How to create AI images with ‘Image Creator’ on Paint for Windows 11

Microsoft Paint Image Creator is a feature that allows you to generate images from text description using AI.

Paint Image Creator
Paint Image Creator / Image: Mauro Huculak

On Windows 11, the Microsoft Paint app has the “Image Creator” feature that allows you to use the DALL-E AI model from OpenAI to generate virtually any image from a text description. Paint Image Creator isn’t meant to be a feature to create a complete image. Instead, it’s meant to create a starting point to spark creativity and continue creating. In the Paint app, you can also add these AI-generated images into layers to create even more complex pieces of imagery.

This guide will teach you the steps to use the new image creator on Paint.

Create images with AI using Image Creator on Paint

To create images with Paint Image Creator on Windows 11, use these steps:

  1. Open Paint on Windows 11.

  2. Click the profile menu on the top-right side.

  3. Confirm you’re signed in with your Microsoft account.

    Paint with Microsoft account

  4. Click the Image Creator button from the toolbar.

  5. Compose a description of the image you want to create. For example, “a black bear drinking coffee sitting next to a picnic table.” 

    Paint Image Creator AI

    Quick tip: The more description you add to your prompt, the AI will be able to create an even more accurate image.
  6. Choose a style option, such as “Pixel Art,” “Oil painting,” “Charcoal,” “Ink Sketch,” “Watercolor,” “Digital Art,” “Photorealistic,” and “Anime” from the drop-down menu.

    Paint Image Creator styles

  7. Select one of the three samples to add the image to your Paint canvas.

Once you complete the steps, the Paint Image Creator will send your request to the cloud to generate three samples using your description that you can choose from to add to your image creation.

Using AI computing resources is costly, so as part of the rollout of the Paint Image Creator, Microsoft is giving users 50 credits to redeem for up to 50 sets of image creations. If you want more credits, you will have to purchase the Copilot Pro subscription.

Update June 13, 2024: This guide has been updated to ensure accuracy and reflect changes to the process. It’s important to note that originally, this feature was known as “Cocrator,” but it has been changed to “Image Creator.”

About the author

Mauro Huculak is a Windows How-To Expert who started Pureinfotech in 2010 as an independent online publication. He has also been a Windows Central contributor for nearly a decade. Mauro has over 15 years of experience writing comprehensive guides and creating professional videos about Windows and software, including Android and Linux. Before becoming a technology writer, he was an IT administrator for seven years. In total, Mauro has over 21 years of combined experience in technology. Throughout his career, he achieved different professional certifications from Microsoft (MSCA), Cisco (CCNP), VMware (VCP), and CompTIA (A+ and Network+), and he has been recognized as a Microsoft MVP for many years. You can follow him on X (Twitter), YouTube, LinkedIn and About.me. Email him at [email protected].