How to Use Nano Banana: A Beginner’s Guide to AI Image Generation

Nano Banana is one of the fastest ways to turn an idea into a finished image. Whether you want a photorealistic portrait, a product mockup, or a piece of concept art, you can go from a text prompt to a polished result in seconds. This guide walks you through the basics.

1. Write a clear prompt

A good prompt describes the subject, the style, and the details you care about. Instead of "a dog," try "a golden retriever puppy sitting on a wooden porch at golden hour, shallow depth of field, photorealistic." The more specific you are, the closer the result matches your intent.

You can also upload a reference image and describe the change you want — Nano Banana supports both text-to-image and image-to-image editing.

2. Pick the right model

Nano Banana comes in a small family of models, each tuned for a different job:

• Nano Banana — the fast, everyday base model (Gemini 2.5 Flash Image), great for quick 1K images.
• Nano Banana 2 Lite — the speed/value tier (Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite), ideal for rapid drafts.
• Nano Banana 2 — sharper text and up to 4K (Gemini 3.1 Flash Image).
• Nano Banana Pro — the highest quality (Gemini 3 Pro Image) for professional work.

If you're just starting out, the base Nano Banana model is the perfect place to begin.

3. Choose a resolution

Higher resolution means more detail — and more credits per image. Use 1K for social posts and drafts, and step up to 2K or 4K when you need print-ready quality. Each image costs credits based on the model and resolution; see the pricing page for the full breakdown.

4. Generate, review, and iterate

Generate your image, then refine. Small prompt tweaks — lighting, camera angle, mood — often make a big difference. Because the Flash models are fast, iterating is quick and cheap.

Ready to try it?

Create your first image and explore what each model can do. When you're ready for more credits or higher resolutions, the pricing plans scale with you.