Design with Ideogram 4.0.
Ideogram 4.0 is Ideogram’s current image model, released as open weights and built for design work: dense but legible typography, layout control over where each element lands, and output that stays editable instead of arriving as a flat picture.
Capabilities, specifications and access channels on this page come from Ideogram’s official model page and product documentation. Pricing, plans and regional availability are set by the vendor and change without notice.
What Ideogram 4.0 renders
These are Ideogram’s own examples from the Ideogram 4.0 model page. They were chosen to cover what the model is sold on: dense poster typography, packaging and brand assets, surreal composite scenes and photographic work.
Example images belong to Ideogram and are reproduced with credit: Ideogram 4.0 official model page
From reference photo to reconstruction
Ideogram’s model page demonstrates the training loop behind 4.0: the model first reads a scene as structured data — background, objects, text regions and where each one sits — and then rebuilds the image from that description. The same mechanism is what makes bounding-box layout prompting possible.
What Ideogram 4.0 is
Ideogram 4.0 is the current Ideogram image model and the first in the line to ship as open weights. It was built for design output rather than illustration alone: the model learns a scene as structured data before it draws it, which is what lets it place text and objects deliberately and hand back pieces you can still edit.
Open weights, not just an API
Ideogram publishes the 4.0 weights to download, fine-tune and self-host, under a commercial licence that scales with the deployment. That is a materially different proposition from the API-only models in this directory.
Structure before pixels
Training reads scenes, backgrounds, text and objects as structured data and then reconstructs the image from that representation — the technique the model page demonstrates directly.
Layout you can direct
Bounding boxes were trained alongside plain-language descriptions, so you can say where a headline, logo or object belongs instead of hoping the prompt lands.
Output that stays editable
Background removal already returns a transparent cutout and layerize already returns editable text layers; Ideogram says the next 4.0 release returns both natively from inference.
Ideogram models at a glance
Ideogram documents a model picker rather than a single checkpoint. The rows summarise what the official documentation says each option is; the positioning is Ideogram’s own.
| Model | What the vendor documents | Choose it for |
|---|---|---|
| Ideogram 4.0 | The current model: prompt fidelity, crystal-clear type, reliable editing, native transparency, style control and design-quality output. | Posters, campaigns, print-on-demand artwork, interface assets and brand work. |
| Ideogram 3.0 | Introduced style references from up to three images, a library of 4.3 billion style presets with reusable style codes, and batch generation. | Teams already running a 3.0 pipeline that needs a familiar output. |
| Ideogram 2a | A faster 2.x model. | High-volume drafts where speed matters more than finish. |
| Legacy — 2.0 · 1.1 · 1.0 | Older models that remain available where your account, plan or endpoint supports them. | Reproducing output from an existing pipeline. |
| Auto | Lets Ideogram choose the model for the prompt. | When which model runs does not matter. |
Feature support is not uniform. The documentation lists flash speed, custom dimensions, colour palette, negative prompts, tiling, character, style and product references, custom models, Canvas and API availability as varying by model and rollout, so check the endpoint you actually call.
What Ideogram 4.0 does well
Every claim below is documented on Ideogram’s official model page or in its product documentation. Figures the vendor does not publish — success rates, per-image cost — are left out rather than estimated.
Text inside the image
Ideogram has led on text rendering since launch, and 4.0 adds bounding-box layout control on top: headlines stay readable and package copy says the words you asked for.
Layout and composition control
Object, text and layout-element positions are learned from bounding boxes paired with plain-language descriptions, which turns a dense layout into something you direct rather than gamble on.
Editable, not flat
Background removal returns a clean alpha cutout and layerize returns separate editable text layers, so typography stays revisable after the model is done.
Brand and packaging work
Logos, promotional posters, landing pages and product photography are the documented targets, with one visual identity held across a whole set.
Photorealism
Natural skin tones, accurate reflections and lighting physics are documented, from surreal concepts through to documentary-style portraits.
