Transferring styles between images allows you to experiment with a variety of concepts without creating them from scratch.
You can easily change the style, aesthetic, and vibe of your design based on your desired reference image.
It makes the ideation process much quicker, more creative, and fun.
And now, with the rapid advancement of artificial intelligence technology, AI style transfer tools have taken this process to a whole new level.
In this guide, we'll explore what style transfer is, some creative use cases and examples, and recommend some of the best AI style transfer tools you can experiment with yourself.
And in case you're wondering, you don't need any technical skills to get started.
For those interested in the technical details, this guide goes more in-depth into technology that makes style transfer possible.
In short, AI style transfer lets you compose one image in the style of another image.
It's a computer vision method that takes two images, your original design and a reference image, and blends them together.
Style transfer is especially useful for conveying styles that are difficult to describe in words.
Here's an example of transferring the style from a reference image onto an interior design SketchUp model:
As you can imagine, using this technique in the conceptualization phase of the project can result in unique ideas you designers and artists wouldn't be able to come up with themselves.
Let's now have a look at some practical examples of using AI image style transfer in different use cases, and the recommended tools for each of them.
Primarily an architecture 3D rendering tool, MyArchitectAI has one of the best AI style transfer features for architects and interior designers.
Here's how to use AI style transfer in MyArchitectAI:
1/ Sign up for a free account
2/ Upload your CAD model, sketch, or image of an existing interior or exterior scene
3/ Upload an image of a design you want MyArchitectAI to draw inspiration from. You can also pick one of the presets from the style library.
4/ Set the style strength value depending on how closely you want the generated design to look like the reference image you picked.
5/ Hit the "generate" button. Your unique design concept will be ready in about 10 seconds. The geometry of the input design will be kept unchanged.
Additionally, you can fine-tune the details in your image using text prompts:
MyArchitectAI has a generous free plan that lets you generate 10 images at no cost. All features are included. If you have bigger needs, you can upgrade to a $29/month plan and create an unlimited number of images.
Vizcom is a generative AI software used mostly by product designers that can also be used in architectural and interior design projects thanks to its robust AI image style transfer feature, called "reference images" in the app interface.
It's a great way to generate creative concepts while maintaining a consistent style across your projects.
Similar to MyArchitectAI, you can use a style strength slider to adjust how much the reference image will influence the look of your input image.
Vizcom has a free testing plan and premium subscriptions starting at $49 per editor per month.
This versatile AI image generator is used by all sorts of creative professionals, from artists, and game and product designers, to architects and landscape designers.
PromeAI has all the features you need to conceptualize your project quickly:
... and more
Compared to the two tools mentioned before, PromeAI's style transfer feature is a bit more limited as it doesn't let you adjust the reference image influence. It does let you generate multiple image variations at once, which gives you options to choose from.
You can test PromeAI for free with 10 "coins" every month. Premium subscription plans with more generations, extra features, and faster rendering start at $19/month.
LookX is a generative AI tool that offers a powerful AI style transfer feature for exploring endless creative possibilities.
You can experiment with different concepts based on your reference images using two modes:
The downside is that it's not possible to upload your CAD model or sketch. LookX can only generate the image based on a text prompt.
With LookX, you can also turn images into animations and flythroughs for an even more immersive experience.
And if you're working with SketchUp or Rhino, you can use the AI image style transfer capabilities right inside these apps thanks to LookX's plugins.
Last but not least, LookX has a "Creations Plaza", a gallery of images and animations generated by other users. You can use it to get inspiration and even duplicate others' prompts.
LookX has a free plan with 100 credits each month which is only available when the demand is low. Premium plans with unlimited generations and faster rendering start at $20/month.
Undoubtedly the most popular AI art generator out there, Midjourney also has some powerful style transfer features.
There are two modes you can use for this purpose:
After generating your concept, you can keep iterating on it using the variations feature, or if you're happy with the result, upscale and download it.
Here's a detailed prompting guide that will help you get up to speed quickly.
Midjourney costs $10/month which gets you about 200 image generations a month.
This simple tool offers one of the best AI style transfer capabilities available online.
On top of that, you can adjust the style intensity, brush size, color transfer, contrast enhancement, output quality, and other advanced options to polish your concept.
Neuralstyle also allows batch processing of your images. Instead of running one style transfer at a time, you can select multiple photos, styles, and rendering options, and the app will schedule all the style transfer combinations for you. Big time saver!
There's also a large library of style presets so you can experiment with all kinds of aesthetics.
While Neuralstyle doesn't have a free plan, it offers very affordable pay-as-you-go pricing starting at $1.99 for 40 credits.
This AI art generator and editor is a great fit for anyone who wants to experiment with different AI models, styles, and aesthetics as OpenArt offers a multitude of tools and features for artists.
Some of its standout features include:
You can test OpenArt for free with 40 trial credits and upgrade to a premium plan starting at $14/month if you need more credits and features.
NightCafe lets you create stunning AI art in seconds, participate in challenges, chat with other AI art enthusiasts, and even order printed versions of your generated art. It has a very robust style transfer feature.
While the user interface may seem a bit cluttered and hard to navigate, that's because of the number of features NightCafe has to offer.
There are various generation modes, from text-to-image to depth-to-image (following the geometry of your uploaded design), and even pose-to-image (for creating images of people in specific poses).
NightCafe's AI-style transfer mode gives you lots of creative control thanks to the multitude of settings available:
You can test most of NightCafe's capabilities by signing up for a free plan. To access all features and get more generation credits, you need to subscribe to one of their premium plans starting at $5.99/month.
Photoleap is an all-in-one AI art generator and editor available on iOS and Android devices. Some of its generative features include:
For tweaking your existing images, you can use their AI-driven editing tools:
...and a lot more.
Photoleap also has a ton of style presets you can use when transferring styles between images.
You can test the app with a 7-day free trial, and if you like it, upgrade to an unlimited $59.99/year subscription.
Playform calls itself an "AI Swiss army knife for professional artists" as it allows artists, creators, and designers to add generative AI into their creative workflow.
AI image style transfer is Playform's flagship feature. What makes it stand out from other similar tools is that it allows you to transfer a style to a whole set of images which is extremely useful in keeping the design aesthetic consistent across your whole project.
Similar to other apps we listed above, you can tweak the style influence and composition effect parameters to adjust how much the reference image will impact your uploaded concept. And if you need some inspiration, you can pick one of the reference images from Playform's huge style gallery.
Playform has a pay-as-you pricing model where credits start at $1 apiece and gets cheaper the more credits you buy.
All the AI style transfer tools we mentioned above will surely take your conceptualization process to a new level of creativity.
If you're still in doubt about which of them to choose, make sure it has the following features:
Happy experimenting!
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