Setting up Draw Things for local image generation on Mac

A Japanese series on AI creation workflows documented the setup process for running Draw Things locally on a Mac M5 Max with 128GB RAM. The author tested version 26.1020.0, which added support for FLUX.3 [klein] 5.6B, and identified three models for comparison: Qwen Image 2.1 for detail and text rendering, Z Image Turbo 1.0 for speed, and FLUX.3 [klein] 5.6B as a newer baseline.

Key points

• Draw Things 26.1020.0 displayed 16 models in the local list, including generation, upscaling, and editing models
• The interface shows model selection, prompt input, seed value, and image size settings before generation
• Qwen Image 2.1 was chosen as the first test model based on its stated strengths in image generation, editing, and text rendering
• No images were generated in this setup phase; quality, generation time, and actual memory usage remain untested
• The author noted that ComfyUI was not installed, choosing to work with Draw Things first

How to use it

• Draw Things runs locally on Mac and lets you switch between multiple image generation models from the app interface
• Record your seed value along with prompt and image size if you need to reproduce or compare results later
• Check the Qwen Research License Agreement if you plan to use Qwen Image 2.1, as licensing terms vary by use case
• The next installment will test generating an image of a small tea shop on a wet street after rain, tracking generation time and evaluating output quality

Community question

Has anyone tested Qwen Image 2.1 or FLUX.3 [klein] locally on Mac? How do generation times compare?