Documented specifications
Compiled from Ideogram’s official model page and product documentation. Where the vendor publishes no figure, that is stated instead of estimated.
- Developer
- Ideogram
- Current model
- Ideogram 4.0
- Earlier models
- 3.0 · 3.0 (March 26) · 2a · 2.0 · 1.1 · 1.0
- Documented API values
- V_3_1 · V_3_0 · V_2_1 · V_1_5 · V_1_1 · V_0_3 · AUTO (earlier models)
- Weights
- Published for download, fine-tuning and self-hosting
- Commercial licence
- Required for commercial deployment; priced to scale
- Layout control
- Bounding boxes trained with plain-language descriptions
- Editable output
- Transparent cutouts and editable text layers (shipping); native from 4.0 inference (announced)
- Post-generation tools
- Remove background · prompt edit · layerize · extend · reframe · upscale · remix · Magic Fill
- Output resolution
- Not published on the model page
- Pricing
- Not published here; plans and credits are set by Ideogram
Documented access channels
Ideogram 4.0 is reachable by several routes, and they are not interchangeable: the hosted app and the open weights differ in cost, control and who holds the licence.
Official app
Create in the browser, or in the Ideogram mobile app.
OpenOfficial API
Endpoint-level model values and request schemas are documented at developer.ideogram.ai.
OpenOpen weights
The 4.0 weights are published in Ideogram’s open repository, to download, fine-tune and run on your own hardware.
OpenAgents and internal tools
Ideogram lists MCP for agents and internal tools among the approved public surfaces for 4.0.
Ideogram questions people search for
What is Ideogram 4.0?
Ideogram 4.0 is Ideogram’s current image generation model, released with open weights and built for design work: legible typography, bounding-box layout control and output that can still be edited after generation.
Is Ideogram free?
Ideogram publishes a free tier alongside paid plans, and the official pricing page sets the current terms. What the model page does document is that commercial deployment of the open weights needs a licence that scales with usage, so “free” depends on how you ship it.
Is Ideogram open source?
The 4.0 weights are published for download, fine-tuning and self-hosting, which is what Ideogram markets as an open-weight release. Commercial deployment still requires a licence, so open weights is not the same as unrestricted use.
Can Ideogram render readable text?
Text rendering is the model’s headline capability: the 4.0 page leads on crystal-clear type and dense layout, and the official examples include a film poster with a full credit block. Still test it with your own copy, because small type is where every image model eventually fails.
What is Ideogram 4.0 best at?
Design output — posters, campaigns, packaging, brand worlds and interface assets — and anything where text and layout have to survive production. The model page also documents photographic strengths: skin tones, reflections, lighting physics.
How do I control where things go in an Ideogram image?
Ideogram 4.0 was trained with bounding boxes paired to plain-language descriptions, so layout control is part of the model rather than an add-on. The model page demonstrates the same mechanism rebuilding a scene from its structured description.
Is Ideogram better than GPT Image 2.5?
Neither vendor publishes a head-to-head comparison, so any ranking is inference. The concrete differences are distribution and editability: Ideogram ships open weights and returns editable layers, while GPT Image 2.5 is API-only. Our comparison article covers what each vendor documents.
Latest Ideogram 4.0 articles
Browse every published Ideogram 4.0 article, from introductions to practical guides and developer documentation.
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Ideogram 4.0 Prompt Guide: The Documented Structure and How Text Renders
The prompt structure Ideogram documents in its own guide, the practices and limits it sets for text, two worked prompts, and what it leaves open.
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Ideogram Pricing: Plans, Credits and the Free Limits
Every plan Ideogram sells with monthly and annual prices, what a credit buys, two jobs priced out, API rates, and the figures the vendor does not publish.
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How to Use Ideogram
Where Ideogram 4.0 runs, how a first image comes together, what the settings change, one worked prompt, and what Ideogram has not published.
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Ideogram API: Access, Endpoints and Text Rendering
How to get access to the official Ideogram API, what the 4.0 generate endpoint expects, how to poll and store results, and what Ideogram does not publish.
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