Nano Banana 2 AI image generator

What it does best

Every line here comes from our own runs of Nano Banana 2.

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  Leaves the rest alone

  Swapping the café for a beach, it kept the hand, bottle and label as they were. FLUX.2 Pro redrew the hand; GPT Image 2 re-framed the shot.

  Label area changed about 4% in 2 of 2 background swaps; 11–31% for the others

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  Clean recolours

  Asked for a green label, it changed the colour and kept every letter. The café behind it barely moved.

  Label text kept in 2 of 2 recolours

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  Quick turnaround

  11.5 seconds on average in the shootout. Only Recraft and FLUX.2 Pro were faster.

  11.5 s average, 3rd fastest of 9 in our shootout

The work

Curated from what Nano Banana 2 made in our studio. HoverTap a picture for its prompt.

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  A flat wooden ferry poled by a hooded figure crossing black floodwater through a drowned birch forest at night, pale trunks rising like columns into darkness, one lantern at the bow throwing gold rings across the still surface, the ferry's single passenger a calm standing stag, ripples folding around the pole, deep blacks beyond the lantern's reach, filmic grade, single bold composition centered, high contrast, the stag's breath drifting through the lantern light

  Use promptUse
  

  A huge anglerfish emerging from absolute black water, its lure a miniature crystal chandelier burning with real candle flames that light its face from above, teeth glinting at the light's edge, every crystal throwing tiny caustics into the murk, deep blacks swallowing the body, single bold subject centered, high contrast, one candle guttering a thread of smoke that rises through the water

  Use promptUse
  

  A freediver suspended motionless in open deep water, one vertical shaft of sunlight breaking the blue-black above and catching her outstretched form, bubbles rising in a thin silver line, luminous figure against abyssal darkness, single bold subject legible at thumbnail size, graded deep cyan and black

  Use promptUse
  

  A woman in her fifties, ferry engine mechanic, grease-lined knuckles resting on a wrench at her collar, weathered asymmetric face mid-thought, one eyebrow scarred, hi-vis jacket open over a wool sweater, hard cinematic key light from a porthole, engine-room bokeh behind, identity specific and repeatable, graded steel and amber

  Use promptUse
  

  A faceted glass perfume bottle centered on a wet reflective surface, a fine mist arc frozen mid-spray above it catching a hard back light, seamless deep red studio field, controlled specular highlights down the bottle's edges, macro droplet detail, immaculate commercial grade, subject centered in frame

  Use promptUse
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  A rush-hour metro platform where every commuter is motion-blurred except one man standing perfectly sharp and still, facing the opposite direction of the crowd, fluorescent strips reflected in the platform tiles, long-exposure locked camera at chest height, anamorphic smear on the passing train, graded concrete-grey and signal-red, he is waiting for the train nobody takes

  Use promptUse
  

  Two women mid-argument across a chessboard in a lamplit study, one tipping her king with one finger while looking at the other's face instead of the board, smoke from an ashtray drifting exactly between them, over-the-shoulder shot at table height, anamorphic bokeh on the lamp, graded mahogany-and-brass, the game was never about the game

  Use promptUse
  

  A rain-slick city intersection filmed from directly overhead, exactly seven umbrellas crossing the painted stripes, one red among six black, headlight trails curving around the crosswalk, top-down locked camera, long-exposure motion streaks on the traffic, anamorphic bloom on the wet paint, graded asphalt-grey and taxi-amber, the red umbrella stops mid-crossing

  Use promptUse
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  A gunfighter facing camera in an empty frontier main street at noon, his opponent visible only as a reflection in the saloon window to his left, heat shimmer rising between them, the clock tower behind reading exactly twelve, static wide shot at duel height, anamorphic heat distortion, graded bleached dust and black, one hand has already started to move

  Use promptUse
  

  A starling murmuration folding into a single tight spiral above one bare oak at dusk, exactly one hawk cutting straight through the pattern, telephoto shot from the field below, the flock motion-blurred at the spiral's rim and sharp at its eye, anamorphic compression, graded slate-and-rose dusk, the shape is about to break

  Use promptUse

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  A flat wooden ferry poled by a hooded figure crossing black floodwater through a drowned birch forest at night, pale trunks rising like columns into darkness, one lantern at the bow throwing gold rings across the still surface, the ferry's single passenger a calm standing stag, ripples folding around the pole, deep blacks beyond the lantern's reach, filmic grade, single bold composition centered, high contrast, the stag's breath drifting through the lantern light

  Use promptUse
  

  A huge anglerfish emerging from absolute black water, its lure a miniature crystal chandelier burning with real candle flames that light its face from above, teeth glinting at the light's edge, every crystal throwing tiny caustics into the murk, deep blacks swallowing the body, single bold subject centered, high contrast, one candle guttering a thread of smoke that rises through the water

