Is Ideogram 2.0 the dark horse of text-to-image AI? A head-to-head comparison
How Ideogram 2.0 stands up against DALL·E, Midjourney, and FLUX.
A few days ago, Ideogram quietly rolled out version 2.0, now available for free.
This latest iteration comes from a 2023 Toronto AI startup founded by former Google Brain researchers, including Jonathan Ho and David Fleet, and secured $16.5 million in seed funding led by a16z. Ideogram focuses on blending visual and textual understanding within AI-generated images. Their tech is tailored for crafting complex, text-rich visuals, making it particularly valuable for graphic design, advertising, and content creation.
Initially, Ideogram didn’t attract much attention when it launched last year. But with version 2.0, it’s directly challenging heavyweights like FLUX, DALL·E 3, and other popular text-to-image models.
Ideogram claims its latest version outperforms FLUX and DALL·E 3 in generating realistic images, graphic design, and typography. It also boasts superior results in image-text alignment, subjective preference, and text rendering accuracy.
But does it really live up to these claims? Let’s put Ideogram 2.0 to the test against FLUX, DALL·E 3, and Midjourney.
1. Realistic Style
Prompt: Ultra-realistic close-up of a clown, inspired by Joaquin Phoenix’s Joker, in a professional photography studio. Dramatic lighting with neon red, blue, and purple highlights. Detailed makeup, expressive eyes, subtle smile. High-quality DSLR photo, sharp focus, vivid colors.
• Results: Ideogram and FLUX excelled in image quality and realism, capturing fine details like clothing wrinkles and light-shadow contrast. DALL·E 3’s output felt stiff, while Midjourney had a strong atmosphere but lacked light-shadow depth.
2. Creative Ad Design
Prompt: Sleek luxury sports car, possibly a Ferrari or Lamborghini, in a dimly lit garage. Dramatic spotlights on the car’s curves, glossy black finish, chrome accents. LED headlights with a futuristic glow. Dark background, subtle floor reflections. Bold text at the top: ‘UNLEASH THE BEAST’. Smaller text at the bottom: ‘Engineered for Excellence’. High contrast, rich details.
• Results: Ideogram nailed text accuracy, scene realism, and light reflections, making it the standout. FLUX came close with a realistic background but faltered on car details. Midjourney captured the scene’s atmosphere but strayed on text. DALL·E 3 delivered a realistic background but fell short on the main subject and text clarity.
3. Comic Poster Design
Prompt: Stylized comic poster for ‘Léon: The Professional’. Modern urban nightscape, neon lights, smog. Center: middle-aged man (Jean Reno style) in a black trench coat, holding a potted plant. Beside him: young girl (Natalie Portman style) in a red jacket, holding a pistol. Background: skyscrapers, hazy lights. Bold outlines, vibrant colors. Title ‘LEON: THE PROFESSIONAL’ in large font. Tagline below: ‘Cold appearance, warm heart, a wonderful killing journey!’ Cinematic, intense mood.
• Results: Ideogram and FLUX were strong, though Ideogram missed a letter in the text, and FLUX’s character depiction fell short. DALL·E 3 had severe text errors but a solid poster design. Midjourney stayed true to the original work but deviated in background and text accuracy.
4. 3D Style
Prompt: 3D render of Sun Wukong from ‘Black Myth: Wukong’. Anthropomorphic monkey king in ornate golden armor, dragon scale patterns, ancient Chinese runes on armor. Wielding a glowing golden staff. Flaming hair, fierce expression. Epic background: ancient battlefield, misty mountains, mystical energy. High-detail textures, dynamic lighting, particle effects.
• Results: Ideogram and FLUX delivered similar high-quality images, both far ahead of DALL·E 3 and Midjourney, particularly in text generation accuracy.
Conclusion:
Ideogram 2.0 impresses across various use cases, from professional photography to creative design, proving it’s more than ready for commercial use. Its performance is putting pressure on Midjourney, which has responded by offering temporary free access. If you haven’t heard of Ideogram yet, it’s time to take notice.
Try Ideogram 2.0 for free: https://ideogram.ai/login