Learn how to add professional visual elements to your notes by creating sketches, animations, and illustrations in the Notes app using the new Apple Intelligence Image Wand feature.
Imagine you or your child working on a report in the iOS Notes app and needing to add an image to present the point more effectively. Instead of leaving the app to search the web for a copyright-free picture, you can use the Apple Intelligence Image Wand feature to generate an illustration.
With Image Wand, you can create animated pictures, illustrations, or sketches based on written prompts or even your rough drawings as a starting point.
What you need
- The new iPad mini or an Apple silicon (M1, M2, M4) iPad running iPadOS 18.2 or later
- iPhone 15 Pro, 15 Pro Max, or any model from iPhone 16 lineup running iOS 18.2 or later
- Apple Intelligence must be set up on the supported iPhone or iPad
- You must not be on the waitlist for Apple Intelligence or its image-creation features
Note that as of publishing this tutorial, iPadOS 18.2 and iOS 18.2 are in the beta stage. They are expected to be available for everyone by the end of December.
Use Image Wand in Apple Notes to create sketches, animations, and illustrations
Open the Notes app on your iPad or iPhone and navigate to a new or existing note. Then, use one of the four methods below to generate AI images. For this guide, we’re using an iPad to demonstrate the steps but the process is nearly identical for iPhone.
Method 1: Create an image based on your sketch
1) Tap the pen icon, select an appropriate tool, and create a sketch using Apple Pencil or your finger.
2) After sketching, select the Image Wand tool from the toolset and draw a circle around your sketch.
3) Apple Intelligence will ask you to describe the image. Do that in a few simple words and phrases and hit either the arrow button or the done key.
4) Image Wand will create a sketch in just a few seconds. Swipe left to view additional images, and tap Done when you find one you like. You can also type additional words and phrases in the description box, and AI will adjust the image accordingly.
Method 2: Touch and hold your sketch
In addition to using the Image Wand tool, you can also tap Done or the Pen icon to exit active mode. After that, touch and hold your sketch, and it will show a yellow outline along with the thin menu strip. Select Add to Playground and describe your image.
Within a few seconds, Apple Intelligence will create an image for you.
Method 3: Create an image after handwriting the description
Even sketching can be time-consuming and isn’t something everyone can do. In these situations, you can simply handwrite what you want the image to be, and Apple Intelligence will generate it based on your instructions.
1) Open a note and handwrite what you want the image to be. You can see my example in the screenshot below.
2) Select the Image Wand tool and draw a circle in an empty area of the note. You can also draw it over your handwritten instructions—this will replace them with the generated sketch. If needed, tap the undo button a few times to retrieve both the handwritten text and the generated image.
3) Image Wand will automatically process your handwritten prompts. If it misses something, you can manually add details in the description box. Within a few seconds, Apple’s AI will generate an image for you.
Method 4: Create an image with just text prompts
Finally, let’s assume you don’t want to sketch or handwrite. In this case, you can use Image Wand just like any other generative AI tool.
1) Tap the pen icon inside a note.
2) Select the Image Wand tool and draw a circle in the note.
3) Describe what kind of image you want the AI tool to generate.
Apple Intelligence will create an image for you based on your description.
Choose one of the three image styles
After Image Wand shows you the image preview, tap the plus button next to the “Describe an image” box and choose from Animation, Illustration, or Sketch. Image Wand will generate a new image in the selected style. Keep in mind that none of the styles will generate a photo-realistic picture.
Save the sketch to the Photos app
Once the image is generated and you haven’t hit the Done button yet, tap the three dots menu icon and select Save Image.
Remember that after you tap Done and insert the sketch into your note, there is no easy way to save it to the Photos app. Sure, you can take a screenshot or use drag and drop from Notes to Photos, but the quality may not be optimal.
Recreate and customize the image
Imagine you’ve generated a sketch, animation, or illustration and added it to your note but then change your mind. In this case, you can recreate it by adding a new description or removing existing words/phrases.
1) Tap the image so it’s selected and hit the recreate button. You can also tap the three dots menu icon and choose Recreate.
2) Use the description box to add more words and phrases. If you want to remove an existing description, hit the minus button.
3) Image Wand will generate a new image based on the updated text.
Use the image created by Apple Intelligence
Once Image Wand has generated an image, simply tap Done to insert it into your note. Once inserted, you can tap the image and do the following:
- Drag the four corners to make the image size bigger or smaller on the canvas.
- Place one finger on the image and drag it to a desired location.
- Tap the three dots menu button to cut, copy, paste, duplicate, or delete the image. You can also remove the background of the image or recreate it (explained above).
Delete your sketch or handwritten text after using Image Wand
With the Image Wand sketch added to your note, you may no longer need your original sketch or handwritten image description.
In this case, you can do one of the following to remove them from your note, provided Image Wand has not already replaced your sketch or handwriting:
- Use the eraser tool and rub off the sketch or handwritten text.
- Use the Lasso tool to select the sketch or handwritten text and delete the entire thing in one go.
- Touch and hold the sketch or text until it gets highlighted with a yellow outline. Then, tap the Delete option.
FAQs:
Finally, let’s address some questions you might have.
Is it necessary to have an Apple Pencil to use Image Wand?
You aren’t required to have an Apple Pencil to use Image Wand. You can also use your finger in the iPad or iPhone Notes app to generate sketches, animations, and illustrations using Image Wand.
Is Image Wand available in apps other than Apple Notes?
At the time of publishing, Image Wand is exclusive to the Notes app on iPhone or iPad. It isn’t even available in other Apple apps like Pages or Freeform, let alone third-party apps. However, we believe Apple will add it to other apps in the near future.
Is it possible to edit the sketch created by Image Wand?
You cannot manually tweak what’s generated by Apple Intelligence Image Wand. But you can always recreate it using a revamped description, use markup tools over the generated image, or generate a new image altogether.
How is Image Wand different from Genmoji and Image Playground?
Image Wand, Genmoji, and Image Playground all share the same foundation: they use Apple Intelligence to generate images based on user prompts. However, each serves a different purpose—Genmoji is mainly for creating special emojis and stickers for texting, Image Playground is designed to generate images like other AI tools, and Image Wand helps you create visuals directly in the Notes app.
It’s also important to note that while Genmoji and Image Playground can generate images based on people’s photos, Image Wand does not allow this.
Additionally, all three AI tools will not generate images of trademarked or copyrighted terms such as iPhone, Tesla, or Big Mac. But they should work if you replace these words with smartphone, car, laptop, or burger.
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