Imagen 3

Our highest quality text-to-image model

Imagen 3 is our highest quality text-to-image model, capable of generating images with even better detail, richer lighting and fewer distracting artifacts than our previous models.

What’s new?

The latest iteration of Imagen 3 brings marked improvements to its capabilities.

Try the latest on ImageFX

Brightness and vibrancy
Several advancements to our model have, together, resulted in better overall color balance.
Diverse art styles
Imagen can now render diverse art styles with greater accuracy – from photo realism to impressionism, and from abstract to anime.
High-fidelity detail
Richer textures and enhanced details result in more visually compelling images.

AI-generated image using the prompt: a close-up, macro photography stock photo of a strawberry intricately sculpted into the shape of a hummingbird in mid-flight, its wings a blur as it sips nectar from a vibrant, tubular flower. The backdrop features a lush, colorful garden with a soft, bokeh effect, creating a dreamlike atmosphere. The image is exceptionally detailed and captured with a shallow depth of field, ensuring a razor-sharp focus on the strawberry-hummingbird and gentle fading of the background. The high resolution, professional photographers style, and soft lighting illuminate the scene in a very detailed manner, professional color grading amplifies the vibrant colors and creates an image with exceptional clarity. The depth of field makes the hummingbird and flower stand out starkly against the bokeh background. — **Prompt:** A close-up, macro photography stock photo of a strawberry intricately sculpted into the shape of a hummingbird in mid-flight, its wings a blur as it sips nectar from a vibrant, tubular flower. The backdrop features a lush, colorful garden with a soft, bokeh effect, creating a dreamlike atmosphere. The image is exceptionally detailed and captured with a shallow depth of field, ensuring a razor-sharp focus on the strawberry-hummingbird and gentle fading of the background. The high resolution, professional photographers style, and soft lighting illuminate the scene in a very detailed manner, professional color grading amplifies the vibrant colors and creates an image with exceptional clarity. The depth of field makes the hummingbird and flower stand out starkly against the bokeh background.

AI-generated image using the prompt: a low-angle close-up shot, in stark black and white, focuses on a woman with a short, precisely cut bob. Her expression is one of deep concern; her eyebrows are slightly furrowed, her mouth drawn into a thin line, and her eyes hold a worried intensity. The high contrast of the black and white photography emphasizes the texture of her skin and the lines around her eyes, accentuating her worried expression. The background is a blurred but imposing array of tall skyscrapers, their forms rendered in varying shades of grey, creating a sense of depth and scale. The low angle, shooting upwards, emphasizes her upward gaze, suggesting a sense of being overwhelmed by the weight of her worries within the vast urban landscape. The overall mood is one of serious apprehension, a powerful and poignant image of a woman grappling with anxieties within a monumental city. — **Prompt:** A low-angle close-up shot, in stark black and white, focuses on a woman with a short, precisely cut bob. Her expression is one of deep concern; her eyebrows are slightly furrowed, her mouth drawn into a thin line, and her eyes hold a worried intensity. The high contrast of the black and white photography emphasizes the texture of her skin and the lines around her eyes, accentuating her worried expression. The background is a blurred but imposing array of tall skyscrapers, their forms rendered in varying shades of grey, creating a sense of depth and scale. The low angle, shooting upwards, emphasizes her upward gaze, suggesting a sense of being overwhelmed by the weight of her worries within the vast urban landscape. The overall mood is one of serious apprehension, a powerful and poignant image of a woman grappling with anxieties within a monumental city.

AI-generated image using the prompt: a close-up shot captures a winter wonderland scene – soft snowflakes fall on a snow-covered forest floor. Behind a frosted pine branch, a red squirrel sits, its bright orange fur a splash of color against the white. It holds a small hazelnut. As it enjoys its meal, it seems oblivious to the falling snow. — **Prompt:** A close-up shot captures a winter wonderland scene – soft snowflakes fall on a snow-covered forest floor. Behind a frosted pine branch, a red squirrel sits, its bright orange fur a splash of color against the white. It holds a small hazelnut. As it enjoys its meal, it seems oblivious to the falling snow.

