2024’s Finest AI Image Makers – Best AI Image Generator from Text

Amanda Shelton

August 29, 2024
7 min read

2024’s Finest AI Image Makers – Best AI Image Generator from Text

AI-generated art develops in tandem with AI technology. Not only may services like Dall-E 3 and Midjourney support professional creators but also provide amateur artists with a simple way to create individualized, customized work. These programs are not meant to replace human artists and makers. Artificial intelligence (AI) image generators are always changing and present countless creative possibilities.

These AI picture generators have been rigorously tested before being included on our list. Using these tools, CNET reviewers have created hundreds of images over months, ranging from dramatic sci-fi sceneries to rainbow safari cartoons and photorealistic stock photography. Every service on our list eventually produces a jerky or unsatisfactory image. How well-suited an AI image generator is to manage these idiosyncrasies and fix errors is the true measure of its superiority. We test editing tools and customization choices thoroughly because they play a significant role in that. The privacy policies of services, together with the possibility of generator training on your data, should be taken into account when choosing the finest providers.

Which AI Image Generator Is The Best?

Our top choice for an AI image generator is OpenAI’s Dall-E 3. Its ability to handle lengthy, intricate questions, an abundance of editing and customization tools, and distinctive conversational flow make it simple to realize your creative ambitions. If you would prefer not to subscribe to ChatGPT Plus, which costs $20 a month, Leonardo AI provides excellent AI images as part of its free package. Canva’s user-friendly design is simple enough even for beginners to use, while skilled creatives who want to play with AI art should use Adobe Firefly and its suite of AI tools.

2024’s Top AI Image Generator

Dall-E 3

The greatest AI image creator overall

Advantage

Recognizes extended, intricate questions
Captivating, lively pictures
The conversational manner makes adjustments simple.

Disadvantage

Photorealistic visuals may appear phony.
Sluggish to produce pictures

The finest AI picture creator, according to CNET’s 2024 Editor, is Dall-E 3, developed by OpenAI. Dall-E 3 is an excellent editing tool for both beginners and experts, offering a variety of styles and customizing options. Among its rivals, Dall-E stands out for its conversational flow, which facilitates the sending of follow-up questions, and its capacity to answer intricate inquiries. OpenAI says it won’t share your data with advertising and provides a means to request to opt out of model training, but it may utilize your material to enhance its models. With a $20 monthly ChatGPT Plus membership, Dall-E 3 produces colorful, captivating graphics with few artificial intelligence idiosyncrasies.

Leonardo AI

The greatest AI image creator is free.

Advantage

Lucid and intricate pictures
Useful, fast engineering instruments

Disadvantage

The free plan does not include post-generation editing options.
Poor privacy statement

With its all-inclusive free plan, you can quickly get a lot of generation credits. Although its post-generation editing capabilities are paywalled, it does provide a tool for improving prompts and other customizable features that can help you create the greatest prompts. With Leonardo, creating vibrant, intricate AI graphics and exploring the possibilities of AI is simple. Its free plan easily outperforms that of its rivals, including the user-friendly Canva.

Firefly Adobe

Professionals’ best AI image generator

Advantage:

Outstanding creative forms
Good possibilities for fine-tuning
Competitive speed of generation

Disadvantage:

Challenges Creating Photorealistic Pictures
A challenge when components come into contact or interact
Doesn’t take complicated inquiries

Professional creatives who want to experiment will find that Adobe Creative Cloud, which includes Photoshop, integrates seamlessly with Adobe Firefly’s suite of generative AI picture tools. Creatives will find Firefly’s refinement capabilities reminiscent of editing software, and it provides a plethora of stylistic and artistic alternatives. Adobe’s Stock collection, which has excellent licensed and public domain content, is used to train Firefly. Firefly doesn’t use your content for training. Firefly is a simple tool for quickly mocking up concepts or finding inspiration if you already have an Adobe Creative Cloud subscription.

Canva

The greatest AI image creator for novices

Advantage:

Excels at producing whimsical, humorous, and cartoon pictures
Uses your material as a source for its AI training

Disadvantages:

You can only create a certain number of photos with the free plan.
Difficult to produce non-square pictures

Magic Media, Canva’s AI image generator, is a fantastic choice for inexperienced AI designers. For those on a tight budget or with limited time, Magic Media is an excellent option because it is a simple service—it isn’t ideal for those who require complicated editing capabilities. Unlike many competitors, Canva never uses your content to train its AI, so the photos you create are always private. This makes Canva’s privacy policy exceptionally secure. Additionally, Canva’s desktop and mobile apps make it simple to incorporate your AI graphics into other projects. Beginners and fans of Canva will adore this straightforward, user-friendly AI picture generator.

How We Put AI Image Producers To The Test?

When evaluating AI image producers, CNET adopts a pragmatic viewpoint. We want to know which uses it best fulfills and how good it is in comparison to the competition. To do that, we provide the AI with instructions based on common use cases found in the real world, like managing longer descriptions, integrating pieces into a single image, and rendering in a specific style. We use a 10-point rating system to evaluate the picture generators, taking into account things like reaction time, inventiveness of the output, and how well the images match the prompts.

Things to Think About:

When analyzing AI picture generators, accuracy is a crucial component to take into account. In this context, accuracy pertains to how well a service complies with your request and how well elements and data are presented. A service that produces a clear-eyed human image or one that closely resembles the sci-fi/fantasy spaceship scenario mentioned in a prompt, for instance, would be deemed accurate.

Conversely, it’s also critical to take into account hallucinations and how AI fabricates information. People with three arms or parts that vanish are examples of strange features or defects that AI images tend to have that you may not have requested. While an AI picture generator must be creative by nature, hallucinations are errors rather than quirky or unrealistic design cues. All AI picture producers encounter these issues, but excellent AI systems experience them less frequently and provide readily available editing tools to address them.

Creating the image of your idea becomes simpler with generators that follow instructions precisely and provide modifying capabilities.

Consideration should also be given to response time. The majority of picture generators operate in less than two minutes. Services that can provide photos in less time—between 10 and 30 seconds—offer a competitive advantage to their users.

FAQs

Which AI Image Generator Is The Best?

Because of its extensive set of editing and customizing features, strict adherence to prompts, and high level of image quality, Dall-E 3 by OpenAI is CNET’s Editor’s Choice for the finest AI image generator. Dall-E has a conversational style and excels at responding to increasingly complicated commands.

Is It Possible To Create Free AI Images?

While there are a few free and paid AI picture generators available, we suggest using Leonardo AI or Canva as a starting point. These two services provide free AI image production that responds quickly and adheres to appropriate prompts.

What Is The Best Way To Create AI Images?

Make sure you include the style, aesthetic, dimension, and any other unique elements you want your generator to produce when you write what you want it to produce. Certain instructions can be difficult for certain generators to follow, but it’s best to start with one and adjust or reduce it as necessary.

My AI Image Looks Strange; Why Is That?

If your AI picture generator isn’t producing the images you want, there are several possible causes. Aim to tweak your prompt by deleting oddities or contradictory aspects with customization options and editing tools. But regrettably, there are instances when starting over with a fresh idea is your only choice.