Stepping into AI: #2 Pretty Pictures with Pebblely
I have been using Pebblely for a few months now. Here is my review:
It started with a search for product photography props. I found some very nice sets for $800+. A price that was kind of worth it … but I was hesitant to spend so much on something that I can’t touch and test in person first.
Then, an ad for Pebblely caught my attention. With an option to generate 40 free photos per month, the only thing to lose was a little bit of my time. So I gave it a try!
What does Pebblely do?
Pebblely is a fun way to generate small product images for your social media, website, or print! I look forward to using it to create seasonal images to advertise popular products.
Free Pebblely vs Paid Pebblely Plan
The free version is a great way to check out the power of Pebblely
- 40 free images per month (generated 4 at a time)
- Excellent for displaying in smaller formats, such as Instagram!
With the paid plan, you can download even more
- $19 per month lets you generate 1,000 images!
- Download images up to 2048×2048 pixels
- Excellent for displaying in small print, Instagram, or on your website!
What I love about Pebblely
- Good communication from support. You can tell they care about providing a good quality product for the price!
- I have fun writing prompts and seeing what Pebblely will come up with!
- 1000 images! This is AI. Results will not be perfect. But with 1,000 images per month on the paid plan, you are sure to come up with something good!
- Pebblely’s ability to generate reflections and shadows continues to impress me!
- The website speed is decent. Some of the other sites I have tried get bogged down when I type too many prompts in a row.
Are there any drawbacks?
It is AI. There are going to be some imperfections. For the price, I think Pebblely is worth it. Just keep in mind that their focus is on generating Instagram-worthy images. Not large posters to display at your next trade show.
Prompt writing is a skill I am new at. I am sure it will get better in time. But for now, here are the things I am struggling with:
Large Product Images: I get better results with small to medium size product images, like a bottle of shampoo. Large objects, like a 3-ft tall whole-house water system, have looked out of place most of the times I tried to generate new scenes for them. Then again, I don’t imagine many people are using pebblely to generate a picture of their large water system. Maybe I should try again with something like placing a piece of furniture in the corner in a well lit room or a four-wheeler in a field.
What’s with the fruit? Sliced fruit generation hasn’t looked too realistic, either. I assume this will only improve with time.
I would love to place specific items. Pebblely has the option to erase areas of the generated image that you are not happy with and have them re-generated. It would be awesome if they added the ability to tell it what you want generated there!
Suggested plan: If you have something specific in mind, I would suggest giving the 40 images per month plan a try before you jump into the paid plan.
First Images – Initial Impression of Pebblely
Those first few images were an interesting site. I clicked “Surprise Me,” and that’s exactly what Pebblely did! The product was a bottle of sweetener. I thought it might look nice placed on a coffee table or the countertop of a well-lit kitchen. But Pebblely placed it on some paint splotches, in front of a toy tree, in some snow, and on a pile of rocks.
I do think some of the “surprise me” images are nice from an art perspective, and I would like to use them once I find an appropriate place. However, my client went with the images that were generated with prompts. Like my product is “sitting on a counter in a well-lit kitchen”
Since I have not asked permission to publish any of the images generated for clients, I will share a couple of my personal pictures.
Flowers – Background Not Removed (I should have removed the background)
For this set of images, I let Pebblely detect and remove the image background. It did a decent job. This is fine for somebody who wants a quick way to generate images for their social media or website. But I notice a lot of imperfections when zooming in. If you have the skills, I would recommend removing the background yourself. Or at least trying to take the picture on a background that is easier to detect product vs background.
Pepper Sauce – Transparent Background
For this second set of images, I took a picture of pepper sauce in a bright photo box with a white background. I used Photoshop to remove the background before uploading it to Pebblely and generating images.
My biggest complaint is that I did not take the time to brighten the image a little more and/or make the empty space more transparent to blend in with the background. I think Pebblely did a decent job, but I would like to see that cornbread a bit darker and those oranges a bit more realistic.
I imagine a fresh jar of pepper sauce would look good sitting on a table, next to a bowl of greens and a pan of cornbread, or as a Christmas gift. So, these were some of my prompt inspirations.
