# Opal: Multimodal Image Generation for News Illustration

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2204.09007 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2204.09007/

## Key facts

- Cited by 36 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- First posted on arXiv 19 Apr 2022.

## Built on by (most cited first, 30 of 36)

- [Generative Agents: Interactive Simulacra of Human Behavior](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2304.03442/) (2023)
- [Promptify: Text-to-Image Generation through Interactive Prompt Exploration with Large Language Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2304.09337/) (2023)
- [Luminate: Structured Generation and Exploration of Design Space with Large Language Models for Human-AI Co-Creation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2310.12953/) (2023)
- [PromptCharm: Text-to-Image Generation through Multi-modal Prompting and Refinement](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2403.04014/) (2024)
- [PromptMagician: Interactive Prompt Engineering for Text-to-Image Creation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2307.09036/) (2023)
- [Generative Pre-trained Transformer: A Comprehensive Review on Enabling Technologies, Potential Applications, Emerging Challenges, and Future Directions](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2305.10435/) (2023)
- [LAVE: LLM-Powered Agent Assistance and Language Augmentation for Video Editing](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2402.10294/) (2024)
- [CLIP-Sculptor: Zero-Shot Generation of High-Fidelity and Diverse Shapes from Natural Language](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2211.01427/) (2022)
- [RePrompt: Automatic Prompt Editing to Refine AI-Generative Art Towards Precise Expressions](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2302.09466/) (2023)
- [3DALL-E: Integrating Text-to-Image AI in 3D Design Workflows](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2210.11603/) (2022)
- [PromptPaint: Steering Text-to-Image Generation Through Paint Medium-like Interactions](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2308.05184/) (2023)
- [ConstitutionMaker: Interactively Critiquing Large Language Models by Converting Feedback into Principles](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2310.15428/) (2023)
- [I Spy a Metaphor: Large Language Models and Diffusion Models Co-Create Visual Metaphors](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2305.14724/) (2023)
- [Generation Probabilities Are Not Enough: Uncertainty Highlighting in AI Code Completions](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2302.07248/) (2023)
- [Generative Disco: Text-to-Video Generation for Music Visualization](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2304.08551/) (2023)
- [ReelFramer: Human-AI Co-Creation for News-to-Video Translation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2304.09653/) (2023)
- [Designing LLM Chains by Adapting Techniques from Crowdsourcing Workflows](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2312.11681/) (2023)
- [VPP: Efficient Conditional 3D Generation via Voxel-Point Progressive Representation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2307.16605/) (2023)
- [Not Just Novelty: A Longitudinal Study on Utility and Customization of an AI Workflow](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2402.09894/) (2024)
- [PromptInfuser: How Tightly Coupling AI and UI Design Impacts Designers' Workflows](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2310.15435/) (2023)
- [PromptMap: An Alternative Interaction Style for AI-Based Image Generation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2503.09436/) (2025)
- [A User-Friendly Framework for Generating Model-Preferred Prompts in Text-to-Image Synthesis](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2402.12760/) (2024)
- [The Infinite Index: Information Retrieval on Generative Text-To-Image Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2212.07476/) (2022)
- [PromptCrafter: Crafting Text-to-Image Prompt through Mixed-Initiative Dialogue with LLM](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2307.08985/) (2023)
- [DesignWeaver: Dimensional Scaffolding for Text-to-Image Product Design](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2502.09867/) (2025)
- [Intent Tagging: Exploring Micro-Prompting Interactions for Supporting Granular Human-GenAI Co-Creation Workflows](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2502.18737/) (2025)
- [POET: Supporting Prompting Creativity and Personalization with Automated Expansion of Text-to-Image Generation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2504.13392/) (2025)
- [GenTune: Toward Traceable Prompts to Improve Controllability of Image Refinement in Environment Design](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2508.15227/) (2025)
- [Large Language Models Meet User Interfaces: The Case of Provisioning Feedback](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2404.11072/) (2024)
- [Taming Text-to-Image Synthesis for Novices: User-centric Prompt Generation via Multi-turn Guidance](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2408.12910/) (2024)

## Abstract (arXiv)

Advances in multimodal AI have presented people with powerful ways to create images from text. Recent work has shown that text-to-image generations are able to represent a broad range of subjects and artistic styles. However, finding the right visual language for text prompts is difficult. In this paper, we address this challenge with Opal, a system that produces text-to-image generations for news illustration. Given an article, Opal guides users through a structured search for visual concepts and provides a pipeline allowing users to generate illustrations based on an article's tone, keywords, and related artistic styles. Our evaluation shows that Opal efficiently generates diverse sets of news illustrations, visual assets, and concept ideas. Users with Opal generated two times more usable results than users without. We discuss how structured exploration can help users better understand the capabilities of human AI co-creative systems.