Generating AI images
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Command |
Path |
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AI Visualizer |
Model Window > Palettes > Web Palettes |
Artificial intelligence can be a valuable tool when you want to quickly explore a variety of styles, colors, shapes, backgrounds, and obtain general inspiration during the design process. You can base the generated images on an existing Vectorworks drawing, trying out new looks more quickly than you could by changing the model's textures, lighting, and rendering settings. Alternatively, you can provide only a text prompt to generate a unique image that's not based on any existing drawing, allowing you to explore concepts quickly. With the AI visualizer, you can generate multiple images in minutes.
Once you have obtained an image, you could consider using it not just for design inspiration or client presentations, but also as the basis of a texture, image prop, plant image, image background, or to populate designs with people or items to add realistic touches.
The AI visualizer quickly produces an image based on a Vectorworks file and/or text prompts, but it is not a substitute for creating a detailed rendering of a drawing. This feature does not generate any actual Vectorworks objects that can be used in a 3D model, and cannot be used to apply render modes, textures, lights, or other effects to a drawing.
The AI visualizer is processed on Vectorworks Cloud Services, and is available only with a subscription or as a benefit of Vectorworks Service Select.
To generate AI images:
Select the command to open the web palette. The web palette can remain open while you work in Vectorworks, which allows you to change the Vectorworks images used as the source for image generation.
Click to show/hide the parameters.Click to show/hide the parameters.
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Parameter |
Description |
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Prompt |
Enter a prompt that describes the image to be generated, with a comma between each segment of the prompt. The prompt should be precise and detailed for the best results, and can be lengthy; see below for prompt writing tips. |
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Negative prompt |
Enter a prompt that describes anything that should be omitted from the image. Sometimes AI adds a generic logo placeholder to the image; putting "logo" in this field may help eliminate that. |
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Creativity |
Indicates how far the generated image should deviate from the source image, or how conceptual an image based only on a text prompt should be. Either click on the percentage number and enter a value, or drag to set the desired percentage. The higher the number, the greater the creativity/deviation from the source. |
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Generate similar |
Generates an image consistent with, but not identical to, the current image. If this option is deselected, an entirely new image is randomly generated each time.
With this option selected, the result is consistent with, but not an exact match to, the previous image. In this example, the text prompt changed from black-and-white to color. |
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Generate image using |
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Vectorworks image |
Uses a selected sheet layer viewport, bitmap, or the current view of a design layer in a Vectorworks file to provide context for the image generation. Select or set the source image in the Vectorworks file. If you change the source image, click Refresh to update the web palette. This option is used in combination with text prompts and the Creativity and Generate similar settings to influence how the image is generated. A Prompt of at least one word is required. The generated image has the same aspect ratio as the source image, including any cropping. The AI visualizer works by detecting edges in the source image. Differences in pixel colors or brightness, such as those created by shadows or changes in textures, are interpreted as edges that guide image generation. |
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Text prompt only |
Generates an image using only the text prompts and the Creativity and Generate similar settings. |
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Generate |
Generates the image; a progress bar displays as the image is generated. Generating a new image discards the previous image; if you want to save an image for future reference, use one of the options below before generating a new image. |
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Image Display |
Displays the most recently generated image. For images generated using a Vectorworks image, you can toggle whether to show the original source image or generated image, or drag the arrow scrubber to show part of both images.
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Upscale 4K |
Resamples the current image from the initial 1024 pixels in the image's maximum dimension to 4096 pixels in that dimension |
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Copy to Clipboard |
Copies the current image to the clipboard |
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Save to File |
Saves a .png file of the current image to the location you select |
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Create Bitmap Object |
Creates a bitmap of the current image; the bitmap is automatically placed on the active layer in the Vectorworks file. The bitmap object can then be used as the source to generate a new image. |
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Replace Viewport Image/Replace Bitmap Object Image |
If the current image was generated based on a selected sheet layer viewport or bitmap object, replaces the original source image in the Vectorworks file with the generated image. For a sheet layer viewport, the image inside the viewport is replaced, for example when you are using the generated image as part of a presentation board. However, the viewport's settings remain unchanged; update the viewport to return to the original image. |
Tips for writing a good prompt
Use clear and precise language, and include specific details for the best results.
The prompt may include information such as:
Image style: watercolor, pencil sketch, realistic, crayon, photographic
Style of the objects in the image: modern, Mayan, brutalist, art deco, or even the name of a well-known designer whose style you want to explore
Type of project: interior, exterior, art gallery, coffee shop, park, apartment tower
Colors and materials: red metal, vertical wood siding, glass, sandstone pavers, brick
Setting or location: meadow, urban, beach, forest, the moon
Season, weather, time of day: autumn, summer, sunny, fog, night, golden hour
Lighting conditions: indirect amber lighting, dappled, light coming through a window
Style of furniture, plants, and other things that populate the scene: contemporary curved sofa, palm trees, Mission style dining room table
And many more; this list is not exhaustive. Try it and see what works for your own images.
Start with a simple prompt, and test it with a few generations of the image, to get an understanding of how the AI interprets the prompt.
Once you understand what kinds of results the current prompt generates, add more details or change some of the existing text to steer AI in the direction needed. Test multiple times each time you revise the prompt, to understand how the updated prompt has changed the outcome.
While the prompt should be clear and specific, avoid naming specific brands or other items the AI engine may not know; instead describe the object in detail.
Word order matters; by default, the AI engine gives more weight to text earlier in the prompt.
Add parentheses to emphasize a part of the prompt. Multiple parentheses deepen the emphasis. Example: "Watercolor, French country house, ((garden)), (pond)" provides greater emphasis on the garden, and then on the pond, than a prompt without the parentheses.
Usage examples
Using a Vectorworks image
You can use a Vectorworks design layer view, or a selected bitmap object or sheet layer viewport within the Vectorworks file as the source when you generate using a Vectorworks image. Changing the prompt and other settings yields a wide range of results, all based on the original design. In each of the image sets below, the original Vectorworks image in the top left was used to generate additional looks just by changing the text prompt.
By changing the text prompt, you can turn abstracts shapes in a Vectorworks file into completely different objects.
These abstract twisted shapes can be the inspiration for glass vases or for buildings, depending on the text prompt you provide
Combine settings to control the variation among images.
To preserve the geometry of this image created from a text prompt only, while creating a new look, a bitmap object was created from the generated image on the left and then selected as the Vectorworks image source. Creativity was set to 0, and Generate similar was selected. The prompt was changed from "pencil sketch" to "watercolor."
Text prompt only
Generating images from a text prompt only can provide general design inspiration at the beginning of a project. A simple prompt generates basic images to start the process.
The prompt was "realistic, modern, gallery interior"
The prompt was "watercolor, kitchen, white cabinets"
More detailed prompts and a higher Creativity setting can lead to more elaborate results. Adjust the prompt between generations to help shape the output.
The detailed prompts that generated these images were more than 30 words each. The description of the ceiling was changed between images, from "in the shape of a cave" for the first image to "in the shape of a cave, stepped with indirect lights" for the others
These graphics were all generated using the same detailed 35-word prompt and 100% Creativity