Dall-E Mini Review 2024: How it Works and Best Use Cases

Ever wondered if it was possible to generate full images using text prompts? There’s an AI app that can do that, called DALL-E Mini.

If the name doesn’t give it away, DALL-E Mini is the “mini” version of DALL-E – the popular AI image generator developed by OpenAI.

What started as a “mini” DALL-E, however, has since been improved and rebranded with a new name: Craiyon.

Like DALL-E, Craiyon uses artificial intelligence to generate images based on written descriptions. The images it generates are impressive, too.

But how does it stack up against DALL-E? And how can Craiyon, aka DALL-E Mini, be utilized in today’s world as an AI tool?

Here’s our rundown, including how powerful it is, how easy it is to use, and what both free users and paid users can expect.

What is DALL-E Mini?

DALL-E Mini, now called Craiyon, is an AI image generator inspired by DALL-E. It wasn’t created by OpenAI, as a result, but developed by Boris Dayma in 2021 as a smaller AI image generator that was more accessible than DALL-E at the time.

Trained on a dataset that correlates visuals with words, DALL-E Mini can generate images based on countless textual prompts.

Users simply have to type a description of the image they want, then DALL-E Mini will artificially generate the digital image.

DALL-E Mini (Craiyon) review

If you’re considering AI image generators or AI design tools, you’re probably interested in what DALL-E Mini brings to the table – or even how it compares with DALL-E.

Our quick review of DALL-E Mini zooms in on three key areas:

1. Image accuracy and quality
2. Ease of use
3. Plans and pricing

How good is DALL-E Mini at generating images?

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DALL-E Mini serves one key purpose: AI image generation. So just how good is it at generating images?

Overall, the images generated are generally accurate and detailed, giving you a choice of nine generated images with each description you type.

There’s also a second text bar where you can type in “Negative words” – what you don’t want the AI to generate when you create images.

DALL-E Mini does not generate photorealistic images, however – unlike DALL-E. So if you were expecting realistic life-like photos, this is where DALL-E Mini can fall short, as a lot of our prompts for realistic portraits still looked noticeably artificial.

Also worth mentioning is that the initial images it generates are small – 256 x 256 pixels and less than 100KB size-wise. DALL-E Mini can upscale the images to 1024 x 1024 pixels, but even these are no larger than 1MB, with a visible blur.

Despite that, DALL-E is certainly a powerful AI image generator. The AI image generation will go as far as your imagination and descriptions, with results that genuinely impressed us more than not.

Is DALL-E Mini easy to use?

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You can access DALL-E Mini on its website.

And it’s easy to use, as right from the homepage you’re greeted with a text bar that lets you jump straight into describing your image. Anything you don’t want generated in the image can be typed in the second text bar for “Negative words”.

You also get the option to choose from four image styles:

• Art
• Drawing
• Photo
• None – if you’re not sure or don’t have a preference

After that, it’s as simple as clicking “Draw”. DALL-E Mini typically takes about one minute to generate the images, and it’ll give you nine different images to choose from based on the descriptions typed in.

If you like an image, you can save and download it. You can also upscale the image (which takes another minute) if you want to view or save a larger, higher quality version of the image.

That’s really it. So all in all, DALL-E Mini is simple to use and user-friendly, as anyone who can navigate a website will have no problems using this AI image generator.

Is DALL-E Mini free?

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You might be glad to know that DALL-E Mini is free to use. This comes with a few limitations, however, including watermarks, slower image generation times, and a limitation on how many images you can generate.

So there are paid plans for DALL-E Mini, offering faster image generation, unlimited images, and no watermarks. The three plans are:

• Supporter
• Professional
• Enterprise

All of the paid plans offer unlimited images and no watermarks.

The big difference is that Supporter offers an image generation time of 45 seconds for 9 images, while Professional offers an image generation time of 15 seconds for 9 images.

The Enterprise plan doesn’t list features or pricing, but this is because it’s a custom plan tailored for individual needs.

Like other software subscriptions, DALL-E Mini’s plans can be paid monthly or yearly, with yearly plans working out cheaper in the long run.

AI use cases – how DALL-E Mini can be used

Now that you have a better idea of what DALL-E Mini offers, how practical is DALL-E Mini as an AI tool?

AI tools are only becoming more powerful and even businesses are taking advantage of AI now more than ever.

So if you’re not sure how DALL-E Mini might benefit you or how you can use it, it’s well worth taking a look at how DALL-E Mini can be utilized for various purposes.

Art inspiration for artists

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Artists, graphic designers, and illustrators can use DALL-E Mini as a tool for inspiring their own artwork – arguably the most obvious benefit it has to offer.

And since DALL-E Mini provides a choice of image styles (Art, Drawing, and Photo), this can further help artists generate the images they’re looking for.

What’s also worth knowing about DALL-E Mini is that, like other AI image generators, the results are unique with each search.

In other words, AI image generators never generate the same image twice. Artists may therefore closely copy the generated art without having to worry about visual plagiarism.

Book cover art and illustrations for authors

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Like artists, authors can also take advantage of DALL-E Mini for visual inspiration. This can be done by generating unique images of worlds and settings, characters, and more.

Not only can this help authors put visuals to imagined characters and settings, but better describe them during the writing process.

On top of that, authors can use DALL-E Mini to generate graphic novel images and cover artwork. The generated images can be used as they are or sent to book cover designers and illustrators for inspiration and guidance.

Image generation for content creators and bloggers

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Content creators and bloggers can use DALL-E Mini to generate images for articles and blogs.

The main benefit here is that they’ll be able to improve their content without having to source images, search for stock photos, or take their own pictures.

The result? AI image generation can make image content much easier for content creators.

DALL-E Mini can generate anything from abstract art to fun animated characters, helping them to increase audience engagement and improve on-page SEO in the process.

Marketing and advertising for businesses

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Small and large businesses can also take advantage of DALL-E Mini image generation for various purposes.

These include website design, website content, social media content, and logo design, which businesses can use to shape their brand, improve online content, and drive customer engagement.

In addition, digital marketing and advertising agencies can also use DALL-E Mini to generate visually compelling marketing materials, ideal for using across marketing campaigns, online ads, and social media content.

Conclusion

Although not as powerful as DALL-E, DALL-E Mini—now called Craiyon—is simple to use and capable of creating a range of AI-generated images that can benefit everyone from artists and authors to content creators and businesses.

DALL-E Mini places watermarks on generated images for free users, but this doesn’t detract from how it still can be used as a useful tool for visual inspiration.

DALL-E Mini has one glaring drawback, however, and that’s the low quality of the images – even when upscaled within DALL-E Mini.

All in all, the benefits outnumber the disadvantages. It’s free, after all, with paid plans that users can subscribe to if they want no watermarks, faster generating times, user prioritization, and more.

That said, there are more powerful AI image generators out there, including DALL-E 2, that users might want to look at instead – especially those willing to pay.

Frequently asked questions

Is DALL-E Mini the same as DALL-E?

DALL-E Mini (Craiyon) was inspired by OpenAI’s image generator, DALL-E, but was not developed by OpenAI. DALL-E Mini uses AI to generate images but, as a “mini” AI model, it’s generally not considered as powerful as DALL-E.

Does DALL-E Mini have an app?

Although there are many unofficial apps using its name, DALL-E Mini (Craiyon) does not have an official mobile app. Despite that, DALL-E Mini can be accessed on mobile devices using any browser.