AI image generation has matured considerably in 2026. Midjourney V7 produces the most aesthetically striking artistic images but requires Discord and doesn't support inpainting. DALL-E 3 (via ChatGPT) excels at prompt adherence and is the most accessible. Adobe Firefly stands alone for commercial safety — trained only on licensed content.
Ideogram 2.0 has emerged as the specialist choice for text-in-image work — posters, product labels, and anything requiring legible typography. Stable Diffusion (via ComfyUI or Automatic1111) remains the choice for power users who want full control and local deployment.
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