Question
What is the difference between an AI image generator and an AI image editor?
An AI image generator creates a new image from a text prompt, while an AI image editor changes an image you already have, from an instruction or a selection. Many current tools do both, because the same models that generate images can also take an image as input and edit it.
The line has blurred. OpenAI's API generates and edits with the same GPT Image models, and Google's Gemini image models also create and edit images in the same conversation.
In practice most projects use both: a first image from a description, then a series of targeted edits until it fits the job.
ImageQuarry covers both steps: you describe an image and generate it, then ask for specific changes in words, or start from an image you upload.
| Generator | Editor | |
|---|---|---|
| Starts from | A text description | An existing image plus an instruction |
| Keeps | Nothing yet; everything is new | What you did not ask to change, as far as the model manages |
| Best for | New concepts, first drafts, variations | Fixing lighting, background, objects, text or crop |
| Main risk | A result far from what you pictured | Changes spreading beyond the area you meant |
Sources: OpenAI image generation guide; Google Gemini image generation documentation; ImageQuarry homepage. Checked October 20, 2026.
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Last reviewed October 20, 2026 by ImageQuarry
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