ERNIE Image

Baidu's open-weight image model built for legible text and posters

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Screenshot of ERNIE Image, Baidu's open-weight image model built for legible text and posters

What is ERNIE Image?

ERNIE Image is Baidu's open-weight 8B Diffusion Transformer image generator, hosted free in the browser. It stands out for readable multilingual text inside images, accurate instruction following on long prompts, and coherent multi-panel comics and storyboards, with a Turbo mode that renders in 8 steps for fast iteration.

ERNIE Image is Baidu's open-weight text-to-image model, released on April 15, 2026, and built on an 8 billion parameter single-stream Diffusion Transformer. The hosted studio at ernie-image.co puts that model behind a browser interface: you type a prompt, choose a size ratio and model variant, generate, and download a full resolution PNG. No install, GPU or account is required to start. The pitch is narrower than a general purpose art generator. ERNIE Image is trained on dense, layout-sensitive scenes, so it can place readable words, labels and captions inside an image in English, Chinese and other languages. It also handles long, compositional prompts with several objects and spatial relationships, and it keeps multi-panel outputs such as comics, manga pages and storyboards coherent across panels. Outputs lean toward a warm, film-like cinematic look rather than the glossy synthetic sheen common to other generators. Baidu's own materials rank it first among open-weight models on instruction accuracy, citing a GENEval score of 0.8856. In practice the workflow is three moves: describe, tune, generate. A built-in Prompt Enhancer rewrites a plain language draft into a structured prompt for people who do not want to hand-engineer wording. Two variants share the same studio, the standard model for polished results and Turbo, which reaches its output in 8 steps instead of 50 for fast concept iteration. Preset ratios cover 16:9, 9:16, 4:3, 3:4, 3:2 and 2:3, with manual width and height fields. It suits marketers producing text-accurate banners and posters, illustrators working on comics and storyboards, e-commerce sellers who need product visuals without a photo shoot, and writers visualizing characters and scenes. Against FLUX, Midjourney and Stable Diffusion 3.5, the differentiators are multilingual in-image text, panel structure and free browser access; photorealism is where rivals still hold an edge. The weights are Apache 2.0 licensed and support ComfyUI templates and AI-Toolkit fine-tuning, so teams can move off the hosted studio later.

How do you use ERNIE Image?

  1. 1Open the studio and write a prompt
    Go to the create page and type your idea in plain English. If the draft feels thin, use the Enhance Prompt button to expand it into a richer structured prompt.
    ERNIE Image — Open the studio and write a prompt
  2. 2Pick a size ratio and resolution
    Choose from the preset ratios (16:9, 9:16, 4:3, 3:4, 3:2, 2:3) or set width and height manually to match the placement you have in mind.
  3. 3Select standard or Turbo model
    Use ERNIE Image for maximum quality on final assets, or ERNIE Image Turbo when you want fast drafts during early ideation. Defaults are fine for balanced results.
  4. 4Generate and review the output
    Click Generate and check the result against your brief, especially any text placement or panel structure you specified. Refine the prompt and run it again if something is off.
  5. 5Download or study the review
    Save the full resolution PNG when you are happy. For benchmark comparisons and prompt strategy before committing, read the full review and the how-to guide.
    ERNIE Image — Download or study the review

Pros and cons

Pros

  • Produces legible, well-placed text inside images in English, Chinese and other languages, which most rivals handle poorlyAI
  • Strong instruction following on long, multi-object prompts cuts down on rerollsAI
  • Handles structured and multi-panel layouts like comics and storyboards with consistent charactersAI
  • Turbo mode reaches high-aesthetic output in 8 steps, making rapid concept exploration practicalAI
  • Open weights under Apache 2.0 with ComfyUI and fine-tuning support, so work is not locked to the hosted studioAI

Cons

  • The homepage describes the hosted studio but does not disclose commercial usage rights or licensing terms for generated imagesAI
  • Credit costs are tied to the job type started, so per-image spend is hard to predict before you generateAI
  • Photorealism trails FLUX and Midjourney according to the site's own comparison tableAI
  • No native mobile apps or desktop clients are listed; the studio runs only in the browserAI
  • The model's release date and benchmarks come from Baidu's own materials, with little independent verification on the siteAI

How much does ERNIE Image cost?

Free trial

The studio is free to start with no account, credit card or GPU required: open the site, type a prompt and generate. The homepage does not state a credit allowance for free users.

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Pricing

Credits are sold as one-time packs: 150 credits for $9.9, 540 for $29.9 and 1100 for $49.9, working out to $0.065, $0.055 and $0.045 per credit. Each generation consumes credits depending on the job started, and the site says credits never expire. A subscription option is also mentioned, with payment handled by Stripe.

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Support

Email support is listed as available 24/7, and payments run through Stripe. A 7 day money-back guarantee covers credit purchases under the refund policy.

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Integrations

The open-weight model ships with an official ComfyUI template and supports fine-tuning through AI-Toolkit. No other third party integrations are described on the homepage.

Features

Core capabilities include multilingual text rendering inside images, high fidelity instruction following on long prompts, structured multi-panel generation for comics and storyboards, and a wide style range without model swaps. Turbo mode cuts rendering to 8 steps versus 50, and a built-in Prompt Enhancer rewrites plain descriptions into structured prompts.

Frequently asked questions about ERNIE Image

  • How much does ERNIE Image cost?
    Credits are sold as one-time packs: 150 credits for $9.9, 540 for $29.9 and 1100 for $49.9, working out to $0.065, $0.055 and $0.045 per credit. Each generation consumes credits depending on the job started, and the site says credits never expire. A subscription option is also mentioned, with payment handled by Stripe.
  • Does ERNIE Image offer a free trial?
    The studio is free to start with no account, credit card or GPU required: open the site, type a prompt and generate. The homepage does not state a credit allowance for free users.
  • How do you use ERNIE Image?
    The walkthrough on this page covers 5 steps: 1. Open the studio and write a prompt 2. Pick a size ratio and resolution 3. Select standard or Turbo model 4. Generate and review the output 5. Download or study the review.
  • What platforms does ERNIE Image support?
    ERNIE Image is available on Web App.
  • What does ERNIE Image integrate with?
    The open-weight model ships with an official ComfyUI template and supports fine-tuning through AI-Toolkit. No other third party integrations are described on the homepage.
  • What are the limitations of ERNIE Image?
    The homepage describes the hosted studio but does not disclose commercial usage rights or licensing terms for generated images. Credit costs are tied to the job type started, so per-image spend is hard to predict before you generate. Photorealism trails FLUX and Midjourney according to the site's own comparison table.

Status

StatusActive
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Added11/3/2026

Platforms

Web App

Pricing

FreePaid