AI Image Generation

Requires Day One Gold. AI Image Generation is available with a Day One Gold subscription.

AI Image Generation creates custom artwork right inside the entry editor, inspired by the content of your journal entry. Day One reads what you’ve written, identifies the most meaningful moments or themes, and generates illustrated images in your chosen style — which you can browse, pick your favourite, and drop directly into your entry with one tap.

For details on how Day One handles your data when using AI features, see AI Features.

Key Features

Entry-inspired images – Day One analyses your entry and generates images around the key themes and moments you’ve written about, so each result is unique to you.
Multiple image carousels – You get two separate image sets, each based on a different highlight from your entry, giving you a variety of directions to explore.
Style picker – Choose from a range of artistic styles — including Line Art, Anime, Pixel Art, Digital Art, and more — to match the mood of your entry.
Swipe to generate more – Swipe to the next slot in any carousel to generate an additional image. Day One keeps generating new variations as long as you keep swiping.
One-tap insertion – When you find an image you love, tap the insert button to add it directly into your entry as a photo attachment.
Share – Long-press a generated image to share it outside of Day One.

Available Image Styles

When the image generation panel is open, tap or click the current style name to choose a different one. Your selection applies to all new images generated in that session.

Line Art
3D
Anime
Comic Book
Craft Clay
Digital Art
Isometric
Low Poly
Neon Punk
Origami
Pixel Art
Texture
None

The style you last used is remembered the next time you open AI Image Generation.

How to Use AI Image Generation

iPhone & iPad

AI Image Generation requires content in your entry — it works best when you’ve written at least a sentence or two.

Open Day One and tap into a journal entry to open the editor.
Write some content. The more you’ve written, the richer and more personalised the generated images will be.
Tap the Journaling Tools button (the sparkles icon) in the editor toolbar.

Tap Generate Image from the AI tools menu.

Day One analyses your entry and builds two image carousels — each one focused on a different theme or moment from what you’ve written. A spinner appears briefly while the first images are generated.
Browse the generated images by swiping left or right within each carousel.
To change the art style, tap the style name in the top-right corner of the panel (e.g. Line Art) and choose a new style from the list. A new image is generated immediately in the updated style.

Swipe to the last slot in a carousel (a placeholder with a loading indicator) to generate another image in that theme.
When you find an image you want to keep, tap the insert button (the + icon in the bottom-right corner of the image) to add it to your entry.
The sheet closes and the image appears in your entry as a photo attachment.
To share an image without inserting it, long-press the image and choose Share from the menu that appears.

This feature also supports Apple Intelligence on compatible devices — see AI Features for how to enable on-device processing.

Android

AI Image Generation requires content in your entry — open or write in an entry before getting started.

Open Day One and tap into a journal entry to open the editor.
Write some content in your entry.

Tap the AI tools button (sparkles icon) in the editor toolbar. The AI tools panel slides up from the bottom of the screen.

Tap Generate Image from the AI tools list.

Day One analyses your entry and generates two image carousels, each based on a different theme or highlight from your writing. A loading indicator appears while images are being created.
Swipe through each carousel to browse images. To generate additional images, swipe past the last image in the carousel — a new one loads automatically.
To change the art style, tap the current style name in the top-right corner of the screen (e.g. Line Art) and choose a style from the list.

When you find an image you’d like to use, tap the + button in the bottom-right corner of that image to insert it into your entry.
To share an image without inserting it, long-press the image and choose Share from the menu that appears.
To go back to the main AI tools list, tap the back arrow at the top left.

Mac

Mac support is coming soon.

Web

Open an entry at dayoneapp.com and write some content.
Click the sparkles (✦) button in the editor toolbar to open the Journaling Tools menu.
Click Generate Image from the menu.

A modal opens with two image carousels, each based on a different theme from your entry. A spinner appears while images load.
Use the left and right arrow buttons to navigate between images in each carousel.
To generate additional images, click the last pagination dot below a carousel or click the right arrow when on the last image — a new one generates automatically.
To change the art style, click the style name in the top-right corner of the modal (e.g. Line Art) and choose a different style from the dropdown.
When you find an image you want, click the + button in the bottom-right corner of that image to insert it into your entry.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why can’t I access Generate Image?

AI Image Generation requires a Day One Gold subscription. If you’re on a Gold plan and still can’t see the option, make sure AI features are enabled in Settings › AI Features.

Does my entry need to have content before I can generate images?

Yes. AI Image Generation works by analysing what you’ve written to create relevant images. If your entry is empty, the Generate Image option will not be available. Write at least a sentence or two before opening the tool — the more detail you include, the more tailored the results.

What are the two image carousels for?

Day One identifies two distinct highlights or themes from your entry and creates a separate image carousel for each one. This gives you a broader range of visual directions inspired by different parts of what you wrote.

How do I generate more images if I don’t like what’s shown?

Swipe to the last slot in any carousel — a new image generates automatically when you reach it. You can keep swiping to generate additional variations. Earlier images in the carousel remain available so you can scroll back to compare.

Can I change the style after images have already been generated?

Yes. Tap or click the style name at the top of the panel to open the style picker and choose a different style. Changing the style immediately generates a new image in the updated style and adds it to the carousel — your existing images are preserved.

How many images can I generate per session?

Each carousel holds up to ten images. Once a carousel is full, generating a new image removes the oldest one to make room. Across two carousels, you can have up to twenty images available at any one time within a session.

What happens to my generated images if I close the panel?

Day One caches the images generated during your session. If you re-open the Generate Image panel for the same entry, your previously generated images are restored so you can continue where you left off.

Can I insert more than one generated image into my entry?

Yes. Tap the insert button on any image to add it to your entry, then browse the carousels and insert additional images if you’d like. Each insertion adds the image as a separate photo attachment.

What happens if generation fails?

If an image fails to generate, an error message appears in that slot with a Retry button. Tap Retry to try again. If the problem persists, check your internet connection and try again shortly.

Is my journal content kept private when I use AI Image Generation?

Your entry content is used temporarily to generate the images and is never stored by the AI service or used to train AI models. For full details, see AI Features.

Is AI Image Generation available on Mac?

Not currently. AI Image Generation is available on iPhone, iPad, Android, and the web app.