Generate a design

Generate an AI landscape design from your photo in a few clicks. Pick a style and template or write your own prompt, compare results, then refine by hand.

Generating with AI takes the background photo you're working with and reimagines it, either from a ready-made template or from your own written idea. Here's the full flow.

Before you start

Open a design in the Visual Designer that has a background photo. AI works from that photo, so a clear, well-lit image taken from the angle you want to design from gives the best results.
The Free plan includes 3 AI generations so you can try it out. See AI usage for how generations work.

Generate from a style and template (the quickest way)

Open your design in the Visual Designer.
Click the AI tab (the sparkles icon).
Choose a design style. Browse the available styles (modern, cottage, desert, tropical, and more).
Pick a template inside that style. Each template is a ready-made look AI will apply to your photo.
Tune the plant list (optional). Each template comes with its own plant palette. Toggle off any plant you don't want, remove it from the list, or add one of your own. AI builds the design from the plants you leave selected. Deselecting usually keeps a plant out, though it isn't a hard guarantee — if one still shows up, generate again.
Generate. AI creates a new version of your space. This takes a moment, and you'll see it working.
Review the result. It's applied to your design automatically. AI shows the before and after side by side, with the new version marked as active.
Changed your mind? Click Restore (or the "before" thumbnail) to put your previous version back. Re-generate gives you another take, and Done finishes up.

Templates and the plant palette are available on every plan, including Free.

Generate from your own prompt (Plus and higher)

Prefer to describe the look yourself? Write a custom prompt instead of, or on top of, a template. Custom prompts are the most powerful way to use AI: they can remove any item, add hardscape, and steer the design in your own words.

Custom prompts are part of SimplyScapes Plus and higher. On the Free plan, use design styles and templates above.

In the AI tab, type your idea into the prompt box. Be specific, for example: "Clear the old shed, add a stone patio with a fire pit, and plant a few small trees for shade. Keep the natural look."
Send your prompt (press Enter, or click the send button). To start a new line without sending, press Shift and Enter together.
Review the result, same as above — it's applied automatically, and Restore puts your previous version back.

If you aren't sure what to type, you'll see a few suggested prompts you can click to get started, then edit to match your space.

Custom prompts work on any image, AI-generated or uploaded — which is what makes them the best way to remove unwanted plants and items.

Getting a plant list

An AI design doesn't come with a plant list. The AI tab works in pictures: it hands back a before-and-after pair of images, and there are no plant records behind an AI result to list, filter, or export. It also can't write you a list, because it answers in images rather than words.

Ask AI to label the plants

There's a trick that gets you most of the way there. With a custom prompt (Plus and higher), ask AI to label the plants in your design — something like "label each plant in this design with its name". AI regenerates the image with the names drawn right onto it, so you can see what's planted where at a glance.

Two things to know: it's a picture of a list, not a list you can filter or export, and the plant names come from AI's read of the image, so check anything you plan to buy from. And because results apply automatically, the labeled version becomes your design — click Restore to put the unlabeled one back.

To get a real plant list, place the plants yourself from the Plant Library, then export a PDF. It includes a full plant list with a detail page for every plant, ready to hand to a client.

A good way to get both: use AI to settle on a look you like, then place the plants by hand to match it. See What AI can and can't do.

Refine by hand

AI gives you the skeleton. You make it yours. Once you've set an AI result as your background, keep going with drag-and-drop:

Swap anything that doesn't fit. Drag in a specific plant or object to replace what AI chose.
Add what AI missed. Place a plant, object, or drawing exactly where you want it.
Fine-tune the layout. Move, resize, and layer items for full control.

An AI result is a flat image, so anything you want to move or place precisely has to come from the Plants or Objects library. See What AI can and can't do.

Iterate

Try another template or prompt to build on what you have. Each new generation works from your current design, so changes stack up.
Run the same one again for a different take. Results vary each time.
Go back to any version. Every generation stays in the tab, and View full history shows them all. Click any version to apply it to your design.

Browse the looks in AI styles and templates.
Learn what AI is best for in What the AI tab does.
Taking something out? See Remove a plant or item from a design.
Know the trade-offs in What AI can and can't do.