Generate Panel Reference

This page describes each section of the Generate panel in detail. For a first walkthrough — choosing a model, generating a first image, and sending results to the Gallery or the Canvas — see Generating and modifying still images.

Setting the image size

The Size section sets the width and height of the image.

• Width and Height can be set by dragging, by typing a value, or by dragging the corner of the small size preview. Sizes run from 64 to 4096 pixels and snap to a multiple the model requires, usually 8, 16 or 32.
• Aspect ratio offers common shapes: 21:9, 16:9, 3:2, 4:3, 1:1, 3:4, 2:3, 9:16 and 9:21, or Free. Choosing a ratio locks it, so changing the width changes the height to match. The lock button between the two fields locks or unlocks the current ratio.
• Swap width and height turns a landscape image into a portrait one and back.
• Each model has an optimal image area, typically about one megapixel for newer models and less for SD 1.5. The line under the fields shows the image’s size in megapixels, marks the recommended size, and estimates the run time from your recent runs. Set optimal size resizes the image to the model’s optimal area at the current aspect ratio.

Models produce their best results near their optimal size. Much larger images can show repeated subjects or distorted anatomy. To make a large image, generate at the optimal size and then upscale.

Render settings

The Render section controls how the image is generated. Each slider has a mark at the model’s recommended value. To reset a single field, double-click it or right-click it and choose Reset to model default.

Steps

Steps is the number of denoising passes the model makes. More steps add detail and refine the image, up to a point where further steps change little and only take longer. Distilled “Turbo” and “Lightning” models are designed for a handful of steps (often 4 to 9), while standard models usually need 25 to 50. The model default is a good place to start.

CFG and Guidance

CFG (classifier-free guidance) sets how strictly the model follows your prompt. Higher values follow the prompt more literally but can look harsh or oversaturated; lower values are looser and more natural. Typical values are 3 to 7 for most models, and 1 for distilled models, which are trained to work without CFG. Some models, including FLUX, show Guidance instead: a value built into the model that plays the same role, typically around 3.5. The model’s page under Local Models gives recommended values.

Scheduler

The Scheduler is the algorithm that decides how much noise to remove at each step. Schedulers differ in speed, in how many steps they need, and in the character of the result. Euler, the DPM++ family and UniPC are good general-purpose choices; LCM is only for LCM and similar distilled models. The list of schedulers depends on the model, and some models use a fixed schedule and do not show this field. Use model default scheduler switches back to the model’s own choice.

Seed

The Seed sets the starting noise for the image. The same model, prompt, seed and settings reproduce the same image, which lets you change one setting at a time and compare the results.

• New seed picks a random seed.
• Seed mode sets how seeds are chosen: Random picks a fresh starting seed each time you press Invoke, Fixed reuses the seed in the field, and Increment and Decrement use successive seeds, counting up or down by one. A line under the field shows the seeds the next batch will use.
• Recent seeds shows thumbnails of recent images. Click one to reuse its seed; the mode switches to Fixed.

Negative prompt

A negative prompt lists what you do not want in the image, such as blurry, watermark, extra fingers. Models that support one show a + Negative prompt… button under the prompt; click it to open the box, and click Turn off negative prompt to hide it again without losing the text.

Not every model uses a negative prompt. SD 1.5, SDXL, SD 3.5 and CogView4 always use it. Several newer models, including Z-Image, Qwen Image and Krea-2, use it only when CFG is above 1, and the box says so. FLUX.1, FLUX.2 and Ideogram 4 do not use a negative prompt, and the box is not shown for them.

Advanced settings

The Advanced section appears for models with extra options, and its header counts the settings you have changed. Depending on the model it can include:

• VAE and VAE precision — for SD 1.5 and SDXL, choose a different VAE or decode at FP32 precision. Other families set their VAE in the Components section.
• CLIP skip and CFG rescale — SD 1.5 and SD 2.x only.
• HiDiffusion — improves structure at large sizes for SD 1.5 and SDXL; see HiDiffusion.
• Color compensation — SDXL only.
• PiD Decode — decodes the image at up to four times its size; see PiD Super-Resolution Decode.
• Seamless tiling — makes the image tile along the X axis, the Y axis, or both.

Resetting to defaults

Each model has recommended settings, which you can change in the Model Manager. Reset all to model defaults, the ↺ button in the Generate panel’s title bar, applies them: size, steps, CFG or guidance, scheduler and VAE settings. Your prompts are left alone. The button is disabled when your settings already match the defaults.

To return to the settings of an earlier image instead, right-click it in the Gallery or Preview and open Recall Metadata. Recall All restores its model, prompts, seed, size and render settings; Remix Image does the same but keeps a new seed; and Use Prompt, Use Seed and Use Size recall one thing at a time.

To keep a combination of settings for later, use Presets in the panel’s title bar to save the current settings under a name and apply them again.

Adding concepts

Concepts, also called LoRAs, are small add-on models that teach the main model a style, a character, an object or a look. They are added in the Guidance section.

1. Click Add concept and choose a LoRA. The list only shows LoRAs made for the selected model’s family.

2. Adjust its Weight, which sets how strongly it acts. The default is the LoRA’s own recommended weight, or 0.75. Values between 0.5 and 1 are typical; higher values can overpower the image, and negative values push the image away from the concept.

3. Add any trigger words the LoRA needs to your prompt. They are shown under the LoRA’s name, and the + button in the prompt toolbar inserts them for you (see Prompt Triggers).

You can add as many concepts as you like and combine them. Use the switch on each row to turn a concept off without removing it, and the trash button to remove it. If you change to a model from a different family, its concepts are marked Incompatible or removed.

Adding reference images

A reference image guides the new image by example rather than by words: its style, its composition, a person or an object in it. Reference images are added at the top of the Guidance section, and only appear for models that support them.

To add one, click Add reference image and pick images from the Gallery or upload new ones, or drag images from the Gallery onto the section. You can also right-click any image and choose Use as Reference Image. Most models accept up to five. The order of the references matters to some models; use the arrow buttons on each card to reorder them.

Hovering over a reference’s thumbnail offers Crop, to use only part of the image, and Use size, to set the generation’s size to match the reference. The switch on each card turns a reference off without removing it.

What a reference does, and what options it has, depends on the model family:

Model family	How references work	Options
SD 1.5, SDXL	An IP-Adapter model carries the reference’s look into the image.	Mode: Style, Composition or Both. Weight. Under Advanced: the IP-Adapter model, a Style variant and the Active steps range.
FLUX.1	An IP-Adapter, or a FLUX Redux model, which transfers the reference’s content.	IP-Adapter options as above, or Image influence (Lowest to Highest) for Redux.
FLUX.1 Kontext	Kontext edits or recombines the reference images according to your prompt.	None beyond the model.
FLUX.2, Qwen Image Edit	The model reads the references directly and uses them as your prompt instructs, for example put the jacket from the first image on the person in the second.	None.

Reference images require an extra model for SD 1.5, SDXL and FLUX.1 (an IP-Adapter or FLUX Redux model). These are available as starter models in the Model Manager, and an installed IP-Adapter is selected automatically.

Prompt tools

The toolbar above the prompt box holds tools that help you write prompts. From left to right: Templates, Dynamic, Add prompt trigger, Expand prompt, Image to prompt and Prompt history.

Prompt enhancement

Expand prompt turns a short prompt into a detailed description using a local language model. Write a few words, open the tool, pick a Text LLM and a System prompt (the instructions that tell the language model how to rewrite), and click Expand. The expanded text replaces your prompt, and you can edit it before pressing Invoke. Several system prompts ship with InvokeAI, some tuned for particular model families, and you can write your own.

You need a Text LLM model installed; if there is none, the tool offers to open the Model Manager. See Prompt Tools for suitable models and for managing system prompts.

Image to prompt

Image to prompt writes a prompt that describes an existing image, using a vision-language model (LLaVA OneVision). Select an image in the Gallery or Preview, or drag one onto the prompt box, then open the tool, choose the model and click Generate Prompt. The description replaces your prompt. This is useful for recreating an image you like in another model, or for starting from a close description and editing it. See Prompt Tools.

Prompt history

Every prompt you submit with Invoke is kept in the project’s Prompt history, along with its negative prompt, up to the last 100. Open it from the clock button to search your earlier prompts, click Use prompt to bring one back, or delete entries you no longer need. Clear empties the history at once, without asking.

To step through the history without opening it, press Alt+Up and Alt+Down while the prompt box has focus. Stepping past the newest entry brings back what you were typing. The history belongs to the project and is shared by the Generate, Video and Upscale panels.

More prompting features

These features change what the prompt says or how the model reads it. Prompt triggers are described on the Prompt Tools page, and the others in the Prompting Guide.

Feature	What it does
Prompt templates	Wrap your prompt in a reusable style, such as a photographic or concept-art look, without retyping it. Includes 18 built-in templates, and you can create, import and export your own.
Dynamic prompts	Write alternatives such as a {red|green|blue} car to generate one image per combination, or a random sample of them. Wildcards let you reuse named lists of values.
Attention weighting	Make parts of the prompt count for more or less, for example (red car)++ or (red car)1.3, and blend or combine prompts. Select text and press Ctrl+Up or Ctrl+Down to adjust its weight. Applies to SD 1.5, SD 2.x and SDXL.
Prompt triggers	Insert the trigger phrases of your model and concepts, compatible embeddings and wildcards from a searchable menu.