What Are AI Image Generators? Their Importance
AI image generators are artificial intelligence technologies that create high-quality visuals based on text prompts or image inputs. They are utilized across various creative fields including illustration, photography, and graphic design, contributing to efficiency improvements and idea visualization.
In 2025, generation speed, Japanese language support, and commercial use flexibility have further evolved, making these tools essential for professional creators. Particularly, fine-tuning using LoRA enables image generation specialized for specific styles or characters, expanding creative possibilities.AI Image Generator Quick Reference Table
The following table summarizes an overview of AI image generators carefully selected for professional creators. We provide information useful for tool selection by comparing each service’s official URL, commercial use permissions, pricing, main applications, and features.
| Service Name | Official URL | Commercial Use | Pricing | Main Applications | Features |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Midjourney | midjourney.com | Yes | $10/month~ (Subscription) | Art, Illustration, Concept Design | High artistic quality, easy operation, stable quality |
| DALL-E 3 | openai.com/dall-e | Yes | $15/month~ (via ChatGPT Plus) | Advertising, promotional materials | ChatGPT integration, high safety |
| Adobe Firefly | adobe.com/firefly | Yes | $4.99/month~ (within Adobe CC) | Graphic design, prototyping | Adobe tools integration, commercial use oriented |
| Ideogram | ideogram.ai | Yes | Free tier available, $7/month~ | Typography, logo design | Text generation specialized, beginner-friendly, free tier available |
| FLUX.1 Pro (Web) | fal.ai/models/flux-pro | Yes | $0.05/image~ (pay-per-use) | Promotions, creative production | High-speed generation, API-based, commercial use oriented |
| Stable Diffusion | stability.ai | Yes | Free (open source) | Custom illustrations, research purposes | Open source, high customizability, high performance in local environments |
| Illustrious XL | illustrious-xl.ai | Yes | Free (open source) | Illustration, concept art | SDXL derivative, high quality, lightweight operation in local environments |
| FLUX.1 [dev] | huggingface.co/black-forest-labs | No | Free (open source, non-commercial) | Research, personal projects | Open source, high quality, VRAM optimized (GGUF support) |
Web Services: Cloud-Based AI Image Generators for Easy Access
Cloud-based web services are attractive for their minimal setup requirements and immediate usability. Below, we introduce web services recommended for professional creators.
1. Midjourney
Midjourney is an AI tool known for generating highly artistic images. It operates on the web with intuitive operability as its key feature. It provides high-quality visuals for creators and supports commercial use.
2. DALL-E 3
DALL-E 3, provided by OpenAI, generates highly accurate images from detailed prompts through integration with ChatGPT. Its strengths are safety and ease of use, and it also supports commercial use.
3. Adobe Firefly
Adobe Firefly’s strength lies in its integration with Adobe Creative Cloud, making it a highly compatible tool for designers. It features a design premise for commercial use.
4. Ideogram
Ideogram is an AI image generator particularly specialized in text generation, also offering a free tier. It’s ideal for projects requiring creative typography.
5. FLUX.1 Pro
FLUX.1 Pro is gaining attention as a rising star in 2025, provided as an API-based cloud service. It excels in instruction comprehension and generation speed, making it suitable for commercial use.
Local Environment: AI Image Generators Focused on Customization and Performance
AI image generators operating in local environments are suitable for creators who prioritize customization and data privacy. Below, we introduce recommended local tools for 2025.
1. Stable Diffusion
Stable Diffusion is an open-source AI image generator with flexibility and customizability as its greatest features. It supports commercial use and enables high-performance generation in local environments.
2. Illustrious XL
Illustrious XL from Korea is gaining attention in 2025 as a derivative model of SDXL. It features high-quality generation in local environments and supports commercial use.
3. FLUX.1 [dev]
FLUX.1 [dev] is provided as an open-source local version, limited to non-commercial use. It features high-quality generation and VRAM optimization, making it ideal for creators seeking customizability.
Tools Supporting LoRA Training
LoRA (Low-Rank Adaptation) is an efficient fine-tuning technique for specializing AI image generators to specific styles or characters. Below, we introduce tools supporting LoRA training recommended for professional creators as of 2025. These tools can build high-quality models with minimal data and resources, making them ideal for creative projects.
1. webui-traintrain
webui-traintrain is a LoRA training tool integrated into AUTOMATIC1111’s Stable Diffusion WebUI, featuring ease of use in local environments. Through an intuitive GUI, it enables fine-tuning of Stable Diffusion and Illustrious XL models. It can learn specific styles or characters from just a few images, with abundant community tutorials providing support. Commercial use depends on the base model’s license (e.g., Stable Diffusion’s license).
2. Shakker AI
Shakker AI is a cloud-based platform that simplifies LoRA training. With a user-friendly interface, it caters to everyone from beginners to professionals. It can utilize LoRA models shared by the community and easily build models specialized for specific anime styles or photographic expressions. It supports commercial use and meets creators’ flexible needs.
3. Hugging Face (PEFT & Transformers)
Hugging Face’s PEFT (Parameter-Efficient Fine-Tuning) library and Transformers library are powerful toolsets for implementing LoRA training in local environments. They support LoRA fine-tuning for Stable Diffusion and FLUX.1 [dev], enabling advanced customization using Python and PyTorch. They are open source and free, but commercial use requires license verification.
4. Kohya_ss
Kohya_ss is an open-source tool specialized for LoRA training for Stable Diffusion. It’s GUI-based for easy operation and can work even in environments with limited VRAM. It’s ideal for creating character or style-specialized models and is widely used by the community. Commercial use depends on the base model’s license.
5. Flux Kontext
Flux Kontext is a LoRA training tool designed for FLUX.1, providing innovative functionality to generate training data from single images. Integrated with ComfyUI, it can build high-quality models with minimal data. It’s gaining attention as a new tool for 2025 and is optimized for non-commercial use.
LoRA Training Key Points:
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Data Preparation: Use high-quality, consistent image data (e.g., same character or style). Flux Kontext and webui-traintrain can train with few images (5-10 pieces), reducing data preparation burden.
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Hardware Requirements: Shakker AI and Flux Kontext are cloud-based and usable even with low-spec PCs. webui-traintrain, Hugging Face, and Kohya_ss recommend GPU (minimum 6-8GB VRAM).
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Commercial Use: Shakker AI and Hugging Face (after license verification) support commercial use. webui-traintrain and Kohya_ss depend on base model licenses, while Flux Kontext is for non-commercial use.
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Community Utilization: Utilizing shared models and tutorials from webui-traintrain, Hugging Face, and Kohya_ss communities improves training efficiency.