All goalsRecipe · about 20 min · Mac first

Make images

Pictures from a text prompt, made on your own computer. No credits, no upload.

New to local AI? Read Start here first. It takes 5 minutes.

Needs 16 GB+Draw Things ComfyUI

Your computer's memory

PC with a graphics card? Pick the card's memory (VRAM). Why?

It runs, but 32 GB or more is smoother.

Memory guideSmall and medium modelsThe app shows which models fit your Mac.

1
Easiest: install Draw Things
Draw Things is a free Mac app made for Apple silicon. Get it from the Mac App Store.
drawthings.ai
2
Pick a model
When it opens, choose a model from its list and let it download. Pick a smaller one first. A small model is faster and still looks good.
You should see: The model shows as ready.
3
Make your first image
Type what you want to see, then press Generate. Short, concrete prompts work best, for example “a red bicycle in the rain, photo”.
You should see: An image appears after a short wait.
4
Want more control? Try ComfyUI
ComfyUI builds images from connected blocks. It can do much more, but it takes longer to learn. Download the desktop app from comfy.org and start from one of its templates.
ComfyUI listing

It works. What now?

Try it: make the same prompt three times. Each image is different. Keep the one you like.
Add a style to your prompt, for example “watercolour” or “pencil sketch”.
Image models are big. Delete the ones you do not use in the app to free disk space.

Something went wrong?

It is very slow

Pick a smaller model and a smaller image size. Close other big apps.

“out of memory” in ComfyUI

The model is too big for your memory. Pick a smaller model or lower the image size.

Good to know

Image models use a lot of memory. 16 GB works. 32 GB or more is faster and fits the best models.
These are apps, so there are no Terminal commands to copy here.

Let your agent do itNot run

curl -fsSL https://insidethemachine.ai/install/images.sh | bash

macOS and Linux

Plan, check, undo

Add -s -- plan to print every step and run nothing, verify to only check, rollback --yes to undo. Not run: taken from the README, not checked. Point-and-click apps (Draw Things, ComfyUI). The script only checks and prints where to get them.

Read the script .md .json All installs

Not yet tested on our Mac Studio. Both are apps; follow the app's own instructions if a screen looks different. For Windows and Linux, see the box above.

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# Recipe: Make images Pictures from a text prompt, made on your own computer. No credits, no upload. URL: https://insidethemachine.ai/do/images Memory: needs 16 GB+, best with 32 GB+. Platform: macOS (Apple silicon) first. Not yet tested on our Mac Studio. Both are apps; follow the app's own instructions if a screen looks different. ## Steps 1. **Easiest: install Draw Things**: Draw Things is a free Mac app made for Apple silicon. Get it from the Mac App Store. Link: https://drawthings.ai 2. **Pick a model**: When it opens, choose a model from its list and let it download. Pick a smaller one first. A small model is faster and still looks good. Expect: The model shows as ready. 3. **Make your first image**: Type what you want to see, then press Generate. Short, concrete prompts work best, for example “a red bicycle in the rain, photo”. Expect: An image appears after a short wait. 4. **Want more control? Try ComfyUI**: ComfyUI builds images from connected blocks. It can do much more, but it takes longer to learn. Download the desktop app from comfy.org and start from one of its templates. Link: https://insidethemachine.ai/setups/comfyui ## One-command install ```bash curl -fsSL https://insidethemachine.ai/install/images.sh | bash # install, then check curl -fsSL https://insidethemachine.ai/install/images.sh | bash -s -- plan # print only curl -fsSL https://insidethemachine.ai/install/images.sh | bash -s -- rollback --yes ``` Run status and Windows: https://insidethemachine.ai/install/images.md. The script picks {MODEL} from the machine's memory (override: ITM_RAM, ITM_MODEL). ## Notes - Image models use a lot of memory. 16 GB works. 32 GB or more is faster and fits the best models. - These are apps, so there are no Terminal commands to copy here. ## If something goes wrong - It is very slow: Pick a smaller model and a smaller image size. Close other big apps. - “out of memory” in ComfyUI: The model is too big for your memory. Pick a smaller model or lower the image size. ## After it works - Try it: make the same prompt three times. Each image is different. Keep the one you like. - Add a style to your prompt, for example “watercolour” or “pencil sketch”. - Image models are big. Delete the ones you do not use in the app to free disk space. ## Windows / Linux (not tested by us) Draw Things is Mac only. On a Windows PC with an NVIDIA graphics card, use the ComfyUI desktop app from comfy.org. Pick its models by your graphics card's memory.