AI Image Creation
AI has taken over almost everything today, and AI image creation and management is not excluded. There are so many tools – even free ones – available that getting graphics done for your new post is possible within minutes.
But there are differences between free and paid tools, and everyone who tried them knows this. While the free tools may be – well, free, paid tools usually beat them with sheere quality of output. As always, it all depends on your personal preferences and needs – for simple blog post images, a free ChatGPT will possibly do the trick. But what if you need a bit more sophisticated images?
I need quality images!
The cases when you’ll definitely want your images to look more professional can be
- ebook covers,
- product shots,
- more demanding use in posts,
- etc.
There are many use cases where a free ChatGPT (or any free tool for that matter) will do the job well enough.
While they may even pass your “quality checking” eye, there’s little you can do to really affect the outcome regarding colors, persons and overall theme of your requests.
As soon as you realize that, you’re on to the “find me an app” route. And there’s no shortage of paid solutions also.
Paid AI image creation tools
There’s no shortage of paid AI image creation tools, and you will surely find them easily by just using Google.
Let me just take a minute and briefly write a few words on Midjourney, because I’ve used it in the past.
Midjourney
Yes, Midjourney is a “classic” when it comes to AI image creation. It can satisfy almost every need you’ll have in this life, but it does not come really cheap if your need are anything but minimal.
MidJourney is an AI image generation tool that creates digital artwork from text prompts. It has gained popularity among graphic designers, marketers, and creative professionals looking for a powerful AI art generator.
Unlike free AI image generators, MidJourney operates on a subscription model, meaning users need a paid plan to access its full capabilities.
Here’s a screenshot of Midjourney’s subscription plans.
If you’ve crossed the line that separates weekend-bloggers from active (let’s avoid the term professional) bloggers, you’ll want to look at their Standard Plan at least. It gives you 15 hours/month to create images, and it translates to some 30 minutes per day – enough to create maybe 10-15 images, depending on the level of details you need.
Then, there’s something they call Relax GPU Time – you have unlimited ammounts of this, but it comes at a cost in AI image creation speed. While the Fast GPU Time means you’ll typically wait a minute or so for a simple image, Relax GPU Time can take anywhere between 1 and 30 minutes, depending on the queue. Typically, the less you use it, the shorter the time will be. Some sort of fair server time distribution or something.
There’s also Turbo Mode available, which is able to shorten the AI image creation process up to 4x, but uses double the Fast GPU Time credits.
You can also generate videos in SD (standard resolution, 720×480) or HD (high resolution, 1280×720 or 1920×1080), depending on the plan you choose. Personally, I haven’t used that and have no experience, but it looks promissing. It will eat your Fast GPU Time fo every creation.
I have found an alternative
Two years ago, I’ve been using Midjourney and was actually happy with the results.
I’ve been using it mostly for my post imagery at the time, nothing really fancy. Since then, I’ve ventured into digital product creation waters. This alone made my needs a bit more specific, formats different, topics and design completely different at times. Like I mentioned in the beginning, I suddenly needed great-looking ebook covers, deeper personas, and more tools than just AI image creation. And most importantly, my needs changed from a few images per day to an average of 30-40 images per day.
One thing I found myself using more and more was the face swap functionality. Not that Midjourney can’t do that – it can, and results are good.
Mudjourney can do everything, let’s be honest. The thing that made me look around was the price itself, of course. I was on the line to upgrade my plan to the Pro Plan, which means $48/month with a yearly payment (that’s $576, check above). And so I was asking myself, is it worthed? Can’t I get something that would be mine for lifetime?
The alternative: ArtSpace
The creator of ArtSpace, Nico Engler, was known to me because I’m a long-time user of his AI writing system, called CopySpace. It’s a hell of a tool, if you need a writing assistant you can check it out HERE.
So, he contacted me about this new system he has developed, called ArtSpace. And he said I could be grandfathered for a single payment instead of monthly subscription, which made me look immediately.
That same day, I have decided and grabbed it.