  Use promptUse
• 

  A freediver suspended motionless in open deep water, one vertical shaft of sunlight breaking the blue-black above and catching her outstretched form, bubbles rising in a thin silver line, luminous figure against abyssal darkness, single bold subject legible at thumbnail size, graded deep cyan and black

  Use promptUse
  

  A woman in her fifties, ferry engine mechanic, grease-lined knuckles resting on a wrench at her collar, weathered asymmetric face mid-thought, one eyebrow scarred, hi-vis jacket open over a wool sweater, hard cinematic key light from a porthole, engine-room bokeh behind, identity specific and repeatable, graded steel and amber

  Use promptUse
• 

  A faceted glass perfume bottle centered on a wet reflective surface, a fine mist arc frozen mid-spray above it catching a hard back light, seamless deep red studio field, controlled specular highlights down the bottle's edges, macro droplet detail, immaculate commercial grade, subject centered in frame

  Use promptUse
• 

  A rush-hour metro platform where every commuter is motion-blurred except one man standing perfectly sharp and still, facing the opposite direction of the crowd, fluorescent strips reflected in the platform tiles, long-exposure locked camera at chest height, anamorphic smear on the passing train, graded concrete-grey and signal-red, he is waiting for the train nobody takes

  Use promptUse
• 

  Two women mid-argument across a chessboard in a lamplit study, one tipping her king with one finger while looking at the other's face instead of the board, smoke from an ashtray drifting exactly between them, over-the-shoulder shot at table height, anamorphic bokeh on the lamp, graded mahogany-and-brass, the game was never about the game

  Use promptUse
• 

  A rain-slick city intersection filmed from directly overhead, exactly seven umbrellas crossing the painted stripes, one red among six black, headlight trails curving around the crosswalk, top-down locked camera, long-exposure motion streaks on the traffic, anamorphic bloom on the wet paint, graded asphalt-grey and taxi-amber, the red umbrella stops mid-crossing

  Use promptUse
• 

  A gunfighter facing camera in an empty frontier main street at noon, his opponent visible only as a reflection in the saloon window to his left, heat shimmer rising between them, the clock tower behind reading exactly twelve, static wide shot at duel height, anamorphic heat distortion, graded bleached dust and black, one hand has already started to move

  Use promptUse
• 

  A starling murmuration folding into a single tight spiral above one bare oak at dusk, exactly one hawk cutting straight through the pattern, telephoto shot from the field below, the flock motion-blurred at the spiral's rim and sharp at its eye, anamorphic compression, graded slate-and-rose dusk, the shape is about to break

  Use promptUse
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  A boxer turning away from his own reflection in a mirrored locker room, five repeating reflections and only the middle one still facing camera, fluorescent practicals flickering, slight dutch tilt, steam drifting through the frame, graded green-and-bone, the fight is in four minutes

  Use promptUse
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  A bride glimpsed from directly below through a slow fall of white petals, her veil lifting mid-turn, extreme low-angle shot against a stormy sky, petals motion-blurred close to the lens, anamorphic flare off a single break in the clouds, graded ivory-and-slate, the ceremony has already gone wrong

  Use promptUse

Recipes made with Nano Banana 2

Made in Creator and shared with how it was done. Open one to see the steps, then use it.

• The ferry mechanicHow to make a the ferry mechanic picture with AI@increation
• Bride in falling petalsHow to make a bride in falling petals picture with AI@increation
• Freediver in the light shaftHow to make a freediver in the light shaft picture with AI@increation

How it stacks up

The same cold brew prompt, the same 3:4 frame, default settings: Nano Banana 2 next to the two models people weigh it against. Credits are each model's price today.

What it costs

Prompt tips

What changed Nano Banana 2's results in our runs.

1. 01

   Say what stays

   Name the change, then list what must not move. It kept everything we listed in all four of our edits.

   keep the hand, the bottle and the label exactly as they are
2. 02

   Use GPT Image 2 for flat artwork

   Asked for a flat poster, it drew the poster as a printed sheet in a room, both times.

   flat graphic poster
3. 03

   Run it twice from scratch

   Starting from text alone, one cold brew run was good and the other turned the coffee grey and added label copy.

   Images: 2

More in Anatomy of a prompt

When to pick another

Nano Banana 2 isn't the answer to everything. Here's what we'd use instead.

• Starting from nothing?FLUX.2 ProPro got both cold brew runs right from text alone. Nano Banana 2 got one.from 30 credits
• Need flat artwork with text?GPT Image 2GPT Image 2 drew the poster flat and exact both times.from 3 credits
• Need a lot of drafts?GPT 2.5 FlareFlare cost the least per usable product shot in our tests and printed both labels exactly.from 3 credits

Questions