Image Generator alongside the iStock creative pre‑shot library?

Like our pre‑shot library, the images created using our AI Generator are commercially safe and ready to license. These one‑of‑a‑kind, high‑quality images are perfect for ideation and visualizing highly creative concepts that are more difficult to capture by traditional techniques. Generated images can also be used to identify and find (via reverse image search) the pre‑shot visuals you need when the highest authenticity, realism, and resolution are required. Together, our pre‑shot library and Generative AI service offer powerful ways to discover the right visuals for your personal or commercial projects backed by our standard legal indemnification of up to $10,000 USD.

How do I write a good prompt to generate or focus on creating an exact image/concept?

Leverage our prompt builder to generate the visuals closest to your vision. Start by entering a description of the visuals you wish to see in the prompt field. Use the blueprint below as a guide for creating effective prompts:  
 
[Main Subject] [Action] [Surroundings] [Visual Aesthetics]  
 
The following are prompt suggestions to add to any query: high quality, high fidelity, detailed, intricate, sharp, proportional.   
 
Turn on negative prompt to specify what you don’t want to see in an image. For example, “clouds”, or “muted colors”.

How do I provide clear context or details that are important?

Focus on what you are looking to see in your generated visuals: Subject, Medium, Environment, Lighting, Color, Mood, Composition. Using the negative prompt to define what you don’t want to see will also help deliver the best final output.

Is there any overall guidance to prompt writing?

We suggest thinking of your positive prompt as two parts: natural language first, then comma separated keywords. Include keywords that will reinforce the concept described in your natural language phrase.  
 
Here’s an example:  
A white cat sleeps on a blue textured pillow, it is a wide angle shot and you can see the entire room. Cat, fluffy, pillow, texture, detail, interior, wide angle
 
For your negative prompt, natural language is not recommended. Instead, provide a comma separated list of keywords you don’t want to see in the text‑to‑image render. Using the example above, consider writing the following negative prompt: dog, outdoors.  
 
Note that if you add “no” in front of a word in the negative prompt space, it will be read as a double negative and will instead include the phrase you meant to exclude.

Is there any limit to how long my prompt can be?

Be descriptive, but concise. Try to keep your positive prompts and negative prompts to 50 words or less combined. If your prompt is too long, the AI Generator will let you know, so you can adjust your prompts.

*Requires the use of 1 generation