I tested this viral AI image generator and it does text well – finally! Try it for free

It's been a while since a new text-to-image generator shook up the generative AI space. But that's exactly what the mysterious Red Panda generator has done, climbing up the leaderboards in the Artificial Analysis text-to-image arena and beating leading models. Now the identity has been revealed.

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On Wednesday, Recraft introduced its latest model, Recraft V3, the same model that appeared in the arena as Red Panda. The leaderboard results show that the model can produce high-quality images with impressive detail, quality and instant fidelity. However, according to Recraft, what sets it apart is its text generation capabilities.

Some prompts – such as those with hands, faces, and text – present a particular challenge to image generators. Most attempts to generate text images fail because they come close, but mess up a letter or misspell the spelling, or make up random words. However, Recraft claims that its model can produce anatomically correct images and accurate long text strings.

“The main advantages of Recraft V3 [lie] in text generation quality, anatomical accuracy, quick comprehension and high aesthetic quality,” Recraft said in a blog post. “Recraft V3 is the only model in the world that can produce images with long texts, as opposed to just one or more of words.”

To see if the claims hold up, you can test Recraft V3 for yourself using the instructions below – or scroll down to see how it performed in my tests.

How to access Recraft V3

The model is available for free and paid users online and in the mobile app. Getting started is easy: all you have to do is visit the website, click “Generate AI Image” and create a Recraft account or log in with an existing Google, Discord, Apple or Single Sign-On.

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Various plans are available to better suit users' needs, starting with a free plan that offers 50 free credits daily and publishes all images generated. The more advanced plans offer higher limits and advanced features and range from $10 per month to $48 per month.

Once logged in, click Create New Image, enter a command prompt, personalize the settings, and click Create New.

A few results

It took 15 seconds to create two images. I tested the quality of the first generation with the prompt “A live, realistic hummingbird in a tree.” The results were very impressive and comparable to the approaches of some of the best image generators you can see in this list. I have included a picture below.

For the next prompt I chose something more challenging – hands. I entered the prompt: “Two manicured hands typing on a laptop.” The images look OK at first glance. However, when I look closer, I can see some inconsistencies.

Finally, for the most exciting call and challenge, I asked him to create an image of a computer screen with the ZDNET brand mission statement written in bright yellow: “ZDNET, tomorrow belongs to those who embrace it today.” I included both results for this one because they were equally impressive.

Not only was all of the text written and transcribed correctly, but it was also displayed consistently and at intervals, as if a human had placed it there. It was also applied very nicely to the background, resulting in realistic photos that look like they were taken with a camera. If you look closely, there is some variation in the words in capital letters, but this is minimal compared to the text results of most other generators, which can't even get the letters out.