Images
An original cover picture drawn for each article by the Art Desk - never a stock photo - credited as AI-generated wherever it publishes, and redrawn with one press.
Every article can carry its own cover picture, drawn for that article by the Art Desk. Not a stock photo, and never a picture taken from someone else's site.
On this page
Turning pictures on or off
Pictures are a setting on each domain and on your profile - you choose it during setup, and can change it in Article defaults. With pictures on, every article gets one. With pictures off, the Art Desk does not run and the article arrives without a picture.
How the picture is made
The Art Desk works while the words get their final checks. It reads the article's headline and standfirst - the short line under the headline - and draws a picture of what the article is actually about, in the style set for your domain.
Example: a headline names a new phone that readers may not recognise. The standfirst says it is the maker's first folding phone. So the Art Desk draws a folding phone, not a generic handset.
It also writes the picture's description for screen readers, based on the final headline and standfirst, so it matches the article as published.
Credited as what it is
Every generated picture carries a visible credit - "Illustration generated by AI" - wherever it is published: when you press Publish, and when the autonomous newsroom publishes on its own. The credit is driven by what was recorded about the picture when it was made, not by a guess.
Where the picture is kept
Pictures are stored on Mastheads' own servers and linked from the article, so they need to stay reachable for as long as the article is live.
When you publish to WordPress or Ghost, the picture is uploaded into your site's own media library as the post's featured image, with its description and credit. One thing to know: a WordPress theme that ignores featured images will not show it, because the theme decides what appears. A standard theme shows it.
Don't like it? Draw another
Press Draw another on the article's picture and the Art Desk draws a new one for the same article. Each new picture is a paid action, so you see the cost and confirm before it runs. You are asked once per article.
The old picture is kept in storage on purpose. If an earlier version of the article is already live with it, that page does not break.
A missing picture never costs you the article
If a picture cannot be made, the article is still delivered, with the problem recorded. A finished article is never held back for a missing illustration. You can press Draw another later.
Related: Editing drafts · The ten desks · Connect your CMS