AI-generated image using the prompt: captured in the style of a high-budget animated film with vibrant, painterly textures, the frame reveals an expansive celestial landscape filled with glowing nebulae in vivid purples, blues, and golds. The protagonist, a small female figure clad in a flowing cape adorned with star motifs, stands at the edge of a crystalline cliff. Below, rivers of molten stardust wind through the galaxy, their golden light shimmering dynamically. Towering constellations shaped like mythical beasts hover in the background, their forms traced in glowing, dotted lines. Shooting stars streak across the vast sky, adding motion and brilliance to the scene. The camera angle is slightly elevated, capturing both the scale of the galaxy and the intimate journey of the protagonist. — **Prompt:** Captured in the style of a high-budget animated film with vibrant, painterly textures, the frame reveals an expansive celestial landscape filled with glowing nebulae in vivid purples, blues, and golds. The protagonist, a small female figure clad in a flowing cape adorned with star motifs, stands at the edge of a crystalline cliff. Below, rivers of molten stardust wind through the galaxy, their golden light shimmering dynamically. Towering constellations shaped like mythical beasts hover in the background, their forms traced in glowing, dotted lines. Shooting stars streak across the vast sky, adding motion and brilliance to the scene. The camera angle is slightly elevated, capturing both the scale of the galaxy and the intimate journey of the protagonist.

AI-generated image using the prompt: a portrait of an Asian woman with neon green lights in the background, shallow depth of field. — **Prompt:** A portrait of an Asian woman with neon green lights in the background, shallow depth of field.

AI-generated image using the prompt: a foggy 1940s European train station at dawn, framed by intricate wrought-iron arches and misted glass windows. Steam rises from the tracks, blending with dense fog. Two lovers stand in an emotional embrace near the train, backlit by the warm, amber glow of dim lanterns. The departing train is partially visible, its red tail lights fading into the mist. The woman wears a faded red coat and clutches a small leather diary, while the man is dressed in a weathered soldier’s uniform. Dust motes float in the air, illuminated by the soft golden backlight. The atmosphere is melancholic and timeless, evoking the bittersweet farewell of wartime cinema. — **Prompt:** A foggy 1940s European train station at dawn, framed by intricate wrought-iron arches and misted glass windows. Steam rises from the tracks, blending with dense fog. Two lovers stand in an emotional embrace near the train, backlit by the warm, amber glow of dim lanterns. The departing train is partially visible, its red tail lights fading into the mist. The woman wears a faded red coat and clutches a small leather diary, while the man is dressed in a weathered soldier’s uniform. Dust motes float in the air, illuminated by the soft golden backlight. The atmosphere is melancholic and timeless, evoking the bittersweet farewell of wartime cinema.

Benchmarks

Human evaluators prefer the newest version of Imagen 3 to previous versions of the model and to other leading image generation models.

Human evaluation on GenAI-Bench: Elo scores on overall preference benchmark for Imagen 3 vs other models.

Human evaluation on GenAI-Bench: win-rate percentages for overall preference of Imagen 3 vs other models.

Imagen 3 also holds the highest score for visual quality, meaning its images are appealing and largely artifact-free. Evaluators also scored it highly for its ability to respond accurately to prompts.

Further details on these scores, our methodology and performance improvements are available in Appendix D of our updated technical report.

View tech report

Greater detail, fewer artifacts

We’ve significantly improved Imagen 3’s ability to understand prompts, which helps the models generate a wide range of visual styles and capture small details from longer prompts.

Greater versatility and prompt understanding
Higher quality images
Better text rendering

AI generated image of three women stand together laughing, with one woman slightly out of focus in the foreground. The sun is setting behind the women, creating a lens flare and a warm glow — **Prompt:** Three women stand together laughing, with one woman slightly out of focus in the foreground. The sun is setting behind the women, creating a lens flare and a warm glow

AI generated image of detailed illustration of majestic lion roaring proudly in a dream-like jungle, purple white line art background, clipart on light violet paper texture — **Prompt:** Detailed illustration of majestic lion roaring proudly in a dream-like jungle, purple white line art background, clipart on light violet paper texture

AI generated image of a claymation scene. A medium wide shot of an elderly woman. She is wearing flowing clothing. She is standing in a lush garden watering the plants with an orange watering can — **Prompt:** Claymation scene. A medium wide shot of an elderly woman. She is wearing flowing clothing. She is standing in a lush garden watering the plants with an orange watering can

From Doodles to masterpieces

We’ve designed Imagen 3 to generate high-quality images in a wide range of formats and styles, from photorealistic landscapes to richly textured oil paintings or whimsical claymation scenes.

Three hot air balloons float in the sky above a rugged landscape of rock formations. The balloons are colorful and have a basket hanging below them. The sun is shining and the sky is blue. — **Prompt:** Shot in the style of DSLR camera with the polarizing filter. A photo of two hot air balloons floating over the unique rock formations in Cappadocia, Turkey. The colors and patterns on these balloons contrast beautifully against the earthy tones of the landscape below. This shot captures the sense of adventure that comes with enjoying such an experience.

