Let’s face it: we’re living in a world where AI is no longer just a sci-fi dream.

It’s here, it’s real, and it’s seriously shaking things up – especially when it comes to creating images and video.

As someone who’s spent quite a bit of time tinkering with these tools, I’m excited to share my take on three of my favorite platforms right now to quickly generate images of photos for blog posts, social media entries, and more.

Let’s go.

1. The Swiss Army Knife of AI

Of course, it starts with ChatGPT.

Still arguably the number one player in generative AI, ChatGPT is quite nice for generating images in a flash.

Just hop onto the site or app and prompt with something like “a photo of..” or “generate an image of…” and ChatGPT will switch to the image generation via DALLE 3.

The output is usually fine. Some things can be tricky, especially real-life (looking) photography.

But for free, it gets the job done in many cases.

The Good Stuff:

• It’s a one-stop-shop for both words and pictures
• If you’re already using ChatGPT, the image feature feels like a natural extension
• It’s good at understanding context, so your images actually match what you’re talking about

The Not-So-Great:

• The free tier is pretty limited when it comes to image generation
• Sometimes the results can be a bit… quirky (but hey, that’s part of the fun, right?)

My Take: Jack of all trades, master of none. It’s fantastic for quick visualizations or when you’re brainstorming, but if you’re after highly polished images, you might want to look elsewhere.

2. Privacy-Focused Image Generation

Next up, we’ve got Venice.ai.

Chances are good you’ve never heard of this one unless you read my previous post on my current three favorite AI tools.

Venice.ai is somewhat new to the scene and it focuses on privacy.

Like ChatGPT, Venice can generate text and images with a limited free amount. For more, you need a premium plan which is relatively cheap as well.

Venice.ai is good for quickly generation images and photos while working on some text. It’s not as good as ChatGPT in both, but the privacy aspect does offer some unique benefits.

First, you don’t need an account to generate text or images. Secondly, If you do create one, your data isn’t stored or logged. It’s also encrypted. And Venice.ai doesn’t censor. That could be a huge plus.

Overall a nice tool to try!

The Good Stuff:

• Easy to use, no account required
• Privacy-focused, no data stored or logged
• Quick
• Affordable premium plan

The Not-So-Great:

• The free tier is quite limited
• It can sometimes struggle with complex, multi-element scenes
• Not as comprehensive as ChatGPT and others

My Take: Perfect allrounder for short texts and quick images. Ideal for private requests.

3. The Dark Horse Champion

Last but definitely not least, we’ve got Ideogram.ai.

This is the tool that’s been my go-to lately, and for good reason.

Ideogram.ai might not have the name recognition of ChatGPT. It’s not a text-generator. Ideogram only generates images. But they do that very well. In my experience, images and especially photos were best coming from Ideogram.

Now, Ideogram has a free plan, but you have to wait a while for an image to be generated and you can only do a few until you have to wait a day.

But what Ideogram can generate is pretty dope. With the right prompts, you can get it to generate damn real-looking photos of anything and everything.

It’s almost scary. I love it for generating photos for blog posts and social media.

The Good Stuff:

• The quality of the generated photos is often realistic
• It handles a diverse range of image types with ease – from product shots to landscapes
• The results are consistently impressive, even with vague prompts (it does suck sometimes, but that’s to be expected with AI)

The Not-So-Great:

• Like the others, the free tier has its limits, even more so here
• The waiting period between free generations can test your patience
• Images are public, so better watch our what you generate 😉

My Take: It’s quickly becoming my favorite. The quality and versatility of the images it produces are great. Whether I’m mocking up product ideas or creating photgraphic scenes, Ideogram.ai rarely disappoints.

The Bottom Line

Each of these tools brings something unique to the table. ChatGPT is your all-in-one idea machine, Venice.ai is private AI engine, and Ideogram.ai is the powerhouse for realistic and diverse image creation.

One thing to keep in mind: all of these platforms offer a limited number of free generations before you either hit a waiting period or need to consider a premium plan.

That’s the way it is.

My advice? Give each of them a spin. See which one clicks with your creative process.

In fact, I use all three most of the time. With the same prompts to see how they compare, or with different, sequential prompts to see the results and generate more for free.