Picture Wand is a brand new function in Apple Notes that turns tough sketches into full photographs — and creates photographs from scratch primarily based on textual content prompts. Granted, it’s powered by Picture Playground, so the imagery it creates isn’t precisely cutting-edge. Apple’s image-making instruments nonetheless lag different AI methods. However if you happen to’re a struggling artist, it might enhance your squiggles.
Picture Wand is a part of Apple Intelligence, the rising set of AI options that work on the most recent iPhones, Macs and iPads. It runs fully on-device, so that you don’t have to fret about utilization limits, tokens or establishing accounts.
Take a look at how Picture Wand works within the article under, or watch our fast video.
use Picture Wand in Apple Notes
AI picture creation is among the most controversial functions of quickly evolving AI expertise. From the theft of art work for coaching information, automated replication of artists’ trademark types to the flood of generated content material on social media, folks are actually referring to numerous AI content material derogatorily as ‘slop.’
Apple’s typical measured strategy has left the corporate unprepared to compete. Whereas Picture Playground performs to Apple’s strengths of a terrific consumer interface with many guardrails to keep away from copyright and content material controversy, the photographs it produces are mediocre at finest.
Nonetheless, you possibly can strive it out totally free, when you have a suitable iPhone (iPhone 15 Professional or later) — with out limits. So it’s value a couple of minutes trying out.
Desk of Contents:
- Set up iOS 18.2 and allow Apple Intelligence
- Create a picture primarily based in your notes
- Flip a sketch into a picture
- Extra Apple Intelligence options
Set up iOS 18.2 and allow Apple Intelligence
Picture Wand is part of Apple Intelligence, accessible in iOS 18.2. As with all Apple Intelligence options, you’ll want an iPhone, Mac or iPad with an M-series chip, an A17 Professional chip or higher to make use of the function.
You may set up iOS 18.2 by going to Settings > Basic > Software program Replace. After you replace, you’ll be prompted to allow Apple Intelligence throughout setup.
Create a picture primarily based in your notes with Picture Wand
Screenshot: D. Griffin Jones/Cult of Mac
To make use of Picture Wand within the Notes app, faucet the Attachments button (paperclip icon), then faucet Create Picture.
It’ll use the context of your notes to make a related picture. I copied the textual content from the Wikipedia article on bathroom paper orientation. Its generated picture was a sketch of a bathroom roll — with extra descriptors pulled from the textual content.
Simply as with Picture Playground, you possibly can add extra prompts by typing within the textual content field. Or, you possibly can take away prompts by tapping on the floating bubbles. You may also change over to Animation or Illustration types by tapping the + button. Faucet Completed to save lots of the picture or Cancel to take away it.
Flip a sketch into a picture with Picture Wand
Screenshot: D. Griffin Jones/Cult of Mac
You probably have a tough drawing or sketch in your word already, you possibly can convert it into an AI picture. Simply faucet the Markup button (pen icon), then faucet the brand new Picture Wand instrument. Circle a part of a drawing to make use of it as enter, then sort in your individual description of the picture and Picture Wand will generate one thing new.
It appears to take a broad kind of inspiration out of your sketch, however usually deviates from it, placing rather more weight in your description. You may write a totally unrelated description to your drawing and it’ll simply … draw that as an alternative. Which, for my part, defeats the aim.
I can see some use for this instrument on the iPhone, the place at finest you possibly can solely make tough sketches along with your finger — so long as you’re OK with the ugly generative artwork that Picture Wand makes. But when I owned an iPad and an Apple Pencil, I don’t assume I’d see the purpose. Picture Wand doesn’t improve your drawing a lot because it paints over it. Irrespective of how a lot element you add, the AI will nonetheless ignore it.
Nonetheless, Picture Wand is a enjoyable novelty to mess around with for a bit.
Extra Apple Intelligence options
Past Picture Wand, there are a lot of extra Apple Intelligence options to take a look at:
