---
title: Inpainting
---
# :octicons-paintbrush-16: Inpainting
## **Creating Transparent Regions for Inpainting**
Inpainting is really cool. To do it, you start with an initial image
and use a photoeditor to make one or more regions transparent
(i.e. they have a "hole" in them). You then provide the path to this
image at the dream> command line using the `-I` switch. Stable
Diffusion will only paint within the transparent region.
There's a catch. In the current implementation, you have to prepare
the initial image correctly so that the underlying colors are
preserved under the transparent area. Many imaging editing
applications will by default erase the color information under the
transparent pixels and replace them with white or black, which will
lead to suboptimal inpainting. It often helps to apply incomplete
transparency, such as any value between 1 and 99%
You also must take care to export the PNG file in such a way that the
color information is preserved. There is often an option in the export
dialog that lets you specify this.
If your photoeditor is erasing the underlying color information,
`dream.py` will give you a big fat warning. If you can't find a way to
coax your photoeditor to retain color values under transparent areas,
then you can combine the `-I` and `-M` switches to provide both the
original unedited image and the masked (partially transparent) image:
```bash
invoke> "man with cat on shoulder" -I./images/man.png -M./images/man-transparent.png
```
## **Masking using Text**
You can also create a mask using a text prompt to select the part of
the image you want to alter, using the clipseg algorithm. This
works on any image, not just ones generated by InvokeAI.
The `--text_mask` (short form `-tm`) option takes two arguments. The
first argument is a text description of the part of the image you wish
to mask (paint over). If the text description contains a space, you must
surround it with quotation marks. The optional second argument is the
minimum threshold for the mask classifier's confidence score, described
in more detail below.
To see how this works in practice, here's an image of a still life
painting that I got off the web.
You can selectively mask out the
orange and replace it with a baseball in this way:
~~~
invoke> a baseball -I /path/to/still_life.png -tm orange
~~~
The clipseg classifier produces a confidence score for each region it
identifies. Generally regions that score above 0.5 are reliable, but
if you are getting too much or too little masking you can adjust the
threshold down (to get more mask), or up (to get less). In this
example, by passing `-tm` a higher value, we are insisting on a tigher
mask. However, if you make it too high, the orange may not be picked
up at all!
~~~
invoke> a baseball -I /path/to/breakfast.png -tm orange 0.6
~~~
### Inpainting is not changing the masked region enough!
One of the things to understand about how inpainting works is that it
is equivalent to running img2img on just the masked (transparent)
area. img2img builds on top of the existing image data, and therefore
will attempt to preserve colors, shapes and textures to the best of
its ability. Unfortunately this means that if you want to make a
dramatic change in the inpainted region, for example replacing a red
wall with a blue one, the algorithm will fight you.
You have a couple of options. The first is to increase the values of
the requested steps (`-sXXX`), strength (`-f0.XX`), and/or
condition-free guidance (`-CXX.X`). If this is not working for you, a
more extreme step is to provide the `--inpaint_replace 0.X` (`-r0.X`)
option. This value ranges from 0.0 to 1.0. The higher it is the less
attention the algorithm will pay to the data underneath the masked
region. At high values this will enable you to replace colored regions
entirely, but beware that the masked region mayl not blend in with the
surrounding unmasked regions as well.
---
## Recipe for GIMP
[GIMP](https://www.gimp.org/) is a popular Linux photoediting tool.
1. Open image in GIMP.
2. Layer->Transparency->Add Alpha Channel
3. Use lasso tool to select region to mask
4. Choose Select -> Float to create a floating selection
5. Open the Layers toolbar (^L) and select "Floating Selection"
6. Set opacity to a value between 0% and 99%
7. Export as PNG
8. In the export dialogue, Make sure the "Save colour values from
transparent pixels" checkbox is selected.
---
## Recipe for Adobe Photoshop
1. Open image in Photoshop
2. Use any of the selection tools (Marquee, Lasso, or Wand) to select the area you desire to inpaint.
3. Because we'll be applying a mask over the area we want to preserve, you should now select the inverse by using the ++shift+ctrl+i++ shortcut, or right clicking and using the "Select Inverse" option.
4. You'll now create a mask by selecting the image layer, and Masking the selection. Make sure that you don't delete any of the underlying image, or your inpainting results will be dramatically impacted.
5. Make sure to hide any background layers that are present. You should see the mask applied to your image layer, and the image on your canvas should display the checkered background.
6. Save the image as a transparent PNG by using `File`-->`Save a Copy` from the menu bar, or by using the keyboard shortcut ++alt+ctrl+s++
7. After following the inpainting instructions above (either through the CLI or the Web UI), marvel at your newfound ability to selectively invoke. Lookin' good!
8. In the export dialogue, Make sure the "Save colour values from transparent pixels" checkbox is selected.