I have paid $208 at the time, and it seemed worth every penny. I still think so, even though right now you can get it for $39 (Basic Plan) and up to $128 (Premium Plan). All prices are one-time payments, no subscriptions ever.
First thoughts
At first, I had mixed feelings, I have to admit.
Contrary to Midjourney, which I’ve been acustomed to, ArtSpace’s canvas is completelly different-looking. Very simple, very minimalistic, basically what you have is the canvas itself (with a rectanle image area) and the text area for prompts. Additionally, there are some switches to turn on specific filters (like Boost Visual Vibrance), a texbox where you can input negative prompts (words to avoid), and a seed image upload box. That’s it.
Once you write a prompt, it goes on and creates an image for you.
I kinda liked it.
AI Models
ArtSpace uses built-in models to create images. These models are
Each of them is a bit different, and here’s the result of each used with the same prompt – and it was very simple and non-techy, without any details whatsoever:
Prompt: a man wearing his working yeans and leather boots, getting ready to work with cattle
Here are the results of each of the models above, from top to bottom.
Each of these images (1024×1024) took around 10 seconds to generate. And they’re not bad, honestly, apart from the finger-issue on the 3rd image. 🙂 This is by the way a standard issue with older AI models and can be avoided by instructing the system to be careful about hands (within a prompt itself). Other than that, I can easily use any of those in any blog post about cowboys.
More demanding designs
As mentioned above, I needed some more demanding designs for my ebooks and other needs. So, I gave it a try and one of the results is shown below. I’ve used it for a book cover, and added text later (Photoshop) because I wanted it to be easily modifiable. The prompt itself was also nothing fancy, but it worked perfectly for my needs.
Inside the Library, ArtSpace gathers the creations of users who are willing to share their designs. Some are basic, like the ones shown above, while some are pretty awesome.
Users can make their work public and share their prompt too.
ArtSpace Toolbox
ArtSpace is not just an ordinary AI image creation system. By saying that I mean it has additional tools that other systems often lack. Most of what these tools do can be achieved by using proper prompts, but hey – why would you want to play with prompts when the functionality (or effect) can easily be achieved by pressing a button, right?
Inside ArtSpace, there are 101 tools available at a single click. Some of them are
- Face Swap
- Image Upscale
- Change image scenery, expression or person’s post
- Change hair, age and weight
- Change or add clothing, tatoos and accessories
- Avatar creation (animation, superhero, villain, Christmas, …)
- and many, many more.
You can check all the tools included on the very first page. Take a look.
ArtSpace – The pricing
ArtSpace is available with an LTD (LifeTime Deal) licensing, and it is honestly shamefully available (if such a thing exists). Here’s their lifetime pricing model.
So, if you need roughly 10 images daily, $39 will get you there.
Honestly, I suggest taking a loko at the Unlimited Lifetime model. At just $129, it actually gives you every tool available, with an update guarantee – everything that gets added in the future, you’ll get it.
And compared to Midjourney: these $129 get spent on Midjourney in a month (with their Standard Plan). So, it’s hardly a dillema.
AI Video Generation
One thing ArtSpace does not do that Midjourney does is video generation. So if you need videos, you’ll need Midjourney (or any other AI video generator). Personally, I’m good without it, and for what I need videos I’m using another tool – CreateStudio by Vidello.
You will likely end up paying for additional Fast GPU Time, which is $4 per hour, but if you need video, you need it. Go with Midjourney.
The final verdict
Well, I suppose if you’re still reading you already know my final verdict.
I am very happy with ArtSpace, because it fully satisfies my needs for AI image creation. The only thing I’m using tools like ChatGPT for is fast creation of really simple post graphics, and even that requires some prompting experience and time – yes, ChatGPT image creation is slow, and I have a Plus plan ($20/month). So not really a competitor at all.
If you found yourself among those who need quality AI images, ArtSPace is something you simply must take a look at. They also have a 7 days guarantee, so if you’re not happy with it, you’ll get your investment refunded without questions. I have contacted Nico and his support team a few times and they’re very responsive, so I guess any refunds would be dealth with in no time.
It’s really not a dillema, especially at this pricing. Go check it out.
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