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Here's how Canva's new image generation tool compares to models by OpenAI, Google, and Meta By Katherine Li You're currently following this author! Click to unsubscribe from email alerts. Canva has launched Canva Craft, a new image generation tool.
Business Insider Canva wants a shot at winning the AI image generation race. The design platform launched Canva Craft on Thursday, its first image-generation model, similar to those from Google, Meta, and OpenAI. Users can access Craft through Canva’s Dream Lab, including with free accounts, though it is subject to AI usage limits.
You’ll need to sign in to a Canva account to get started. In the release announcement, Canva said the tool plans a design’s layout, proportions, and text before generating an image, an approach that aims to help it produce legible lettering and accurate details. The company also said that the model was trained on human-designed Canva templates, including posters, menus, and presentations, rather than photographs.
To test how Canva performs, Business Insider created three image generation prompts with escalating difficulty levels — from designing a simple greeting card to creating a photorealistic image from scratch. Here is how Canva's brand-new image generation tool stacked up against three of the most powerful models . Canva did not respond to a request for comment.
Starting off with an illustration Canva's response to a greeting card prompt (left), compared to ChatGPT (middle) and Gemini (right). Business Insider We started off simple with a prompt for a birthday card. Create a cartoon "Happy Birthday" greeting card for a friend named Jessica who has pink hair, brown eyes, likes to wear paisley, and is turning 28 years old in November.
Surprisingly, Canva, the design platform , fell short in its design of the birthday card, from the awkward font to the outsize head of the cartoon character. It didn't even bother to include any paisley. By comparison, ChatGPT and Muse understood the assignment.
ChatGPT guessed that the recipient's favorite color might be pink, while Muse thoughtfully wove in cozy fall elements for the November birthday girl. Muse wove in cozy fall elements for the November birthday girl. Screenshot/Business Insider Meanwhile, Gemini took the request literally and produced an image of an actual card.
Extra points! Winner: Muse Editing an image The request and original image (left). Canva's results (right).
Screenshot/Business Insider For the second task, I tested the AI models' ability to identify an element and place it in a brand-new setting. Edit this image of me holding a necklace pendant. Take the red garnet pendant off my hand and make it look as if it is displayed in a vitrine in a jewelry showroom.
Canva did a great job of identifying the pendant and creating an atmospheric setting, but, like Gemini, it depicted the jewelry in a way that defied physics and common sense. It would be unrealistic for a pendant to float in the air or sit propped on a metal pole. ChatGPT (left), Muse (middle), and Gemini (right).
Business Insider ChatGPT and Muse once again outperformed other models in understanding how things typically look in reality. Muse, however, made some alterations to the pendant, which I didn't ask for. Winner: ChatGPT Creating a photorealistic image from scratch Canva's depiction of a cat perched atop a gothic castle.
Made with Canva/Business Insider With Halloween approaching, I asked for a realistic depiction of my favorite animal. Generate a photorealistic image of a long-haired orange tabby cat in a Halloween costume with bat wings, perched on the edge of a gothic medieval castle under the full moon and a starless night sky. Though the cat's fur looks a little too strandy and high-contrast in Canva's creation, no components are missing or malformed, and the image composition pretty much matches the quality of Muse and Gemini.
The clear winner for me in this round, however, would be ChatGPT. Gemini (left), ChatGPT (middle), and Muse (right). Business Insider Not only is the cat's posture majestic, but the soft glow on his left side is extremely realistic, and the white balance is well done.
There are also clouds softly cradling the moon, which could be a response to my request for a starless sky. Winner: ChatGPT Overall, it's evident that Canva still has a lot of room to grow compared to other models, especially if graphic design is its focus. For now, I'll stick to moving components around by hand.
Read next Business Insider tells the innovative stories you want to know Business Insider tells the innovative stories you want to know Business Insider tells the innovative stories you want to know Business Insider tells the innovative stories you want to know Katherine Li You're currently following this author! Click to unsubscribe from email alerts. Katherine Li is a reporter on Business Insider's West Coast business news team.
She covers career, the future of work, and how AI is changing hiring practices and workplace trends. Previously, she was a newsroom fellow who wrote international breaking news and produced newsletters for Semafor. Before that, she wrote about climate policies for The Lever, covered the AAPI community for the SF Chronicle as a freelancer, and wrote about the 2019 Hong Kong protests as an intern for The New York Times.
She is an alumna of the Graduate School of Journalism at UC Berkeley and a graduate of the international journalism program at Hong Kong Baptist University with minors in French and English literature. Email Katherine at katherineli@insider.com and follow her on Bluesky @ katherineli.bsky.social . Generative AI Big Tech OpenAI More Google Artificial Intelligence Meta Design
Source: Business Insider
