# Best AI Image Generator in 2026: 7 Tools We Actually Tested

URL: https://christmascardfactory.com/compare/best-ai-image-generator
Type: comparison
Locale: en
Published: 2026-09-09
Updated: 2026-09-10

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> Seven AI image generators, the same three family photos, one question: which one actually paints instead of just filtering? Here's what held up at print size.

## Ranking (7 products)

**Winner:** midjourney

**Verdict:** Midjourney remains the best all-around choice if the goal is a photo that reads as painted rather than filtered, and $10 a month is a reasonable price for a family that mails more than one card design a season. OpenArt AI is the honest runner-up if you want to compare several styles, including Flux and SDXL, before committing. Leonardo AI is the one to open first if you just need one card and don't want to pay anything at all.

**Methodology:** We ran the same three test photos, a toddler in a knit sweater, a family of five on a porch, and a dog wearing felt antlers, through each tool at its default free or entry-level tier between late August and early September 2026, requesting a watercolor and an oil-pastel render of each. We scored how well faces stayed recognizable after stylization, how the tool handled glasses and busy backgrounds, whether the output held up at a 5x7 print size without visible upscale artifacts, and what the platform's terms actually say about commercial and print use, not just what the marketing page implies. Pricing and free-tier limits were checked directly on each product's site in September 2026 and are subject to change.


### Criteria

| Criterion | midjourney | openart-ai | leonardo-ai | adobe-firefly | ideogram | dall-e-3 | stable-diffusion |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Starting price | $10/mo, no free tier | Free tier, then $9.99/mo | Free daily tokens, then $12/mo | Free tier, then $9.99/mo | Free tier, then paid plans | Bundled in ChatGPT Plus ($20/mo) or API pay-as-you-go | Free open-weight model, roughly $0.01 to $0.05 per image hosted |
| Turns a photo into painted art | Strong painterly transformation via image prompts and style references | Image-to-image plus LoRA training on your own photos | Image-to-image with adjustable style strength | Reference-image style match, more subdued stylization | Limited, stronger at illustration from text than photo transformation | Describe the photo in words rather than upload it, in the standard ChatGPT flow | Strongest control via image-to-image and ControlNet, requires setup |
| Commercial and print rights | Included on paid plans | Included on paid plans | Included, even on some free generations | Indemnified commercial use, Adobe's core pitch | Included on paid plans | Included under OpenAI's usage terms | Generally permitted under an open license, verify per checkpoint |
| Learning curve | Moderate, its own prompt syntax in Discord or the web app | Moderate, 100+ models means real choice to make | Easy, presets guide you quickly | Easy, especially inside the Adobe apps you already know | Easy, a clean and guided interface | Easiest, plain-English chat | Steep, checkpoint and front-end setup or a local GPU |
| Practical print resolution | Upscales to roughly 2048px, fine for a standard 5x7 card | Model-dependent, up to 4K with the built-in upscaler | Up to 4K with the built-in universal upscaler | Roughly 2K native, upscale further inside Photoshop | Up to 2K on paid plans | 1024 to 1792px native, no built-in upscaler | SDXL native 1024px, upscale locally to full print size |

### Per-product notes

- **dall-e-3** — best for: Best for beginners who'd rather describe changes in plain English, score: 3.8/5
  The easiest on-ramp if you already live in ChatGPT, at the cost of the most distinctive painted look.
- **ideogram** — best for: Best when the card needs readable text inside the artwork, score: 3.9/5
  Worth a look specifically if the card needs a name or message rendered inside the image, not just below it.
- **midjourney** — *Editor's pick*, best for: Best overall for painterly, gallery-quality renders, score: 4.6/5
  The most reliably painterly renders of the group, worth the $10/mo if you're making more than one card.
- **openart-ai** — *Best for model variety*, best for: Best for testing many painterly styles (and your own photos) in one place, score: 4.3/5
  The widest selection of rendering styles under one roof, if you don't mind a bit of a learning curve to find the right one.
- **leonardo-ai** — best for: Best free tier for a one-off holiday card, score: 4.2/5
  The best free option for a one-off card, with a real upscaler when you're ready to print.
- **adobe-firefly** — best for: Best for commercially-safe output and Creative Cloud workflows, score: 4/5
  The safest legal footing for printing at scale, at some cost to how distinctive the illustration looks.
- **stable-diffusion** — best for: Best for full creative control if you don't mind the setup, score: 3.7/5
  The most control of any tool here, but the setup cost only pays off if you're doing this every year.

## FAQ

### Can I use a photo of my kids with any of these tools, or does that violate someone's terms?

Uploading your own family photo as a reference is standard practice on every tool here, you own that photo. What varies is what you can do with the output: check whether your plan includes commercial and print use before you mail cards to people outside your household. Adobe Firefly and Midjourney's paid tiers both spell this out clearly.

### Do I need to pay before I can even test Midjourney?

Yes, and that's the tradeoff. Midjourney dropped free trials years ago, so the $10 Basic plan is the cheapest way to test whether your specific photo renders well. If you want to test for free first, start with Leonardo AI's daily token allowance or OpenArt AI's free credits instead.

### Which tool keeps a face looking the most like the actual person?

In our tests, Midjourney and Leonardo AI held likeness best across the watercolor and oil-pastel styles, with Ideogram's character-consistency tools worth a look if you're generating several cards from the same face.

### What resolution do I actually need for a printed card?

For a standard 5x7 card printed on 300gsm stock, aim for at least 300 DPI at final size, which works out to roughly 1500x2100 pixels. Leonardo AI and OpenArt AI's built-in upscalers get you there from a smaller native render; DALL-E 3's native output tops out lower and has no built-in upscaler.

### Is Stable Diffusion worth the setup if I'm only doing this once?

Probably not. Its main advantage, full control over the model checkpoint, only pays off if you're generating cards every year and want a specific vintage look dialed in. For one card, a hosted tool with a real interface will get you there faster.

### Do any of these tools render text well enough to put a message inside the image?

Ideogram is the one built for that. It renders legible text far more reliably than the other six, useful if you want a name or a short greeting worked into the artwork itself rather than added underneath in a separate print step.