A moss-covered wooden robot stands in a field of wildflowers, holding out its hand to a small bluebird perched on it. A waterfall flows down a cliff in the background. — **Prompt:** A weathered, wooden mech robot covered in flowering vines stands peacefully in a field of tall wildflowers, with a small bluebird resting on its outstretched hand. Digital cartoon, with warm colors and soft lines. A large cliff with a waterfall looms behind.

A large, scaly dragon with horns and glowing eyes lies on the ground next to a small, white lamb. The dragon has a gentle expression on its face as it looks at the lamb. — **Prompt:** Photographic portrait of a real life dragon resting peacefully in a zoo, curled up next to its pet sheep. Cinematic movie still, high quality DSLR photo.

Greater versatility and prompt understanding

Imagen 3 understands prompts written in natural, everyday language, making it easier to get the output you want without complex prompt engineering.

Numerous origami paper cranes, in various colors and patterns, float over a blurred cityscape with rooftops bathed in warm sunlight. — **Prompt:** A close-up photo of an origami bird soaring through a cityscape, in a flock with others of different colors and patterns, casting intricate shadows on the buildings below

Trained on details, delivering on precision

To help Imagen 3 capture nuances like specific camera angles or compositions in long, complex prompts, we added richer detail to the caption of each image in its training data. Given better information to learn from, Imagen 3 more accurately generates a wide range of subjects and styles.

A detailed still life oil painting of a large, overflowing bouquet of flowers in a glass vase. The bouquet is made up of various colorful flowers, including roses, lilies, peonies, and wildflowers. It sits on a dark wooden table, with several fruits scattered around it, including pears, apples, and berries. The background is a dark, muted tone, highlighting the vibrant colors of the flowers and fruits. — **Prompt:** A large, colorful bouquet of flowers in an old blue glass vase on the table. In front is one beautiful peony flower surrounded by various other blossoms like roses, lilies, daisies, orchids, fruits, berries, green leaves. The background is dark gray. Oil painting in the style of the Dutch Golden Age.

A hand gently holds a sprig of eucalyptus with round, silvery-green leaves. The background is a blur of similar leaves. — **Prompt:** A view of a person’s hand holding a eucalyptus sprig - a macro DSLR image highlighting the balance of human and nature.

Higher quality images

Imagen 3 generates visually rich, high-quality images, with good lighting and composition. It can accurately render small details like the fine wrinkles on a person’s hand, and complex textures like a knitted stuffed toy elephant.

A small, gray crocheted elephant toy stands on a dirt path in a grassy field. The elephant has white tusks and toenails and black eyes. The background is a blur of green and brown foliage, with the sun setting in the distance. — **Prompt:** Elephant amigurumi walking in savanna, a professional photograph, blurry background

A person’s hand as they hold a small clay figurine of a bird in one hand and sculpt it with a modeling tool in the other. Their hands are covered in clay dust. The sculptor is wearing a gray fleece jacket and a brown and burgundy scarf. — **Prompt:** A view of a person's hand as they hold a little clay figurine of a bird in their hand and sculpt it with a modeling tool in their other hand. You can see the sculptor's scarf. Their hands are covered in clay dust. a macro DSLR image highlighting the texture and craftsmanship.

A white fluffy teddy bear lies sleeping on a gray rug in a child's bedroom. Other toys are visible in the background, including colorful blocks and a toy car. — **Prompt:** White fluffy bear toy is sleeping in a children's room, on the floor of a baby bedroom with toy boxes and toys around, in the style of photorealistic 3D rendering

The word "light" formed from colorful feathers arranged on a black background. — **Prompt:** Word “light” made from various colorful feathers, black background

a comic book panel of a young boy and his father on a grassy field, staring at the setting sun over a body of water. The boy says “The sun will rise again” in a speech bubble. — **Prompt:** A single comic book panel of a boy and his father on a grassy hill, staring at the sunset. A speech bubble points from the boy's mouth and says: The sun will rise again. Muted, late 1990s coloring style

The entrance to a grand, stone building with the words "Central Library" engraved above the doorway. The doorway is framed by two columns and features a set of large wooden doors with glass panes. — **Prompt:** A photograph of a stately library entrance with the words "Central Library" carved into the stone

Better text rendering

We’ve significantly improved its text rendering capabilities, opening up new possibilities for use cases like stylized birthday cards, presentations and more.

Safety from development to deployment

We used extensive filtering and data labeling to minimize harmful content in datasets and reduced the likelihood of harmful outputs. We also conducted red teaming and evaluations on topics including fairness, bias and content safety.

We’re deploying Imagen 3 with our latest privacy, safety and security technologies, including our innovative watermarking tool SynthID — which embeds a digital watermark directly into the pixels of the image, making it detectable for identification but imperceptible to the human eye.

