On April 7, Microsoft made its Image Creator tool, powered by OpenAI's DALL-E 2 AI image generator, available to all Edge browser users on desktops worldwide, enabling them to create their own AI-generated images with ease.
The Image Creator tool was previously integrated into Microsoft's Bing chatbot, which is also powered by OpenAI's ChatGPT.
Microsoft's latest move allows a larger audience to access the Image Creator tool, and it's a notable achievement for the company to have beaten out Google Chrome in offering users the ability to create custom AI art directly in their web browser.
Here's a step-by-step guide on how to access and use Microsoft's Image Creator tool in Edge:
1. First, make sure you have a Microsoft account. If not, create one.
2. Open the Edge browser on your desktop and click the plus icon to open the Edge sidebar.
3. Toggle the option for Image Creator to enable it in the sidebar.
4. Look for the Image Creator icon in the top right corner of the sidebar (it looks like a paintbrush).
5. Click on the Image Creator icon to open a text box for entering your prompt.
6. Enter a description of what you want to see in the text box.
7. Now Press Enter and OpenAI's DALL-E deep learning model will generate up to four images that match your prompt. The process will take around 30 seconds to a few minutes.
8. Also, to speed up the process significantly, you can use "boosts" earned through Microsoft Rewards, a digital currency earned through doing things in Microsoft Edge.
9. Users trying out Image Creator for the first time will receive an initial allocation of 25 free boosts. Redeeming boosts can reduce the wait time to a few seconds.
10. Once the AI finishes generating the images, hit "Save" to add the image to your Microsoft account's Saved Images folder, or download the ones you like to your device to use as you wish.
11. If you are not satisfied with the image, you can edit it and notify it. Also, if you describe what you want in more detail, the AI can better understand what you're looking for and create more accurate images.
Following the news Microsoft said in its companies blog that "this feature will help you create images that don’t yet exist, powered by the very latest DALL-E models from our partners at OpenAI, right from the Microsoft Edge sidebar. If you’ve ever found yourself in need of a very specific visual for a social post or even a PowerPoint, Image Creator can help you find exactly what you need."
