Generate and Edit Your First Image

Create an image of a paper city, make a wide version, and edit its lighting. Each command saves a separate file so you can compare the results.

You need bild on your PATH, Internet access, and an API key from the provider of the model you use. The commands below use Google's google/gemini-3.1-flash-image model. With an API key from another provider, replace that model with one of the provider's models that accepts --input-media; find a model shows how to choose one. See install and configure Bildomat to install bild or create an API key. Generation requests may incur provider charges.

Set the Credential

If your provider's API key is not in Bildomat's configuration file, set the provider's environment variable in this shell. Install and configure Bildomat gives the variable for every provider, and shows how to put API keys in the configuration file instead.

An API key in ~/.bildomat/config.yml takes precedence over the environment variable. See configuration if you need to change an existing API key.

Generate the First Image

bild --model google/gemini-3.1-flash-image --output-path ./paper-city.png "A paper city photographed in soft window light"

Bildomat reports the selected provider and model, waits for the result, and prints the saved path. Open that file. The image's appearance varies between runs.

A relative output path is relative to the current directory, even if you configured a default output directory. Bildomat never replaces an existing file: a repeated run can save paper-city-02.png. A different returned format can also change the extension. Always use the path Bildomat reports.

Inspect the Model

bild info google/gemini-3.1-flash-image

Find --aspect-ratio, which lists the accepted shapes. Find --input-media, which accepts up to 14 sources on this model. Catalog inspection makes no generation request.

Make a Wide Version

bild --model google/gemini-3.1-flash-image --aspect-ratio 16:9 --resolution 1K --output-path ./paper-city-wide.png "A paper city photographed in soft window light, wide composition"

Open the saved file and compare the composition with the first image. A supplied value outside a model's accepted values can be adjusted or omitted; Bildomat reports the change.

Edit the Image

Use the actual saved path from the preceding step. The command below assumes it was ./paper-city-wide.png:

bild --model google/gemini-3.1-flash-image --input-media ./paper-city-wide.png --aspect-ratio 16:9 --output-path ./paper-city-night.png "Keep the paper city and composition, but make it night with every window glowing"

Open the edited file. The source remains available beside it. You have generated an image, selected its shape, inspected a model, and used an image as the starting point for an edit.

Continue with processing images in scripts, using an agent, or animating an image.

Bildomat 0.0.7·Revised 2026-10-05