Name: Imagen 3 API: Google Text to Image Generator
Brand: magicapi
SKU: api-magicapi-high-quality-text-to-image-generator-google-imagen-3
Availability: InStock
Author: API Market

Shashank Agarwal

# 🎨 Text-to-Image Generator API (Google Imagen 3)

## Overview
Imagen 3 is a text-to-image model from Google. Its developer describes it as its highest quality text-to-image model, generating images with detail, rich lighting and beauty.

Send a text `prompt` and optionally choose an `aspect_ratio`, an `output_format` and a `safety_filter_level`. Each request returns the URL of one image.

## Features
- **Text to image**: describe the subject, style, lighting and camera in `prompt`.
- **Aspect ratios**: `1:1` (default), `9:16`, `16:9`, `3:4`, `4:3`.
- **Output format**: `jpg` (default) or `png`.
- **Safety filter**: `safety_filter_level` sets how strictly prompts and images are blocked: `block_low_and_above` (strictest), `block_medium_and_above` or `block_only_high` (default, most permissive).
- **One image per request**: each request returns a single image URL.

## Use Cases
1. **Stock-style photography**: product shots, food and nature scenes described in detail.
2. **Marketing visuals**: banners and social images in `16:9`, `9:16` or `1:1`.
3. **Concept art**: early visual ideas for products, scenes and characters.
4. **Editorial illustrations**: header images for articles and blog posts.

## Visual Examples
### Example Input
Prompt: "A close-up, macro photography stock photo of a strawberry intricately sculpted into the shape of a hummingbird in mid-flight, its wings a blur as it sips nectar from a vibrant, tubular flower. The backdrop features a lush, colorful garden with a soft, bokeh effect, creating a dreamlike atmosphere. The image is exceptionally detailed and captured with a shallow depth of field, ensuring a razor-sharp focus on the strawberry-hummingbird and gentle fading of the background. The high resolution, professional photographers style, and soft lighting illuminate the scene in a very detailed manner, professional color grading amplifies the vibrant colors and creates an image with exceptional clarity. The depth of field makes the hummingbird and flower stand out starkly against the bokeh background."

Sent with `aspect_ratio` `1:1` and `safety_filter_level` `block_medium_and_above`; `output_format` was left at `jpg`.

### Example Output
![Imagen 3 output for the strawberry hummingbird macro photo prompt](https://blog.api.market/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/imagen-3-output-gw3hy2d1-api-market.jpeg)

## Input Parameters
| Field | Type | Required | Default | Allowed values | Description |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `prompt` | string | Yes |  |  | Text prompt for image generation |
| `aspect_ratio` | string | No | `1:1` | `1:1`, `9:16`, `16:9`, `3:4`, `4:3` | Aspect ratio of the generated image |
| `safety_filter_level` | string | No | `block_only_high` | `block_low_and_above`, `block_medium_and_above`, `block_only_high` | block_low_and_above is the strictest, block_medium_and_above blocks some prompts, block_only_high is the most permissive but some prompts are still blocked |
| `output_format` | string | No | `jpg` | `jpg`, `png` | Format of the output image |

## Pricing
- **Pay As You Go (PAYG) pricing**: you only pay for what you use.
- **Price**: $0.063 per API unit.
- **1 API unit = 1 output image.** Each request returns one image, so each successful request costs $0.063.
- Aspect ratio, output format and safety filter level do not change the price.
- **Example cost**: the example request returned 1 image = **$0.063**.
- **Failed or cancelled predictions are not billed.**
- **GET requests to check prediction status** are free and don't count toward API unit usage.
- **No monthly subscription fee.**

## API Documentation

### Base URL
All API requests go to: `https://prod.api.market/api/v1/magicapi/high-quality-text-to-image-generator-google-imagen-3`

### Authentication
Send your api.market API key in the `x-api-market-key` header:
```
x-api-market-key: YOUR_API_MARKET_KEY
```

### Asynchronous Processing
**IMPORTANT**: This API is asynchronous. The flow is:
1. Send a POST request to `/predictions`. A successful request returns **201 Created** with a prediction `id` and a `status` of `starting` or `processing`.
2. Poll GET `/predictions/{id}` with that ID.
3. Keep polling while `status` is `starting` or `processing`.
4. Stop when `status` is `succeeded` (read `output`), `failed` or `canceled` (read `error`).

A polling interval of 1 second and an overall timeout of 600 seconds (10 minutes) work well.

