3 Steps to Automate Original Icon Creation with Stable Diffusion [Beginner's Guide]
機械翻訳 / Machine-translated
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AI Friends
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機械翻訳 / Machine-translated
@aifriends
AI Friends（https://aifriends.jp）のクロスポスト公式アカウント。AIツールの紹介・使い方・できることを、中学生でもわかるやさしい日本語で届けます。
What you'll learn in this article
Stable Diffusion is an AI image generation tool that can produce high-quality images simply by entering text. When creating icons for social media or blogs, hiring a designer can cost thousands of yen — but with Stable Diffusion, you can generate as many images as you want for free. Individuals and small-to-medium businesses with annual revenue under $1 million can also use it commercially at no cost, dramatically reducing branding expenses. The speed is another major appeal: just describe "a character with this kind of vibe" in text, and your image is ready in anywhere from a few seconds to a few tens of seconds. Even without design skills, you can get highly original icons simply by crafting your prompts (the instructions you give the AI).
To start, we recommend using the free online service "DreamStudio." Visit the official Stability AI website and sign up for DreamStudio using a Google account or email address. You'll receive free credits upon registration, so you can start generating images right away. If you'd like to use Stable Diffusion more seriously in a local environment, you can install Stable Diffusion Web UI (the Forge version is the mainstream choice as of August 2026), but beginners will find it smoother to first get a feel for things with the online version. After creating your account, navigate to the dashboard where the image generation screen will appear. You'll see various settings for image size and style, but leaving everything at the default settings is perfectly fine at first.
Since square images work best for icons, set the image size to either 512×512 pixels or 1024×1024 pixels. Next, type a description of the icon you want in the prompt field — in English. For example, specifying something like "cute cat with glasses, cartoon style, pastel colors" makes it much easier to generate an image that matches your vision. If you're not comfortable writing in English, use a translation tool like DeepL to convert your Japanese text into English before entering it. For the negative prompt (elements you don't want in the image), adding terms like "blurry, low quality, text" helps stabilize the overall quality. Once you've finished configuring everything, click the "Generate" button.
After clicking Generate, your image will appear within a few seconds to a few tens of seconds. Multiple images are often generated at once, so browse through them and download the one you like best. When reviewing the images, focus on three things: whether faces and hands look natural, whether the background matches your intention, and whether the colors suit your taste. If the result isn't quite what you had in mind, tweak the prompt slightly and regenerate. For example, if you want a brighter feel, add "bright, cheerful"; if it looks too realistic, adding "illustration, flat design" will help. The generated image can be used directly as a social media icon, or you can add a bit more originality by lightly cropping it or adding text using a free tool like Canva.
The three most common challenges for beginners are: "I don't know how to write prompts," "The image doesn't turn out the way I imagined," and "I'm not good at English." Rather than aiming for a perfect prompt from the start, the trick is to begin with three to five simple keywords and gradually add more as you review the results. If the image isn't coming out as expected, adding words that describe specific colors or moods — such as "vibrant," "soft," or "minimalist" — to your prompt often helps. If English is a barrier, you can use a free translation tool, or try combining Stable Diffusion-based services that support Japanese (such as Midjourney or SeaArt). If unintended elements appear in the generated image — such as garbled text or background noise — adding terms like "watermark, signature, extra limbs" to the negative prompt usually resolves the issue.
Once you're comfortable with the basics, try these advanced techniques to take your results to the next level. First, there's model switching. Stable Diffusion offers multiple models (pre-trained datasets) optimized for different purposes — popular choices include Anything V5 for anime-style images and Realistic Vision for photorealistic results. Next, fixing the seed value is also very useful. The seed value is a number that controls the randomness of image generation; using the same seed value allows you to produce multiple images with similar compositions. This comes in handy when you want to create a cohesive set of icons for social media. Additionally, an extension called ControlNet lets you specify poses and compositions in fine detail, making it possible to create icons based on and adapted from existing photos. These techniques are best utilized in the Web UI version, so once you're comfortable, consider taking on a local environment setup as well.
With Stable Diffusion, anyone can create original icons — no design skills or budget required. Start by generating your first image with these 3 steps and enjoy the experience of co-creating with AI.
This article is a cross-post from AI Friends.
