---
title: Outpainting
---

# :octicons-paintbrush-16: Outpainting

## Outpainting and outcropping

Outpainting is a process by which the AI generates parts of the image that are
outside its original frame. It can be used to fix up images in which the subject
is off center, or when some detail (often the top of someone's head!) is cut
off.

InvokeAI supports two versions of outpainting, one called "outpaint" and the
other "outcrop." They work slightly differently and each has its advantages and
drawbacks.

### Outpainting

Outpainting is the same as inpainting, except that the painting occurs in the
regions outside of the original image. To outpaint using the `invoke.py` command
line script, prepare an image in which the borders to be extended are pure
black. Add an alpha channel (if there isn't one already), and make the borders
completely transparent and the interior completely opaque. If you wish to modify
the interior as well, you may create transparent holes in the transparency
layer, which `img2img` will paint into as usual.

Pass the image as the argument to the `-I` switch as you would for regular
inpainting:

```bash
invoke> a stream by a river -I /path/to/transparent_img.png
```

You'll likely be delighted by the results.

### Tips

1. Do not try to expand the image too much at once. Generally it is best to
   expand the margins in 64-pixel increments. 128 pixels often works, but your
   mileage may vary depending on the nature of the image you are trying to
   outpaint into.

2. There are a series of switches that can be used to adjust how the inpainting
   algorithm operates. In particular, you can use these to minimize the seam
   that sometimes appears between the original image and the extended part.
   These switches are:

| switch                     | default | description                                                            |
| -------------------------- | ------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| `--seam_size SEAM_SIZE `   | `0`     | Size of the mask around the seam between original and outpainted image |
| `--seam_blur SEAM_BLUR`    | `0`     | The amount to blur the seam inwards                                    |
| `--seam_strength STRENGTH` | `0.7`   | The img2img strength to use when filling the seam                      |
| `--seam_steps SEAM_STEPS`  | `10`    | The number of steps to use to fill the seam.                           |
| `--tile_size TILE_SIZE`    | `32`    | The tile size to use for filling outpaint areas                        |

### Outcrop

The `outcrop` extension gives you a convenient `!fix` postprocessing command
that allows you to extend a previously-generated image in 64 pixel increments in
any direction. You can apply the module to any image previously-generated by
InvokeAI. Note that it works with arbitrary PNG photographs, but not currently
with JPG or other formats. Outcropping is particularly effective when combined
with the
[runwayML custom inpainting model](INPAINTING.md#using-the-runwayml-inpainting-model).

Consider this image:

<figure markdown>
![curly_woman](../assets/outpainting/curly.png)
</figure>

Pretty nice, but it's annoying that the top of her head is cut off. She's also a
bit off center. Let's fix that!

```bash
invoke> !fix images/curly.png --outcrop top 128 right 64 bottom 64
```

This is saying to apply the `outcrop` extension by extending the top of the
image by 128 pixels, and the right and bottom of the image by 64 pixels. You can
use any combination of top|left|right|bottom, and specify any number of pixels
to extend. You can also abbreviate `--outcrop` to `-c`.

The result looks like this:

<figure markdown>
![curly_woman_outcrop](../assets/outpainting/curly-outcrop-2.png)
</figure>

The new image is larger than the original (576x704) because 64 pixels were added
to the top and right sides. You will need enough VRAM to process an image of
this size.

#### Outcropping non-InvokeAI images

You can outcrop an arbitrary image that was not generated by InvokeAI,
but your results will vary. The `inpainting-1.5` model is highly
recommended, but if not feasible, then you may be able to improve the
output by conditioning the outcropping with a text prompt that
describes the scene using the `--new_prompt` argument:

```bash
invoke> !fix images/vacation.png --outcrop top 128 --new_prompt "family vacation"
```

You may also provide a different seed for outcropping to use by passing
`-S<seed>`. A negative seed will generate a new random seed.

A number of caveats:

1. Although you can specify any pixel values, they will be rounded up to the
   nearest multiple of 64. Smaller values are better. Larger extensions are more
   likely to generate artefacts. However, if you wish you can run the !fix
   command repeatedly to cautiously expand the image.

2. The extension is stochastic, meaning that each time you run it you'll get a
   slightly different result. You can run it repeatedly until you get an image
   you like. Unfortunately `!fix` does not currently respect the `-n`
   (`--iterations`) argument.

3. Your results will be _much_ better if you use the `inpaint-1.5` model
   released by runwayML and installed by default by `scripts/preload_models.py`.
   This model was trained specifically to harmoniously fill in image gaps. The
   standard model will work as well, but you may notice color discontinuities at
   the border.

4. When using the `inpaint-1.5` model, you may notice subtle changes to the area
   outside the masked region. This is because the model performs an
   encoding/decoding on the image as a whole. This does not occur with the
   standard model.

## Outpaint

The `outpaint` extension does the same thing, but with subtle differences.
Starting with the same image, here is how we would add an additional 64 pixels
to the top of the image:

```bash
invoke> !fix images/curly.png --out_direction top 64
```

(you can abbreviate `--out_direction` as `-D`.

The result is shown here:

<figure markdown>
![curly_woman_outpaint](../assets/outpainting/curly-outpaint.png)
</figure>

Although the effect is similar, there are significant differences from
outcropping:

- You can only specify one direction to extend at a time.
- The image is **not** resized. Instead, the image is shifted by the specified
  number of pixels. If you look carefully, you'll see that less of the lady's
  torso is visible in the image.
- Because the image dimensions remain the same, there's no rounding to multiples
  of 64.
- Attempting to outpaint larger areas will frequently give rise to ugly ghosting
  effects.
- For best results, try increasing the step number.
- If you don't specify a pixel value in `-D`, it will default to half of the
  whole image, which is likely not what you want.

!!! tip

    Neither `outpaint` nor `outcrop` are perfect, but we continue to tune
    and improve them. If one doesn't work, try the other. You may also
    wish to experiment with other `img2img` arguments, such as `-C`, `-f`
    and `-s`.