Acknowledgements

Core contributors

Jason Baldridge, Jakob Bauer, Mukul Bhutani, Nicole Brichtova, Andrew Bunner, Lluis Castrejon, Kelvin Chan, Sergio Gómez Colmenarejo, Sander Dieleman, Yuqing Du, Zach Eaton-Rosen, Hongliang Fei, Yilin Gao, Evgeny Gladchenko, Mandy Guo, Alex Haig, Will Hawkins, Hexiang (Frank) Hu, Huilian Huang, Tobenna Peter Igwe, Christos Kaplanis, Siavash Khodadadeh, Ksenia Konyushkova, Karol Langner, Eric Lau, Shixin Luo, Soňa Mokrá, Henna Nandwani, Yasumasa Onoe, Aäron van den Oord, Zarana Parekh, Jordi Pont-Tuset, Hang Qi, Rui Qian, Deepak Ramachandran, Poorva Rane, Ali Razavi, Robert Riachi, Hansa Srinivasan, Srivatsan Srinivasan, Robin Strudel, Benigno Uria, Oliver Wang, Su Wang, Austin Waters, Chris Wolff, Auriel Wright, Zhisheng Xiao, Keyang Xu, Marc van Zee, Junlin Zhang, Wenlei Zhou and Konrad Zoln.

Contributors

Ola Aboubakar, Canfer Akbulut, Javier Lopez Alberca, Nina Anderson, Marco Andreetto, Lora Aroyo, Burcu Karagol Ayan, Praseem Banzal, Ben Bariach, Sherry Ben, Dana Berman, Irina Blok, Pankil Botadra, Jenny Brennan, Karla Brown, Elie Bursztein, Viral Carpenter, Norman Casagrande, Ming-Wei Chang, Solomon Chang, Shamik Chaudhuri, Tony Chen, John Choi, Yu-Chuan Su, Dmitry Churbanau, Nathan Clement, Matan Cohen, Forrester Cole, Romina Datta, Vincent Du, Praneet Dutta, Tom Eccles, Ndidi Elue, Ashley Feden, Shlomi Fruchter, Frankie Garcia, Roopal Garg, Ahmed Ghazy, Bryant Gipson, Dawid Górny, Yoni Halpern, Susan Hao, Jonathan Heek, Amir Hertz, Ed Hirst, Emiel Hoogeboom, Tingbo Hou, Mohamed Ibrahim, Dirichi Ike-Njoku, Vlad Ionescu, Komal Jalan, Xuhui Jia, Gemma Jennings, Donovon Jenson, Kerry Jones, Yelin Kim, Suraj Kothawade, Jolanda Kumakaw, Dana Kurniawan, Dmitry Lagun, Tao Li, Maggie Li-Calis, Ricky Liang, Rui Lin, Jasmine Liu, Yuchi Liu, Matthieu Kim Lorrain, Kristian Lum, Chase Malik, John Mellor, Thomas Mensink, Inbar Mosseri, Tom Murray, Aida Nematzadeh, Paul Nicholas, Signe Nørly, João Gabriel Oliveira, Michela Paganini, Roni Paiss, Alicia Parrish, Anne Peckham, Tobias Pfaff, Alex Pirozhenko, Ryan Poplin, Utsav Prabhu, Yuan Qi, Cyrus Rashtchian, Charvi Rastogi, Amit Raul, Ali Razavi, Susanna Ricco, Felix Riedel, Dirk Robinson, Pankaj Rohatgi, Bill Rosgen, Sarah Rumbley, Anthony Salgado, Tim Salimans, Florian Schroff, Candice Schumann, Tanmay Shah, Eleni Shaw, Gregory Shaw, Kaushik Shivakumar, Dennis Shtatnov, Zach Singer, Thibault Sottiaux, Brad Stone, Eric Tabellion, Amit Talreja, Shuai Tang, David Tao, Kurt Thomas, Aayush Upadhyay, Shanthal Vasanth, Cristina Vasconcelos, Andrey Voynov, Amanda Walker, Miaosen Wang, Simon Wang, Stanley Wang, Qifei Wang, Yuxiao Wang, Olivia Wiles, Mete Yurtoglu, Andrew Xue, Ali Zand, Han Zhang, Catherine Zhao, Miao Zhou, Shengqi Zhu and Zhenkai Zhu.

Advisors

Dawn Bloxwich, Mahyar Bordbar, Luis C. Cobo, Eli Collins, Tulsee Doshi, Anca Dragan, Douglas Eck, Nando de Freitas, Demis Hassabis, Tom Hume, Koray Kavukcuoglu, Helen King, Kathy Meier-Hellstern, Oriol Vinyals and Yori Zwols.