Image

The Image component displays AI-generated images from the AI SDK. It accepts a Experimental_GeneratedImage object from the AI SDK's generateImage function and automatically renders it as an image.

Example generated image

Installation

npx ai-elements@latest add image

Usage

import { Image } from '@/components/ai-elements/image';
<Image
base64="valid base64 string"
mediaType: 'image/jpeg',
uint8Array: new Uint8Array([]),
alt="Example generated image"
className="h-[150px] aspect-square border"
/>

Usage with AI SDK

Build a simple app allowing a user to generate an image given a prompt.

Install the @ai-sdk/openai package:

pnpm
npm
yarn
pnpm add @ai-sdk/openai

Add the following component to your frontend:

app/page.tsx
'use client';
import { Image } from '@/components/ai-elements/image';
import {
Input,
PromptInputTextarea,
PromptInputSubmit,
} from '@/components/ai-elements/prompt-input';
import { useState } from 'react';
import { Loader } from '@/components/ai-elements/loader';
const ImageDemo = () => {
const [prompt, setPrompt] = useState('A futuristic cityscape at sunset');
const [imageData, setImageData] = useState<any>(null);
const [isLoading, setIsLoading] = useState(false);
const handleSubmit = async (e: React.FormEvent) => {
e.preventDefault();
if (!prompt.trim()) return;
setPrompt('');
setIsLoading(true);
try {
const response = await fetch('/api/image', {
method: 'POST',
body: JSON.stringify({ prompt: prompt.trim() }),
});
const data = await response.json();
setImageData(data);
} catch (error) {
console.error('Error generating image:', error);
} finally {
setIsLoading(false);
}
};
return (
<div className="max-w-4xl mx-auto p-6 relative size-full rounded-lg border h-[600px]">
<div className="flex flex-col h-full">
<div className="flex-1 overflow-y-auto p-4">
{imageData && (
<div className="flex justify-center">
<Image
{...imageData}
alt="Generated image"
className="h-[300px] aspect-square border rounded-lg"
/>
</div>
)}
{isLoading && <Loader />}
</div>
<Input
onSubmit={handleSubmit}
className="mt-4 w-full max-w-2xl mx-auto relative"
>
<PromptInputTextarea
value={prompt}
placeholder="Describe the image you want to generate..."
onChange={(e) => setPrompt(e.currentTarget.value)}
className="pr-12"
/>
<PromptInputSubmit
status={isLoading ? 'submitted' : 'ready'}
disabled={!prompt.trim()}
className="absolute bottom-1 right-1"
/>
</Input>
</div>
</div>
);
};
export default ImageDemo;

Add the following route to your backend:

app/api/image/route.ts
import { openai } from '@ai-sdk/openai';
import { experimental_generateImage } from 'ai';
export async function POST(req: Request) {
const { prompt }: { prompt: string } = await req.json();
const { image } = await experimental_generateImage({
model: openai.image('dall-e-3'),
prompt: prompt,
size: '1024x1024',
});
return Response.json({
base64: image.base64,
uint8Array: image.uint8Array,
mediaType: image.mediaType,
});
}

Features

  • Accepts Experimental_GeneratedImage objects directly from the AI SDK
  • Automatically creates proper data URLs from base64-encoded image data
  • Supports all standard HTML image attributes
  • Responsive by default with max-w-full h-auto styling
  • Customizable with additional CSS classes
  • Includes proper TypeScript types for AI SDK compatibility

Props

<Image />

alt?:

string
Alternative text for the image.

className?:

string
Additional CSS classes to apply to the image.

[...props]?:

Experimental_GeneratedImage
The image data to display, as returned by the AI SDK.