AI Image Generator
Canva Text to Image (Beta) Looks Very Promising
A new feature in the Canva app.
It’s 2022 (as I’m writing), and we’re approaching 2023 soon. So, we’re no strangers to AI image generators at this point.
Even Canva, the infamous graphic design app widely used in over 190 countries, has included a Text to Image feature. However, it is currently a beta version. So there are many times when the portrait pictures I described come out a bit… deformed.
Also, there’s a daily image quota. But then again, it is still a beta version. And having experienced the brilliance Canva brought to creativity and artistry, it’s safe to be hopeful that this feature will work better in the future.
Canva Text to Image
Like any AI Image generator, it’s simple. You just need to describe a picture you visualize in your head.
After that, you can choose your style:
- Surprise me
- Photo
- Drawing
- 3D
- Painting
- Pattern
- Concept art
And click ‘Generate image’.
But I have to say, my first few attempts using this feature ended with weird, deformed images. Like having a freaky dream that’s a few steps from becoming a nightmare.
It kind of made me feel like a mad scientist doing unethical experiments. 🤣
I want to show you those pics, but they spooked me, so I got rid of them. Here are some of the less peculiar ones I got out of Text to Image:
For these two, I simply typed the descriptions as — Purple rain. Just to test it out.
And for this one, I typed — An astronaut floating in a colorful candy galaxy. The result is pretty good until you notice the extra limb!
But I did get many close-to-accurate and fun-looking pictures out of the description after choosing the styles I’d like.
It took me a while, but I think I’m getting the hang of it. The key is to be as concise as possible with your description.
For example, for the image below, I typed — A mysterious woman with olive green hair. She has orange-colored eyes. She is holding a sword.
Okay, her eyes aren’t exactly orange, but the more detail you provide, the better the result will be.
The Mysterious Woman in The Rain
Though it all started with designing amateurish cover images for blog posts, it has then evolved into creating art pieces I mostly post on Instagram.
So when I discovered this new feature in Canva, my first thought was to figure out what kind of art I could create out of it.
Yeah, I know.
Why don’t just type down my imagination to the tee, and post the image result?
But where’s the fun in that? One of the reasons I like designing on Canva is the liberty to crop, edit, and piece any images, graphics, and videos into one art piece.
Also, as I’m writing this, Canva Text to Image is still a Beta version. So the pictures often come out a bit off or just freakish.
That being the case, I would add elements and videos to fully achieve the imagination I have in my head.
Let’s take The Mysterious Woman in The Rain, for example.
Step 1
It all started by typing a clear description of the woman.
Step 2
Next, I added the image of the woman to a blank Instagram post template and removed the background.
Step 3
Then, I typed ‘raining in the woods’ to search for a suitable video as the background. I also adjusted the brightness and contrast of the video to match the mysterious woman’s tone colors.
Step 4
After that, I looked for another rainy video to layer on top. Since the vibe of this art piece is ‘mystery’, I chose a rainy video with a black background and adjusted the transparency level.
Step 5
At first, I thought I was done, yet it still felt incomplete. Then it dawns on me — it’s raining, but she’s dry!
It was as if a forcefield protected her against the rain.
So I typed ‘realistic water drop’ and found a few selections that I then added on the edges of the woman’s hair spikes and a few drops on her face.
Step 6
I wanted to add a rain sound, but since the first video comes with audio, I didn’t need to. All I had to do was upload it to Instagram and add thriller music to add more tension to the vibe I was going for.
You can check out the completed piece here. ⬇⬇⬇
Coda
There are so many things I like about Canva. And just when I thought it stopped there, they added another cool feature to the application.
Yeah, it has imperfections compared to other image generators. But this is absolutely a plus for creating art in Canva.
Instead of generating images in another subscription, downloading it, and uploading it to Canva, you can now do it all in one app.
Convenient and efficient!
What do you think of Canva Text to Image? Did you get some weird results as I did?
Originally published at https://jerikhojordan.com on October 28, 2022.
