Text in AI images: how to get readable lettering
Put the words in quotation marks, name the type size and the place, then read every letter. Three prompts for a sign, a pouch, and a poster, with their images.
Rendergrid editorsAbout the editors
In brief
Put the exact words in quotation marks, say how large the text is and where it goes, and read every letter of the result. Our three prompts quoted the exact words and gave a size, two also gave a place, and every word came out as written: “Pottery” on a sign from Nano Banana Pro, “Jasmine” and “Tea” on a tea pouch, and “Light and shadow” with “Exhibition” on a poster, both from Nano Banana 2.1.
That was one attempt per image, so the three images are examples, not a success rate. None of them has warped letters, so this guide cannot show you one.
How did we test lettering?
One short prompt per image. A one-word sign, a two-line tea pouch, and a poster with a heading and a second line. Each prompt holds its words in quotation marks.
Two models. The sign is from Nano Banana Pro, the pouch and the poster are from Nano Banana 2.1. All three are 2K: the sign and the pouch are 1:1, the poster is 2:3.
One attempt each. We show the first image each prompt made, not the best of several.
The images were made through the Rendergrid API, and each is shown with its prompt and settings. We read every word on every image letter by letter.
Why do letters come out warped?
Our three images came out with every letter as written, so they cannot show you warped letters or prove why they happen. What they do show is which parts of the lettering each prompt fixed and which it left open:
- The words were fixed. Each prompt put the exact text in quotation marks, and each image kept the spelling and the capitals: “Pottery”, “Jasmine” above “Tea”, “Light and shadow” above “Exhibition”.
- The size was named, not measured. The prompts say “large” and “smaller” with no measurements, and the images decided the rest: the poster’s heading runs about five-sixths of the way across it.
- The place was fixed twice and left open once. The sign prompt says “Center the single word”, and the poster prompt keeps the upper half open for the heading. The pouch prompt gives no place for its two lines, and they landed near the middle of the pouch, with the flower below them.
Whatever a prompt leaves open, the model decides. The next sections take the words, the size, and the place one at a time.
How should you write the words in the prompt?
Put the words to print in quotation marks and write them exactly as they should appear: spelling, capitals, and punctuation. The sign prompt asks for “Pottery”, and the image shows a capital P with lower-case letters after it. Keep the color, the light, and the object outside the quotation marks, as the sign prompt does with its large dark green letters.
The prompt for this image
Photograph a pottery workshop sign straight on in a square frame. A level rectangular cream board hangs on a pale plaster wall with no perspective distortion. Center the single word “Pottery” in large dark green letters. Use soft daylight and include the whole board with ample surrounding wall. Include only the specified lettering, with no logos, people, or watermarks.
Nano Banana Pro
nano-banana-pro · 2K · 1:1 · $0.04
Nano Banana Pro, 2K, 1:1, one attempt. A level cream board on a pale plaster wall, seen straight on with wall visible on all four sides, and the word “Pottery” in dark green. Every letter is as written, with no extra mark or word. The letters have slightly uneven edges, like hand-painted type, and the board has a few small specks. The word sits near the middle of the board with a similar margin at each end.
Give each line of a label its own quoted string. The pouch prompt asks for two short dark lines, “Jasmine” and “Tea”, and the image prints them as two lines in that order.
End with what must not appear. All three prompts close with the same sentence: include only the specified lettering, with no logos, people, or watermarks. None of the three images has an extra word or a logo.
Keep each line short. Our longest line is “Light and shadow”, three words, and we did not test long sentences or small print.
How large and where should the text be?
Name the size in plain words. The prompts use “large” for the main words and “smaller” for the second line of the poster. The poster’s “Exhibition” is clearly smaller than its heading, and the pouch’s two lines are both large, as asked.
Name the place too. The sign prompt asks to center the word, and “Pottery” sits near the middle of the board. The pouch prompt gave no place, and its two lines landed near the middle of the pouch, with the flower below them and bare paper above. If you want the text somewhere else, say where.
