Photo to Anime AI Filter

Example prompts for Photo to Anime

The same prompts are behind the “Try an example” button in the input box; each click loads the next one.

• 90s cel

  90s anime cel style, hand-painted background, visible line art, limited color palette

• Modern soft

  Modern anime look, soft shading, warm rim light, detailed eyes

Real results from Photo to Anime

A real result from this tool. Drag the handle to compare.

After

Before

Drag to Compare Before & After

Photo to anime converter: what changes and what stays

This AI anime filter redraws the whole picture rather than laying an effect over it. That is why the result looks drawn instead of filtered, and also why it helps to know what the model keeps and what it reinvents.

• What stays the same

  Hair colour and cut, clothing, pose, framing and the rough layout of the background. The instruction sent to the model asks for exactly these, which is what keeps the result reading as a specific person rather than a stock anime character.

• What changes

  Skin texture becomes flat colour, eyes are enlarged and simplified, shadows turn into hard-edged cel shading, and the background is repainted in the same style. Small details such as jewellery, logos and text on clothes are often simplified or dropped.

• Choosing an anime look

  Leave the prompt empty for a clean modern style. Type a look to change it: "90s anime cel style, hand-painted background", "soft modern shading, warm rim light", "watercolour background, pastel palette". Describe the look in words; you don't need to name a studio or show.

• Group photos and couples

  Two or three people convert well when their faces are reasonably large in the frame. In a big group shot each face is only a few dozen pixels, so the model has little to draw from; crop to the people you care about first.

• Not a live camera filter

  The anime filters in phone and TikTok apps run in real time on video and trade detail for speed. This one works on a single still photo, takes about 25 seconds on the default model, and gives you a full-resolution image to download.

Why Photo to Anime on AI Image Tools

• Recognizable, not generic

  Hair, clothing, pose and framing are kept, so the result reads as you drawn in anime, not a random character.

• Pick the era

  Leave the prompt empty for a clean modern look, or ask for 90s cel shading with a hand-painted background.

• Pets and places too

  Cats, dogs, streets and skylines convert just as well as portraits.

• Model choice

  FLUX.1 Kontext is fast and faithful; Nano Banana follows a detailed style description more closely.

Every image model in one place

Pick any of these from the Model menu above; the price is shown before you generate. Each name links to what that model is good at. Compare every tier.

• Z-Image Turbo

  Alibaba · cheapest and fastest, text-to-image only

  1 credits per image

• Seedream 5 Pro · 1K

  ByteDance · same model as 2K at half the price

  9 credits per image

• GPT Image 2.5 Flare · 2K

  OpenAI · same price as Sunburst, tuned for speed and volume

  13 credits per image

• Qwen Image 3 · 2K

  Alibaba · strong at readable text inside the image

  6 credits per image

• Nano Banana

  Google Gemini 2.5 Flash · fastest, cheapest

  5 credits per image

• Nano Banana 2.1 · 1K

  Google · newest Nano Banana, sharper text, banner ratios

  10 credits per image

• Nano Banana 2.1 · 2K

  Google · same model at 2K

  15 credits per image

• Nano Banana 2.1 · 4K

  Google · for print or heavy cropping

  23 credits per image

• Ideogram V3 · Turbo

  Ideogram · text inside the image, fastest tier

  5 credits per image

• Ideogram V3 · Balanced

  Ideogram · text inside the image, posters and logos

  9 credits per image

• Ideogram V3 · Quality

  Ideogram · text inside the image, highest detail

  13 credits per image

• FLUX.1 Kontext

  Black Forest Labs · fastest, about 5s per image

  5 credits per image

• Seedream 5 Lite

  ByteDance · good at Chinese text and posters

  7 credits per image

• Seedream 5 Pro · 2K

  ByteDance · most photorealistic, highest detail

  18 credits per image

• GPT Image 2 · 2K

  OpenAI · good with text in images, half the price of 2.5

  7 credits per image

• GPT Image 2 · 4K

  OpenAI · for print or heavy cropping

  10 credits per image

• GPT Image 2.5 · 2K

  OpenAI · newest, better instruction following

  13 credits per image

• GPT Image 2.5 · 4K

  OpenAI · newest, highest resolution

  20 credits per image

Photo to Anime specifications

Input

One JPG, PNG, WebP or HEIC up to 10 MB

Prompt

Optional: which anime look, e.g. 90s cel, modern soft

Models

FLUX.1 Kontext by default; Nano Banana, Nano Banana 2.1, Seedream 5 Lite / Pro, GPT Image 2 / 2.5 and Ideogram V3 selectable

Sizes

Same as input, 1:1, 4:3, 3:4, 16:9

Output

PNG or JPEG depending on the model, saved to My Creations

Cost

5 to 20 credits per image, depending on the model

Time

About 25 seconds with FLUX.1 Kontext; Seedream around 50 seconds, GPT Image about a minute

Free plan

10 credits on sign-in — 10 images on the default model; free downloads carry a small watermark

How to use Photo to Anime

1. Step 1

   Upload a clear photo

   Front-facing, well lit, subject filling a good part of the frame.

2. Step 2

   Choose a look, or don't

   Type a style or click “Try an example” in the input box. Leaving it empty gives a clean default.

3. Step 3

   Generate and download

   Check that the face still reads as the person; rerun with another model if not.

Get a better result

A few choices before you upload change the output more than any setting on this page.

• Front-facing and evenly lit

  Anime styling is built on clean line work, and lines need visible edges. Heavy shadows across a face give the model nothing to trace.

• Crop close for portraits

  A face filling the frame converts far better than a face occupying a tenth of a wide shot.

• Name the era if you care about it

  Leaving the prompt empty gives a clean modern look. “90s cel shading, hand-painted background” gives something quite different.