Recraft

Recraft is an AI image company aimed at designers, with its own trained image models. What sets it apart from most generators is that it produces genuine vector graphics: export an SVG and you can edit it node by node in Illustrator or Figma, rather than getting a bitmap that only scales so far.

Its philosophy is to serve the design workflow, not to wow you with a single image. The parts of real design projects that take the most effort — brand palettes, custom styles, keeping a set of icons consistent — each have a dedicated feature. It also renders text inside images fairly well, which cuts down on rework for posters and logo drafts.

If what you want is photorealistic hero imagery, it is not necessarily the best pick. But whenever the output has to go into a design file and be revised and reused, Recraft tends to fit better than a bitmap-only tool.

Key features

• Vector generation: Create vector illustrations and icons from text and export SVG for further editing in design software.
• Custom styles: Upload a few reference images to define a style that later generations follow — good for brand consistency.
• Icon and illustration sets: Generate several images in the same style at once, for icon sets, empty-state art and similar series.
• Brand colour control: Specify a palette so results stick to your brand colours.
• Image editing tools: Inpaint, outpaint, remove backgrounds, upscale and vectorise bitmaps on an infinite canvas.
• Text rendering: Fairly accurate text inside images, which helps with posters and logo drafts.

How to use

1. Sign up at recraft.ai and open the infinite-canvas workspace.
2. Choose an output type (vector illustration, icon, realistic image and so on) and a style; upload references first if you want a custom style.
3. Write a prompt and set brand colours, then pick, edit or extend results on the canvas.
4. Export vectors as SVG and bitmaps as PNG or similar, then refine in your design tool.

Best for

• Brand visuals and icon sets: controllable style and colour, consistent across a set.
• UI and web illustration: vectors scale losslessly and are easy for designers to adjust.
• Logo and poster drafts: decent text rendering for exploring several directions quickly.
• Vectorising existing bitmaps: turn sketches or generated images into editable vectors without manual tracing.

Strengths and limitations

Strengths

• Native vector output — assets that genuinely slot into a design workflow.
• Custom styles and palette control for projects that need brand consistency.
• Text rendering and series generation stand out among comparable tools.

Limitations

• Photorealism is not its strength; mood and fine detail trail the leading general models.
• Generated vector paths can have too many nodes and messy structure, so they usually need cleanup before production use.
• Free-plan generations may be shown publicly and commercial rights are tied to paid plans; check your plan’s licence before commercial use.
• The interface is English-first, and Chinese prompts are understood less reliably than English ones.