The prompt for this image
A pale matte paper tea pouch stands upright on beige, its front facing the camera. Keep the lettering area smooth. Print two short dark lines, “Jasmine” and “Tea”, in large readable type, with a small white flower drawing below. Soft diffuse light; show the complete pouch. Include only the specified lettering, with no logos, people, or watermarks.
Nano Banana 2.1
nano-banana-2.1 · 2K · 1:1 · $0.03
Nano Banana 2.1, 2K, 1:1, one attempt. The whole pouch is in the frame, its front facing the camera. “Jasmine” and “Tea” are spelled as written, in dark serif type on two lines, with a small white flower in thin outline below them. The prompt gave no place for the lines. Measured against the pouch’s own height, they sit near its middle, within about 2% of the center, with the flower below them and bare paper above. The pouch also has a zip strip and small notches near the top, which the prompt did not ask for. The area around the lettering is smooth, as the prompt asked. No letter is warped, missing, or added.
More prompts for product images are in our product card prompts.
How do you set up a poster?
Describe the layout first and the words second. The poster prompt asks for one soft white arc in the lower half and keeps the upper half open for a large heading and a smaller second line. The image puts both lines at the top, leaves the middle empty, and places the arc below. The prompt asked for no dates or addresses, and the poster has none.
Two details came from the model, not the prompt. It left-aligned both lines, which the prompt did not mention. And it made the heading wide, so the side margins are narrower than the broad margins the prompt asked for. If the margins matter, say how wide you want them and check the result.
The prompt for this image
A portrait exhibition poster uses matte pale blue with one soft white arc in the lower half. Keep the upper half open for a large dark blue heading, “Light and shadow”, followed by the smaller word “Exhibition”. Use clear plain type and broad margins, without dates or addresses. Include only the specified lettering, with no logos, people, or watermarks.
Nano Banana 2.1
nano-banana-2.1 · 2K · 2:3 · $0.03
Nano Banana 2.1, 2K, 2:3, one attempt. Both lines read exactly as written, “Light and shadow” and “Exhibition”, in dark blue sans-serif type, left-aligned, which the prompt did not specify. There are no dates, addresses, or other text. The upper half is open as asked, and the soft white arc, thicker at the top and thinning toward its ends, sits in the lower half. The heading runs about five-sixths of the way across the poster, so the side margins are narrower than the broad margins the prompt asked for.
How do you check every letter?
Read the lettering against the quoted words, and say there are no errors only after every word has been read. Our steps:
- Open the image at full size, because a small preview can hide a wrong letter.
- Spell each word letter by letter against the quoted text.
- Compare the capitals and any punctuation with your quotes.
- Look for text you did not ask for, including stray marks that look like letters.
- Count the lines and the words.
We did this for all five lines and seven words in our images, and each one matches its prompt.
What if a letter still comes out wrong?
Change one thing at a time, the words, the size, or the place, and run the prompt again. In the API, a second image is a new request with a new idempotency key: a repeat with the same key returns the same response and makes no new image, as the idempotency docs explain. Every new request is charged. At 2K an image costs $0.04 on Nano Banana Pro and $0.03 on Nano Banana 2.1; every model and resolution is on the pricing page.
Where does this guide not fit?
- Three images are examples, not a rate. Each was one attempt and none came out warped, so they show what we fixed in the prompt, not how often letters come out right.
- No open prompt to compare. We did not run a prompt without quotation marks, a size, or a place, so we cannot say what each one changes.
- Short English lines in large type only. Our longest line is three words. We did not test long text or small print.
- Two models, one resolution. The sign came from Nano Banana Pro and the other two images from Nano Banana 2.1, so they say nothing about which model letters better.
A failed request is free
Try your own lettering prompt
Write your words in quotation marks, name the size and the place, and read every letter of the result.
Open the playgroundQuestions and answers
Why do letters come out warped in generated images?
Should the text go in quotation marks?
Can I count on the text being right on the first attempt?
Sources
- Rendergrid pricingThe price per image for each model and resolution.
- Rendergrid docs: balanceWhen a request is charged.
- Rendergrid docs: idempotencyWhat a repeated request returns and how to ask for a second image.
- Rendergrid test imagesEach image is shown with its prompt and settings.
