I've heard that Leonardo.AI integrates the strengths of Midjourney and Stable Diffusion. And recently, I had the opportunity to take a thorough test of Leonardo.AI.
As it is as multifunctional as Midjourney and Stable Diffusion, I wanted to further explore how its AI features could benefit my creation.
From text-to-image generation to motion effects, I’ve engaged in a list of popular features. Compared with MJ and SD, I find Leonardo.AI a really cost-effective toolkit for both designers and editors.
Each user can get 150 tokens every single day, and each feature will only cost from 3 to 8 tokens. That is to say, if it is not abused, it’s like a free AI image generator.
In the following parts, I’ll demonstrate how I tested Leonardo.AI and my thoughts and feelings for each feature.
Image Generation with Different AI Models Tested
I started by testing the Flux Dev model. I wanted to see if it could accurately understand my instructions, so I entered a prompt full of details:
A row of cucumber plants in a greenhouse, with bright overhead lights and a misting system keeping the air humid. The cucumbers are at various stages of growth, from small buds to fully grown vegetables. The walls of the greenhouse are made of clear glass, letting in plenty of natural light.
I can clearly see the shortcomings in the generated images.
Firstly, the depth of the field appears inconsistent, making some areas look overly blurred while others are sharply focused. Besides, the lighting seems uneven across the panel, which disrupts the warm atmosphere in a greenhouse. Furthermore, some parts of the plants appear too unrealistic and artificial.
Next, I tested the Lucid Realism model with the same prompt, which specializes in creating immersive cinematic shots. I expected to see a higher quality of images.
To my surprise, the style is more realistic and lifelike. It’s more of a photo. I could even see the water hanging on the cucumbers, which adds a refreshing touch to the scene.
The vibrant green leaves and fresh cucumbers create a lively atmosphere, making the greenhouse feel abundant and thriving. Also, the lighting is well-balanced, enhancing the natural colors of the plants and giving depth to the image. Overall, it captures the essence of a flourishing cucumber greenhouse.
Image Generation with Different AI Presets Tested
To see how versatile Leonardo.AI is in terms of styles, I used a single prompt with different presets.
The Portrait Perfect preset aims to generate flattering human portraits. As many AI image generators struggle to process fingers and eyes, I decided to see whether it has a similar weakness.
Here was the prompt:
Create a female fantasy warrior with long, flowing hair and piercing emerald green eyes. Her fingers are adorned with intricate silver rings, each representing a different victory, as she holds a beautifully crafted sword.
Overall, the result was satisfactory. The character shows a blend of elegance and strength. The combination of lighting and shadow further emphasizes her fierce expression.
As for the details, her green eyes are particularly captivating, but her fingers are swollen. Like many other AI image generators, the output often had distorted details like misshapen fingers. It seems this preset still needs improvement for complex human figures.
With the anime preset, I was curious to see how well it could transfer a general scene into a typical anime style. The overall color was good, and the details were better than the portrait.
Tap on one image to check the details: The female fantasy warrior is striking. Her long, flowing hair and piercing emerald green eyes quickly draw my attention. Her fingers are also gorgeous, with no exaggerated parts. Each panel captures her in a powerful pose, enhancing the dramatic effect. Overall, the image effectively embodies the essence of a fierce and captivating warrior.
Edit Images with RealTime Canva
The Real-Time Canva feature also appealed to me. This unique feature allows you to adjust my design directly within the interface and watch the AI generate results in real-time. It can save you time because you don’t need to take extra time to wait for the tool to regenerate the image.
This feature is only available to premium users, but it’s worth trying because it can instantly convert my requirement into detailed artwork. While I was adjusting some parameters, the generated images were changing in real time.
I think this intelligent feature is perfect for brainstorming concepts and quickly refining rough ideas. It is especially handy for refining hand-drawn sketches and exploring different styles without the need for extensive manual adjustments.
Realtime Generation
Despite text-to-image generation, I also want to highlight a real-time image generation feature - RealTime Generation. This feature allows you to see immediate visual output by inputting the keywords or descriptions.
While I was drawing on the left canvas, it generated images on the right one in real time.
Also, I generated a spider and tried to change out the background based on the art style presets.
By providing instant feedback, it greatly speeds up my creation process.. The real-time generation feature makes it easier for me to refine and adjust ideas.
Flow State
I input a simple prompt, and then I could generate a continuous stream of image variations until I manually stop it. Based on various styles, lighting, shot types, and color themes, I could easily explore and select the best variations.
I entered the prompt: a small boat floating on the sea. And then it quickly generated a group of images in different styles.
While this is a great idea in theory, I quickly realized that it could consume credits very fast if I left it running for too long. Each image will cost one credit, so it’s important to be mindful of the credit consumption to avoid burning through the tokens.
Canvas Editor
After generating images, I could also use Leonardo. AI’s Canvas Editor to edit and refine the artwork. In this picture, I framed the soldier and other unwanted elements. And they were removed in seconds.
From basic image editing tools like adding, deleting, moving, and adjusting elements, to more complex image editing tools like precise layer management and other AI tools, I had an all-around control over my output.
Besides, I could also edit the image by entering the instructions in the dialog box. This makes it more flexible for me to edit the image.
However, this is a premium feature. Even if you have enough credits, you can’t use them without a paid version. However, some other AI image generators, such as Canva and Pixlr.
Motion Effect
More interestingly, Leonardo.AI can create smooth and natural motion sequences based on your text prompts. After generating images, I also tried to convert them to high-quality animations and video content.
Thanks to Leonardo.AI’s Motion feature, I could bring my creative ideas to life. This feature is quite useful when I need to create short clips for social media, longer video projects, or even animated characters.
After testing Leonardo.AI, I think it can be a cost-effective alternative to Midjourney and Stable Diffusion.
If you simply want to generate a good-quality image, choose any AI model but the Flux Dev model. This model may cause your output to look blurry and unreal.
If you want to create a high-quality image full of details, make your instructions as specific as possible. Although it might generate weird misshapen fingers like many other AI image generators do, it can achieve better results in certain styles, like anime style.
Besides, I think it’s worthwhile to try real-time editing features such as RealTime Generation and RealTime Canva. This can save a lot of time when I work on a brainstorming project, transferring my thoughts into visual designs.
Why I Choose Pollo AI Image Generator as an Alternative to Leonardo.AI?
I would suggest you use Pollo AI’s image generator over Leonardo AI’s image generator mainly because it is a powerful AI image and video generator with all the top models in one place.
Compared with Leonardo.AI, it has more image generation models and style presets, such as FLUX, Stable Diffusion, DALL-E, Recraft, GPT-4o, and Imagen. Following its update, I can always try the latest AI models.
Despite converting text to images, Pollo AI image also allows you to generate images from images and specialized images with its photo effects. Additionally, Pollo AI provides a range of AI image tools like AI image upscaler, background remover, AI clothes changer, and face-swapping. These interesting tools make it an excellent choice for creating engaging social media content.
Conclusion
In conclusion, you can generate high-quality images from text with Leonardo.AI in seconds. The output mainly depends on the AI model you choose and how specific your prompt is.
Despite AI image generation, it’s also worthwhile to try various AI editing features, such as RealTime Generation, Flow State, and Motion effects.
However, if you want to experience more latest AI image and video models, you’re recommended to give Pollo AI a try.