Use Apple Intelligence’s Image Playground to Craft Custom Drawings and Animations for Almost Anything You Can Think Of

To start, launch Image Playground on your iPhone or iPad, where it will prompt you to “describe an image or add a suggestion from the list.” If you’ve already saved custom images in Image Playground, tap the plus (+) button in the gallery view to start a new one.

Think of Image Playground as a recipe builder for images. Every description or prompt you add to the mixing bowl tweaks the image slightly, creating something unique. The main screen features suggested themes, costumes, accessories, places, and people options you can tap to enhance your recipe. For more tailored results, you can also type custom prompts in the “Describe an image” field.

Any description or suggestion you add you can also subtract from the recipe by tapping its minus (-) button around the colorful preview bubble.

You can browse available categories by swiping left on the suggestions or tapping “See More” for additional options. Current beta categories include:

• Themes: Adventure, Birthday, Disco, Fantasy, Fireworks, Halloween, Love, Party, Starry Night, Summer
• Costumes: Artist, Astronaut, Chef, Farmer, Hiker, Race Car Driver, Robot, Royalty, Scientist, Superhero
• Accessories: Baseball Cap, Beanie, Beret, Bowtie, Flower Crown, Hard Hat, Party Hat, Potted Plant, Sunglasses, Scarf
• Places: City, Desert, Forest, Lighthouses, Mountains, Park, Space, Stadium, Stage, Volcano

Apple may add more in future updates, possibly with adaptive suggestions based on prompts and suggestions assigned to the generated image.

As you add prompts or pictures, Apple Intelligence generates different image options in the center of the screen. You can swipe through them and give a thumbs up or thumbs down to help refine the results. To adjust the style, tap the plus (+) button in the editor, where you can choose between “Animation” (for a 3D look) and “Illustration” (for a hand-drawn feel).

To incorporate a person, pet, or other image from your library, select the plus (+) button, then “Choose Photo” or “Take Photo.” If choosing a person, note that this feature works best with single-person photos. The selected photo becomes part of the recipe, and Image Playground uses it to create a new image based on your prompt.

If you want Image Playground to focus on a specific person, use the person button on the left of the plus (+) button. After selecting a person from your list of contacts, Image Playground generates variations based on different photos of the individual, and you can swipe between them and choose one.

You can further customize the person’s appearance by tapping “Appearance” then “Edit,” where you can adjust skin tone, hairstyle, accessories, and more.

In addition to preset options, you can add personalized descriptions in the “Describe an image” field. Feel free to use multiple descriptions to guide Apple Intelligence’s output. Remember that specific terms may be restricted (e.g., copyrighted material, real people), which will prompt a message stating, “Unable to use that description. Undo.”

When you’re satisfied with your creation, tap “Done” to see the final image, which you can save or share across apps. Image Playground keeps a history of your previous images, so you can revisit and tweak them anytime.