### Endpoints

#### Create a Prediction
```bash
curl -X POST "https://prod.api.market/api/v1/magicapi/high-quality-text-to-image-generator-google-imagen-3/predictions" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "x-api-market-key: YOUR_API_MARKET_KEY" \
  -d '{
    "version": "google/imagen-3",
    "input": {
      "prompt": "A close-up, macro photography stock photo of a strawberry intricately sculpted into the shape of a hummingbird in mid-flight, its wings a blur as it sips nectar from a vibrant, tubular flower. The backdrop features a lush, colorful garden with a soft, bokeh effect, creating a dreamlike atmosphere. The image is exceptionally detailed and captured with a shallow depth of field, ensuring a razor-sharp focus on the strawberry-hummingbird and gentle fading of the background. The high resolution, professional photographers style, and soft lighting illuminate the scene in a very detailed manner, professional color grading amplifies the vibrant colors and creates an image with exceptional clarity. The depth of field makes the hummingbird and flower stand out starkly against the bokeh background.",
      "aspect_ratio": "1:1",
      "safety_filter_level": "block_medium_and_above"
    }
  }'
```

Response (201 Created):
```json
{
  "id": "gw3hy2d1shrmy0d1c6sapbgn1r",
  "version": "google/imagen-3",
  "status": "starting",
  "created_at": "2026-10-22T03:40:59.363Z"
}
```

#### Check Prediction Status
```bash
curl -X GET "https://prod.api.market/api/v1/magicapi/high-quality-text-to-image-generator-google-imagen-3/predictions/{id}" \
  -H "x-api-market-key: YOUR_API_MARKET_KEY"
```

Response when the prediction has finished (200 OK):
```json
{
  "id": "gw3hy2d1shrmy0d1c6sapbgn1r",
  "status": "succeeded",
  "output": "https://blog.api.market/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/imagen-3-output-gw3hy2d1-api-market.jpeg",
  "error": null,
  "created_at": "2026-10-22T03:40:59.363Z",
  "started_at": "2026-10-22T03:41:00.363Z",
  "completed_at": "2026-10-22T03:41:10.268Z"
}
```

`output` is a single URL string pointing to the generated image.

### Status Codes
- **201 Created**: prediction created (POST `/predictions`). This is the normal success response.
- **200 OK**: prediction details returned (GET `/predictions/{id}`).
- **400 Bad Request**: invalid input, for example a missing `prompt` or an `aspect_ratio` that is not in the list.
- **401 Unauthorized**: missing or invalid API key.
- **404 Not Found**: no prediction with that ID.
- **429 Too Many Requests**: rate limit exceeded.
- **500 Internal Server Error** or **503 Service Unavailable**: temporary server problem; retry later.

## Rate Limits
All plans allow 10 requests per second. Requests above that return `429 Too Many Requests`; back off before retrying and honour any `Retry-After` header. Polling a prediction with GET is free but still counts toward the per-second limit, so poll every 1 to 5 seconds rather than in a tight loop.
## Error Handling
- Check the HTTP status code of every request and read the response body for the error message.
- A prediction can also end with `status` set to `failed`; the `error` field then explains why. Failed predictions are not billed.
- Retry 429, 500 and 503 responses with exponential backoff. Fix the input before retrying a 400.

## Implementation Guide
### Example Code

#### JavaScript
```javascript
const apiKey = "YOUR_API_MARKET_KEY";
const baseUrl = "https://prod.api.market/api/v1/magicapi/high-quality-text-to-image-generator-google-imagen-3";

async function createAndWaitForPrediction(input) {
  const response = await fetch(`${baseUrl}/predictions`, {
    method: "POST",
    headers: {
      "Content-Type": "application/json",
      "x-api-market-key": apiKey
    },
    body: JSON.stringify({ version: "google/imagen-3", input })
  });

  if (response.status !== 201) {
    throw new Error(`API error: ${response.status} ${await response.text()}`);
  }

  const prediction = await response.json();
  return pollForResults(prediction.id);
}

const delay = (ms) => new Promise((resolve) => setTimeout(resolve, ms));

async function pollForResults(predictionId) {
  const maxTimeout = 600000;
  const pollInterval = 1000;
  const startTime = Date.now();

  while (Date.now() - startTime < maxTimeout) {
    const response = await fetch(`${baseUrl}/predictions/${predictionId}`, {
      headers: { "x-api-market-key": apiKey }
    });

    if (!response.ok) {
      throw new Error(`API error: ${response.status} ${await response.text()}`);
    }

    const prediction = await response.json();

    if (prediction.status === "succeeded") {
      return prediction.output;
    }

    if (prediction.status === "failed" || prediction.status === "canceled") {
      throw new Error(`Prediction ${prediction.status}: ${prediction.error || "Unknown error"}`);
    }

    await delay(pollInterval);
  }

  throw new Error("Prediction timed out after 10 minutes");
}

createAndWaitForPrediction({
  "prompt": "A close-up, macro photography stock photo of a strawberry intricately sculpted into the shape of a hummingbird in mid-flight, its wings a blur as it sips nectar from a vibrant, tubular flower. The backdrop features a lush, colorful garden with a soft, bokeh effect, creating a dreamlike atmosphere. The image is exceptionally detailed and captured with a shallow depth of field, ensuring a razor-sharp focus on the strawberry-hummingbird and gentle fading of the background. The high resolution, professional photographers style, and soft lighting illuminate the scene in a very detailed manner, professional color grading amplifies the vibrant colors and creates an image with exceptional clarity. The depth of field makes the hummingbird and flower stand out starkly against the bokeh background.",
  "aspect_ratio": "1:1",
  "safety_filter_level": "block_medium_and_above"
}).then((output) => console.log(output));
```

#### Python
```python
import time
import requests

API_KEY = "YOUR_API_MARKET_KEY"
BASE_URL = "https://prod.api.market/api/v1/magicapi/high-quality-text-to-image-generator-google-imagen-3"


def create_and_wait_for_prediction(input_data):
    headers = {"Content-Type": "application/json", "x-api-market-key": API_KEY}
    response = requests.post(
        f"{BASE_URL}/predictions",
        headers=headers,
        json={"version": "google/imagen-3", "input": input_data},
    )

    if response.status_code != 201:
        raise Exception(f"API error: {response.status_code} {response.text}")

    return poll_for_results(response.json()["id"])


def poll_for_results(prediction_id):
    max_timeout = 600
    poll_interval = 1
    headers = {"x-api-market-key": API_KEY}
    start_time = time.time()

    while time.time() - start_time < max_timeout:
        response = requests.get(f"{BASE_URL}/predictions/{prediction_id}", headers=headers)

        if response.status_code != 200:
            raise Exception(f"API error: {response.status_code} {response.text}")

        prediction = response.json()

        if prediction["status"] == "succeeded":
            return prediction["output"]

        if prediction["status"] in ("failed", "canceled"):
            raise Exception(f"Prediction {prediction['status']}: {prediction.get('error') or 'Unknown error'}")

        time.sleep(poll_interval)

    raise Exception("Prediction timed out after 10 minutes")


output = create_and_wait_for_prediction({
    "prompt": "A close-up, macro photography stock photo of a strawberry intricately sculpted into the shape of a hummingbird in mid-flight, its wings a blur as it sips nectar from a vibrant, tubular flower. The backdrop features a lush, colorful garden with a soft, bokeh effect, creating a dreamlike atmosphere. The image is exceptionally detailed and captured with a shallow depth of field, ensuring a razor-sharp focus on the strawberry-hummingbird and gentle fading of the background. The high resolution, professional photographers style, and soft lighting illuminate the scene in a very detailed manner, professional color grading amplifies the vibrant colors and creates an image with exceptional clarity. The depth of field makes the hummingbird and flower stand out starkly against the bokeh background.",
    "aspect_ratio": "1:1",
    "safety_filter_level": "block_medium_and_above"
})
print(output)
```

## FAQ
- **How many images does one request return?**
  - One. Each image is billed as one API unit ($0.063). Send several requests for several variations.
- **Which aspect ratios are supported?**
  - `1:1`, `9:16`, `16:9`, `3:4` and `4:3`. The default is `1:1`.
- **Why was my prompt blocked?**
  - The safety filter rejected it. `block_only_high` (the default) is the most permissive level, but some prompts are still blocked. Rephrase the prompt or choose a different filter level.
- **Can I edit an existing image?**
  - No. This model only takes a text prompt; there is no image input field.
- **Is the 201 response from POST an error?**
  - No. 201 Created means the prediction was accepted. Use the returned `id` to poll GET `/predictions/{id}` until `status` is `succeeded`, `failed` or `canceled`.

## Contact Us
If you have any questions or need assistance, you can reach out to us through the embedded chat on the bottom right corner of the page or send an email to hello@magicapi.com.


Imagen 3 API: generate detailed, richly lit images from text with Google's Imagen 3, in five aspect ratios as JPG or PNG, with adjustable safety filtering.