Why this Aussie start-up was worth $370m to Canva
I think I know why Canva forked out a reported $370m for Leonardo.Ai, a less than two year old Aussie generative AI startup… with their new Phoenix model you can (at last!) create realistic text, meaning you can generate images of postcards, thank you cards, documents, social posts and even website designs!
This cuts to the core of Canva. Pretty soon, instead of using Canva’s template engine, you can simply type in a prompt and generate whatever layouts you want.
Yesterday I ran these tests to generate images based on popular Canva formats, here was my process;
1. Find a common template on Canva (e.g. a social post design)
2. Screengrab the template
3. Upload to ChatGPT and ask for it to ‘Describe in detail this image’
4. Copy and paste the entire description into Leonardo.AI’s Image Generation tool (note: requires a paid subscription to use the Phoenix model)
5. Wait 30 seconds and receive 4 versions of your design as a generated image (.jpg)
Above you can see the Canva vs Leonardo outputs, along with screenshots showing the prompts and options that were generated.
The text is not yet perfect, but it’s incredibly better than what was possible just a few months ago, and will continue to improve.
The most surprising thing to me from this test was how well Leonardo.AI responded to an extremely long and descriptive prompt. Here is an example:
“The image is a fashion advertisement featuring a stylish young woman with wavy, light brown hair. She has a confident and sophisticated expression, with her right hand resting near her temple. She is dressed in a dark blazer, accessorized with layered necklaces, including a choker and a longer chain. The makeup is meticulously done, highlighting her sharp features, particularly her eyes with bold eyeliner and well-defined brows.
The left side of the image has a vertical, torn paper effect dividing the photo and the text section. The text on the left side reads "FASHION" in large, uppercase, and elegant serif font, aligned vertically.
On the right side, superimposed on the photo, the text reads:
"DISCOUNT
50%
LIMITED TIME OFFER
@reallygreatsite"
The discount information is written in a clean, serif font, with "50%" being the most prominent element in a larger font size. The overall design is modern and chic, appealing to a fashion-conscious audience with a clear emphasis on a significant discount offer.”
Even the formatting of the text from the prompt has been faithfully generated in the image!
Leonardo.AI are blowing the doors off, and it’s awesome to see another Aussie success story.