AI tools and software are making their way into various industries worldwide, including the $1.1 trillion USD packaging industry. The topic of AI evokes mixed feelings among professionals and consumers alike, but one thing is clear—AI is here to stay.
Designers, marketers, and entrepreneurs can leverage free tools like Canva and Fotor AI to develop compelling, data-driven packaging concepts and designs. While AI plays a supportive role in the creative process, it should complement rather than dominate the creative efforts.
Join us as we explore an array of free tools you can use to bring AI into your packaging design workflow.
FREE AI Tools for Packaging Design
Fotor AI
The first free AI tool we checked out is Fotor—an AI text to image software created to support the product design and development process. This user-friendly platform allows you to generate a variety of innovative packaging designs in seconds.
In the free version of Fotor, users are allotted credits to explore the capabilities of the platform. Each input that generates two images costs two credits, with users getting two to four credits in the free version. This translates to think before you type, as you typically only get two credits, or two images, per session.
In order to assess the power of these free platforms, we decided to test one common prompt against all the tools—“sustainable cereal packaging.” As you can see in the picture above, typing a text prompt into the top left section results in images generated in the middle section (which happens in real time), and all archived / past created images are on the right.
Look below to see the image generated in seconds with the prompt: “sustainable cereal packaging.”
The first image shows cereal packaged in what seems to be a paper-based material for the top 70% of the package and a translucent window for viewing the product on the bottom 25–30% of the package. Interestingly enough, this package is not as sustainable as conventional cereal boxes, as most cereal boxes consist of a mono-material paperboard material with a flexible plastic bag inside the box which is easily sorted for recycling. In the AI-generated package, both the paperboard aspect and plastic are fused together, making recycling more complicated at the package's end of life.
Fotor also has tools including AI Photo Editor, AI Avatar, Background (BG) Remover, Face Swap, and more. On the AI Image Generator, Fotor also gives you the ability to generate AI images from another image.
Canva Magic Studio – Text to Image
Did you know that Canva’s Magic Studio has an array of user-friendly, generative AI tools for designers and packaging professionals alike? From text to image software to writing and editing tools, Canva is a great place to start when looking into how free AI tools can assist in your packaging design process.
I decided to explore Canva’s free Text to Image capabilities using our designated prompt: “sustainable cereal packaging.”
Canva produced four designs in under a minute—and they offer the option to regenerate if you’re not satisfied with the results. Each prompt yields four images to select from.
Let's explore some of the outputs:
Similar to one of the Fotor outputs, Canva’s tool placed cereal in smaller, paper-based packs that contain a translucent window, likely made of some type of plastic. Although the package looks clean and premium, it turns a traditional mono-material cereal box into a packaging system that is much harder to separate, sort, and recycle at many MRFs (materials recovery facilities) across the nation.
Similar to the first image, Canva once again placed cereal in a paper-based package that contains a plastic window to view the product—yet again turning a traditional mono-material cereal box into an MRF's nightmare.
You might notice that none of the design mockups so far, from either Fotor or Canva, include pictures of the product on the outside of the package. They instead use a plastic window to view the product or no view at all.
You can access Canva’s Magic Studio tools with the free version, making it a convenient choice if your team already uses Canva for daily marketing and content creation. It is important to note that the free version of Canva only allows for 50 images generated in total, a Canva Pro subscription grants you access to 500 images per month.
Adobe Express – Text to Image
Moving onto another popular graphic design platform, Adobe Express, we find it offers a number of free generative AI tools—from text to image to generative fill and more!
Adobe’s Text to Image tool, pictured above, is similar to Canva but allows for more customization. Adobe allows you to choose from different “Content Types” including: None, Photo (pictured above), Graphic, and Art.
Let's explore how Adobe’s text to image tool responded to our prompt: “sustainable cereal packaging” . . .
The results were, well . . . funky, to say the least. Many of the outputs generated cereal that seems to be packaged at home or in an extremely fancy market. As you can see, Adobe’s AI packaged the cereal in a large glass jar and used kraft paper to add a decorative component, similar to if the cereal was a gift. There is no denying that glass packaging is a sustainable option with its high recycling rate, but when was the last time you saw cereal packaged in glass on store shelves?
It is fascinating that many of the softwares seem to overthink “sustainability” for cereal boxes—so much so that they overcomplicate the designs with unnecessary, in my opinion, translucent windows that add materials and make recycling difficult, if possible at all. It seems that generative AI tools are still lacking when it comes to understanding prompts related to sustainable packaging, as they can turn ready-to-recycle mono-material solutions into multi-material packages that look appealing but miss the mark on overall environmental impact.
