Workshop: Sustainable AI Image Generation

 Wednesday, 4 February 2026
 2:00 — 4:00 pm
 BR-151
Tim Fransen
Technical Tutor / Researcher / Designer


This hands-on workshop introduces sustainable AI image generation, offering practical ways to reduce unnecessary energy use and the water demands associated with cloud-based generative tools. Using Invoke Community Edition – a free, open-source application that runs locally on a computer – participants will learn how working on a local device can reduce reliance on always-on cloud services while supporting privacy, transparency, and more controllable results.

Screenshot of Invoke, an open-source interface used to build and run AI image-generation workflows locally, providing fine-grained creative control over each stage and the final output.

We’ll start with the essentials: getting comfortable with the Invoke interface, loading a model, and generating your first images. From there, a series of short, guided exercises will introduce prompt basics, style references (using reference images), and simple controls that make results more consistent – especially seeds (to repeat or refine an image) and guidance scale (CFG) (to balance prompt adherence and variation). You’ll also learn beginner-friendly editing workflows, including inpainting, outpainting, and upscaling, so you can fix and improve images without regenerating everything.

You will learn how to:

  • Navigate the Invoke interface and run a simple local workflow
  • Write clear prompts and use style references to shape the image output
  • Choose a model and key settings for efficient, high-quality results
  • Use seeds and guidance scale (CFG) to make outputs more predictable and reproducible
  • Use inpainting to correct small areas (hands, faces, backgrounds) without starting over
  • Use outpainting to extend an image for new crops or aspect ratios
  • Use upscaling to create higher-resolution final images while minimising unnecessary reruns

Requirements: Laptops will be provided. No prior experience with Invoke is required.

Resources: