How To Generate Images Using OpenAI

March 11, 2024

Background Information

Lately, there's been a surge of TikTok videos showcasing AI-generated images created using ChatGPT, which sparked my curiosity. However, subscribing to ChatGPT Plus at $20 a month seemed pricey. Therefore, using my existing knowledge with OpenAI's API, I explored a more affordable way to generate images. In this post, I'll guide you through the process of generating images using OpenAI's API.

Prerequisites

Before you start, ensure you have the following:

  1. An OpenAI account.
  2. An OpenAI API key.
  3. Sufficient account funds.
  4. Node.js installed.

Create a Project Folder and JavaScript File

First, create a new folder for your project and add a file named generate.js. This file will contain the code to generate images. Change your current directory to the newly created folder.

Install Required NPM Packages

npm i openai

Generate and Save the Image Locally

Create the following code in the generate.js file to generate and save an image:

import OpenAI from "openai";
import { writeFile } from "fs";

const openai = new OpenAI({
  apiKey: "YOUR_API_KEY",
});

const response = await openai.images.generate({
  model: "dall-e-3",
  prompt:
    "A seven foot blue alien driving a red porsche.",
  n: 1,
  size: "1024x1024",
  response_format: "b64_json", // use 'url' if you prefer to have a link to your image.
});

const imageBase64Data = response.data[0]["b64_json"];
const imageBufferData = Buffer.from(imageBase64Data, "base64");

// Specify the path and filename for the output image
const filePath = "./outputImage.png";

// Write the buffer to a file
writeFile(filePath, imageBufferData, (err) => {
  if (err) {
    console.error("Error saving the image file:", err);
  } else {
    // Shows the formatted prompt and the base64 code.
    console.log(response.data);
  }
});

Generate an Image and Get URL

You can also generate an image and obtain its URL:

import OpenAI from "openai";
import { writeFile } from "fs";

const openai = new OpenAI({
  apiKey: "YOUR_API_KEY",
});

const response = await openai.images.generate({
  model: "dall-e-3",
  prompt:
    "A seven foot blue alien driving a red porsche.",
  n: 1,
  size: "1024x1024",
  response_format: "url", // use 'url' if you prefer to have a link to your image.
});

console.log(response.data[0]) // Get response plus the URL to the image

Execute the Code

Run the script using the following command:

node .\generate.js

Result

Image Generated By OpenAI

Sources

GitHub Repo
OpenAI Vision Documentation