--- title: The image model race just split into four lanes | daily.dev description: Four leading AI image models are compared across distinct strengths: GPT Image 2 excels at text-heavy and fact-rich layouts; Nano Banana Pro (Google DeepMind)... canonical: https://daily.dev/posts/the-image-model-race-just-split-into-four-lanes-bkf01m54q twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:site: @dailydotdev og:type: website og:site_name: daily.dev og:title: The image model race just split into four lanes | daily.dev og:description: Four leading AI image models are compared across distinct strengths: GPT Image 2 excels at text-heavy and fact-rich layouts; Nano Banana Pro (Google DeepMind)... og:url: https://daily.dev/posts/the-image-model-race-just-split-into-four-lanes-bkf01m54q og:image: https://api.daily.dev/og/posts/BKF01M54q.png og:image:alt: The image model race just split into four lanes og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 630 og:locale: en --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # The image model race just split into four lanes **[Visually AI](https://daily.dev/sources/heatherbcooper)** · 6 min read · 0 upvotes · 0 comments ## Summary Four leading AI image models are compared across distinct strengths: GPT Image 2 excels at text-heavy and fact-rich layouts; Nano Banana Pro (Google DeepMind) leads in realism and style matching with up to 14 reference images; Seedream 5.0 Pro (ByteDance) introduces layer separation and sketch editing for a design-file workflow; and Ideogram v4 is open-weight and optimized for typography and brand assets. The key takeaway is that no single model is universally best — each fits different creative workflows. Seedream 5.0 Pro's layer export feature is highlighted as a notable innovation, allowing finished AI images to be split into editable layers for Figma or Photoshop. The post also includes sample image and video prompts for practical use. ## Full article daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: ## Similar posts on daily.dev - [We ran over 600 image generations to compare AI models](https://daily.dev/posts/we-ran-over-600-image-generations-to-compare-ai-models-cpad63llq) · Hacker News · 2 upvotes · 1 comments - [Nano Banana Pro available for enterprise](https://daily.dev/posts/nano-banana-pro-available-for-enterprise-ldnrqcvuk) · Google Cloud · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [Seedream 5.0 Pro is now available on AI Gateway](https://daily.dev/posts/seedream-5-0-pro-is-now-available-on-ai-gateway-emxpi87vo) · Vercel · 3 upvotes · 0 comments - [Nano Banana Pro is the best AI image generator, with caveats](https://daily.dev/posts/nano-banana-pro-is-the-best-ai-image-generator-with-caveats-yixlvxmym) · Max Woolf's Blog · 2 upvotes · 0 comments --- Tags: [#genai](https://daily.dev/tags/genai), [#prompt-engineering](https://daily.dev/tags/prompt-engineering) [View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/the-image-model-race-just-split-into-four-lanes-bkf01m54q) ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/dailydotdev","https://github.com/dailydotdev","https://www.linkedin.com/company/daily-dev-ltd"]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://daily.dev/#website","url":"https://daily.dev","name":"daily.dev","publisher":{"@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization"},"potentialAction":{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https://daily.dev/search?q={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"TechArticle","headline":"The image model race just split into four lanes","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/the-image-model-race-just-split-into-four-lanes-bkf01m54q","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/the-image-model-race-just-split-into-four-lanes-bkf01m54q"},"datePublished":"2026-07-17T13:48:56.611Z","dateModified":"2026-07-17T13:49:20.183Z","description":"Four leading AI image models are compared across distinct strengths: GPT Image 2 excels at text-heavy and fact-rich layouts; Nano Banana Pro (Google DeepMind)...","image":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/posts/ba847312462c2119e7b9af8aab1aea32?_a=AQAEuop","thumbnailUrl":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/posts/ba847312462c2119e7b9af8aab1aea32?_a=AQAEuop","isAccessibleForFree":true,"articleSection":"Visually AI","inLanguage":"en","publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180}},"author":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Visually AI","logo":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/t_logo,f_auto/v1/logos/edab52f6b2824b42a36532e6659a3fc6","url":"https://daily.dev/sources/heatherbcooper"},"commentCount":0,"discussionUrl":"https://daily.dev/posts/the-image-model-race-just-split-into-four-lanes-bkf01m54q","interactionStatistic":[{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"LikeAction"},"userInteractionCount":0},{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"CommentAction"},"userInteractionCount":0}],"keywords":"genai,prompt-engineering","timeRequired":"PT6M"} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https://daily.dev"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Visually AI","item":"https://daily.dev/sources/heatherbcooper"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"The image model race just split into four lanes"}]} ```