--- title: "AI Inpainting: Change One Part of an Image in Words" url: https://www.imagequarry.com/ai-inpainting/ last_updated: 2026-10-20 --- # AI inpainting, done by naming the part you want changed AI inpainting means regenerating one part of an image, such as a jacket, a sky or a sign, so that it fits with everything around it. Classic inpainting tools have you paint a mask over that area. ImageQuarry works differently: you select a version and ask in words for the change to that part, and say what should stay as it is. The result is a new version, and the earlier one is kept. Start by naming the part plainly and describing what it should become. Name the part. Describe its replacement. List what stays. ## What inpainting is Inpainting is an old word from art restoration, where conservators paint in the missing or damaged parts of a canvas so the picture reads as whole again. In digital imaging it came to mean filling a chosen region of a photo with new content that matches its surroundings: repairing a scratch, covering a blemish, replacing a patch of sky. AI inpainting extends the idea from repair to change. Instead of only restoring what was there, you can ask for something new in that region, such as a red raincoat instead of a gray one, or an open door instead of a closed one, while the rest of the picture carries on around it. Most inpainting tools ask you to mark the region with a brush or a mask first and then type what goes inside it. ImageQuarry has no mask step. You identify the part by naming it in your request, which is quicker to start but less exact about boundaries. _Inpainting changes something inside the picture. Removing a thing outright is covered in the AI object remover guide, and putting a new item in is covered in adding objects._ ## Part changes written as requests - **Clothing**: Names the garment, its new material and color, and protects the person wearing it. - **A sky**: One region with a clear boundary at the horizon. - **A surface material**: Taken from the ImageQuarry homepage, pointing at one garment and a texture reference. - **A sign or poster in the scene**: Replaces the content of one rectangle without asking for exact words. - **A state change**: Changes the condition of one object rather than swapping it. ## How to change one part in ImageQuarry 1. **Start with your image** Upload the photo or select a version you made earlier. 2. **Name the part and its new form** Identify the region the way you would to a person: the jacket, the sky, the poster on the left wall. Describe what it should become, and list what must stay. Add a reference for the material or color if you have one. 3. **Narrow it down if it spills** If the change reaches beyond the part you meant, select that version and ask again, naming the boundary more clearly. Each request builds on the version you chose. 4. **Compare and keep the best** Put the new versions beside the starting image, choose one and download it. ## What ImageQuarry gives you for part changes - **Part changes asked for in a sentence**: Point at the part by name and describe what it should become, on any version you select. - **A keep list for everything else**: Name what should stay, such as the face, hands and crop, then review the new version to see the result. - **References for what fills the part**: Add a texture, a color palette or a shape as a reference for the new content, and check how closely each version follows it. - **Earlier versions kept**: Every part change is a new version, so the image before the change is never overwritten. - **The full trail of changes**: Versions sit with the requests and references that made them, so you can see which wording changed what. ## How to ask for a part change without a mask **Name the part the way a person would.** Without a brush, your words are the selection. Use the plain name of the thing and one distinguishing detail: "the blue mug on the left", "the sky above the rooftops", "her scarf, not her coat". If a scene has two of something, give position, color or size so there is only one possible reading. **Describe what replaces it, fully.** Inpainting fails quietly when the request says what to remove but not what to put there. "Change the shirt" leaves everything open; "change the shirt to a white linen shirt with rolled sleeves" gives the new content a material, a color and a shape. Say how it should catch the existing light if the change is large. **Draw the boundary with a keep list.** A mask stops a change at its edge. Words do that job less exactly, so state the neighbors that must stay: the face next to the collar, the trees below the sky, the frame around the poster. Then look at those neighbors in the new version, because a part change can still affect them. **Expect the edges to need a look.