Users with the free version of Adobe Express have access to generative AI tools like the Text to Image generator, but through the use of credits. Free users receive 25 credits a month, where each prompt entered counts as one credit. So in keeping with the process for using Canva or Fotor, approach the software with a strategy and list of prompts from your design team to get the most out of the credits available.
PIXLR – AI Image Generator
PIXLR is a free photo editing and generative AI platform with an array of tools including advanced and AI photo editing, AI background erasing, bulk photo editing, and more. I set out to explore Pixlr’s AI Image Generator tool with our “sustainable cereal packaging” prompt.
The image above was refreshing to see as eight of the nine packages displayed do not contain a translucent window and seem more like traditional cereal packaging. The designs display grains, cereals, and, in some cases, images of the product contained within—no cartoon characters here! The material seems to be paperboard or some type of polymer. The designs are interesting and clearly communicate the potential natural or organic nature of the products contained within, which AI seems to correlate with “sustainable.”
However, the other outputs from Pixlr left a lot to be desired. Some of the packages are not even complete packages, like the one seen bottom center (slightly left) in the image above. It’s more like three packages morphed into one—sometimes you get funny results with generative AI.
Pixlr gives all users access to the AI Image Generator, with the ability to input three prompts (twelve images) for free before being asked to upgrade to one of the paid plans. The entry level plan, Pixlr+, is ad-free and grants 80 monthly credits for AI tools like the AI Image Generator. Similar to other tools, we recommend coming up with well thought-out prompts prior to experimentation.
Common Themes Across Tools
The Prominence of Paper
An overwhelming majority of the outputs generated from the uniform prompt “sustainable cereal packaging” were packages primarily made from a type of paper. Paper and corrugated packaging solutions have a number of sustainability benefits, but there are a range of other packaging materials that offer similar benefits, especially when analyzed through a life cycle assessment (LCA).
Overcomplication: Monomaterial to Multi-Material
Generative AI on these free tools seems to favor paper when the word “sustainability” is included in the prompt, but actually produces over-complicated outputs, turning traditionally mono-material cereal boxes into multi-material packages that are likely difficult to manufacture and recycle and may include microplastics. The softwares seemed to notice that a number of consumers prefer translucent plastic film windows to view products before purchase, but that is rarely (if ever) used in the application of cereal packaging.
Ease of Use
If you are an AI newcomer or a seasoned prompter, you will find these tools easy to access and use. Tools like Canva and Adobe Express may already exist in many organizations' suite of creative tools, allowing team members and packaging designers to explore AI and text to image features without subscribing to a new platform.
We demonstrated a simple prompt today for ease of comparison, but you can go in depth with prompts to fit your specific brainstorming and ideation needs. For example, here is the output of a more long-form prompt on Canva.
The prompt: “futuristic cereal packaging that is compostable and designed with ergonomics and accessibility in mind”
The output:
AI Tips from Our Team
Here at the Packaging School, our team members have been experimenting with generative AI tools to assist in many organizational functions. Our web developer, Jamie Christian, (a.k.a. resident AI wizard) has used text to image software and AI tools to help optimize and upgrade the user experience on our website. Here are three tips he offers for getting started with text to image tools:
1. PROVIDE RELEVANT CONTEXT: Offer enough background information for the AI to grasp the scenario, but keep it focused and relevant to packaging design. I often provide source images with explicit instructions to match or ignore certain aspects of style or color.
2. DEFINE YOUR GOAL: Clearly outline what you aim to achieve with your prompt. Are you looking for design inspiration, packaging solutions, or material suggestions? I tend to overlook this part and want to dive right in. If you aren’t getting the results you are looking for, the error is in the prompt (assuming the model you are using is built to provide your desired results).
3. EXPERIMENT AND ITERATE: Test different prompts and refine based on the AI’s responses. Iteration helps in finding the most effective way to communicate your needs. This has been the most effective method for evolving how I shape prompts. A little experimentation today can save a lot of time down the road.
More AI for Packaging Design Content to Come!
This is our fourth content piece related to using AI tools to aid in the packaging design process; we plan to continue to dive into different AI platforms in the following months in order to help our community of packaging professionals uncover the best tools for brainstorming.
To learn more about the world of packaging design, check out our online courses including:
