I have been using DALL_E 3 to generate images for my articles. There are other image creators available and decided to try 4 others, which I review and compare. I have only considered free options, this article is for people new to using AI for images and want to have a play, rather than committing to one tool. There are more free options which I will test in the future.
The prompts I used are for business-related images, the kind of images clients would ask for, or I need for my consulting company. The first finding is that the image creators I have used don’t seem geared up for this type of image, they are great for fantasy, art and surrealistic. I summarise the other findings at the end.
I tested the following image generators: Bing Image Creator powered by DALL-E 3, Canva AI Image Generator, DeepAI, DreamStudio, and NightCafe.
My test is based on these 2 prompts:
1. “I want an image that represents my company to use for marketing. We produce travel coffee mugs. We are a diverse team based in two offices: London and Cape Town. Our corporate colour is bright orange. Our values are creativity, collaboration and fun.”
2. “I want an image for our strategy launch. We are an academic book publisher and will start selling online courses. We also introduce our new CEO and share plans for expansion to South America.”
I have listed the 5 image generators in alphabetical order and so gave myself no opportunity for suspense – the first one is my favourite.
Bing Image Creator powered by DALL-E 3
https://www.bing.com/images/create
DALL-E 3 has been a game-changer. If you have a ChatGPT Plus subscription you can access DALL-E 3 through that. For this test I used it via Bing Chat in the Microsoft Edge browser. You need a Microsoft Office account to sign in, once you are in it’s free.
None of the images are ready to use, but they are good ideas which I would tweak with the help of a designer.
Prompt 1 - Marketing travel coffee mugs
Prompt 2 - Strategy for academic book publisher
Canva AI Image Generator
https://www.canva.com/ai-image-generator/
This AI image creator is powered by Stable Diffusion. I have used Canva for non-AI content for many years so the layout was familiar. You need to have an account to use it.
Choose the tab ‘AI-powered’ and you get to a long list of options, apart from generate images and videos there are apps to: create voiceovers in multiple languages, convert an image to a speed drawing video, turn text into tune or create a song. I have not tried any of them yet, but very curious about them.
For this test, I used ‘AI Image Gen’.
The layout is the same as the normal Canva, there is a box to type in your prompt and then press Create. Very easy.
My impression is that none of them met my brief so I won’t use Canva for image generation, although I will check out the other ‘AI-powered’ options.
Prompt 1 - Marketing travel coffee mugs
Prompt 2 - Strategy for academic book publisher
DeepAI
There is a free option and there is no need to sign up. The free-to-use version has lots (and I mean lots) of adverts so it’s hard to recommend.
After entering your prompt you have to choose the preferred style among a long list which includes abstract painting, origami, pixel art,… I chose the plainest option of ‘text 2 image’. You can also choose the shape of the image.
I didn’t like any of the images created and the quality is low for the photographs, I expect the paid version has high resolution.
Prompt 1 - Marketing travel coffee mugs
Prompt 2 - Strategy for academic book publisher
DreamStudio
https://beta.dreamstudio.ai/generate
It is run by Stability AI and it’s my second favourite.
You have to create an account.
It has an intuitive layout and is easy to use. You enter your text prompt and choose the aspect ratio and count (I went with the default of 1:1 and 4 images). You can also add a ‘negative prompt’, i.e. what you want to avoid; I didn’t use it to keep the test consistent with the other options. There are advanced options I didn’t use either.
I would not use any of the images but they gave me ideas to develop.
Prompt 1 - Marketing travel coffee mugs
Prompt 2 - Strategy for academic book publisher
NightCafe
https://creator.nightcafe.studio/
It’s free to try but you have to buy credits to continue using. You need to create an account.
The layout of the site is ok but not a favourite, I find it a bit cluttered. After you enter the text prompt, you choose your preferred style, there isn’t anything that’s business-y. NighCafe is a better fit for digital art creations. You can choose aspect ratio, number of images per prompt – I left them as the default settings.
Prompt 1 - Marketing travel coffee mugs
For this prompt I chose the pre-set NightCafe style
Prompt 2 - Strategy for academic book publisher
For this prompt I chose the ‘detailed gouache’ style.
Summary
My first impression is that these image-creators applications were developed for gaming, fantasy and artists rather than the business world. Nothing wrong to inject a bit of fantasy in the sometimes grey, traditional business of course!
I am used to ChatGPT and the ability to refine the prompts in response to its outputs, this is not available with images and I missed that. It would be great to be able to modify an image until it meets the brief. The option may be available in the paid versions.
The advice by the image creators is to be as highly descriptive as possible. It normally works for other images I have created in the past but less so for more formal, business ones. My initial prompts were more detailed, but I got a couple of error messages so decided to shorten them.
I haven’t included the cost for these apps, I don’t know when you will read this and they may change. The availability of the free option may also be removed. I provided links so they are easy to access.
With some applications, you can upload images, but I haven’t tried it, so to keep the comparison consistent.
In conclusion, it was a fun way to spend an afternoon.
DALL-E 3 is my favourite option and I will continue using it, as well as try DreamStudio again. I will also explore the AI-powered apps in Canva. Change happens very quickly in AI; any of the other generators reviewed, or the many others available, may become the next big thing. It’s always good to set aside some time now and them to explore what is available.
Ps I generated the image of this post in Substack