** The seams between the changed part and the rest are where problems hide: a collar that blends into the neck, a horizon that wobbles, a frame whose corners have moved. If a seam looks wrong, ask about that seam specifically on the version you prefer. **Change one part per request when it matters.** Several part changes in one sentence can work, but when one of them goes wrong you cannot tell which wording caused it. For important images, change one part, review, then move on, and branch from an earlier version if a path goes nowhere. **Use a masking tool when you need exact edges.** If a change must stop at a precise line, such as one panel of a garment or a single tile in a floor, a layer editor with a mask gives you that control. Requests in words are best when the part has a clear name and the edge can follow the scene's own boundaries. ## Mask based inpainting and inpainting by request | Aspect | Mask based inpainting tool | Asking in words in ImageQuarry | |---|---|---| | How the region is chosen | You paint or draw a mask | You name the part in the request | | Exactness of the boundary | As exact as your mask | Follows your description; review the edges | | What you type | What goes inside the mask | What the part becomes and what stays | | Getting started | Brush work before the first result | A sentence on the version you selected | | Keeping earlier attempts | Depends on the tool | Every change is a new version | ## Limits of inpainting by request - **No mask or brush**: ImageQuarry has no selection tool. Changes follow your words, so they can reach slightly past the part you meant. Review every version. - **Unnamed parts are hard to target**: A region that has no easy name, like an odd patch of a background, is difficult to point at in words. Describe it by its neighbors, or use a masking editor. - **Results vary between attempts**: The same request can produce different results. Plan on a few tries for important changes. - **Still images only**: ImageQuarry edits still images; inpainting across frames of a video needs a video tool. ## Cost of part changes Every part change uses image credits from your plan: Starter at $9 per month with 100 image credits a month or Pro at $29 per month with 300 image credits a month. - Starter: Starter at $9 per month with 100 image credits a month - Pro: Pro at $29 per month with 300 image credits a month ## Questions about AI inpainting ### Is there a free AI inpainting tool? Every ImageQuarry plan is paid; Starter is $9 per month. Each part change you request uses credits from that plan's monthly allowance. ### Can I do AI inpainting online? Yes. ImageQuarry runs in the browser at app.imagequarry.com. You upload or select an image, type the part change, and compare versions there. ### Can I inpaint without logging in? No. You need an account and a paid plan at app.imagequarry.com before you can upload or edit. Your images and every part change are kept in that account. ### Does ImageQuarry have a mask or brush for inpainting? No. ImageQuarry has no masking, brush or selection tool. You identify the part in your request by name, such as "the jacket" or "the sky above the hills", and say what should stay. If you need a hand drawn boundary, a mask based editor is the better fit. ### Is there AI inpainting with no restrictions? Image tools apply their own content rules, and those rules differ between products. Read a tool's terms before you rely on it for a specific kind of image. ### What is the difference between inpainting and editing the whole image? Inpainting targets one part, such as a garment or a sky, and expects the rest to carry on. A whole image edit changes the overall scene, like the time of day or the color grade. In ImageQuarry both are requests in words; for a part change, name the part and list what stays. ### What should I do if the change spreads too far? Select the version that came closest and ask again with a tighter description, naming the neighbor that changed: "keep the collar and neck as in the earlier version, change only the sleeves." Or branch from the earlier version and reword the request. ### Can I inpaint video? No. ImageQuarry works on still images. Video inpainting has to keep a change consistent across many frames, which needs a video tool. ## Related guides - [AI object remover](https://www.imagequarry.com/ai-object-remover/): Take an unwanted thing out - [Add object to photo with AI](https://www.imagequarry.com/add-object-to-photo-ai/): Place a new item in the scene - [Edit images with text](https://www.imagequarry.com/edit-images-with-text/): Every edit as a sentence - [AI style transfer](https://www.imagequarry.com/ai-style-transfer/): Change the look of a whole image - [Edit ideas by subject](https://www.imagequarry.com/edit-images/): Edit requests grouped by what is in the photo - [AI image guides](https://www.imagequarry.com/guides/): Every ImageQuarry guide in one place ## Change one part, keep the picture. Select an image, name the part and what it becomes, and review the new version beside the one before.