NinjaAI.com

1. Executive Summary

Google has recently released Gemini 2.5 Flash Image, codenamed Nano Banana, a powerful new AI model designed for state-of-the-art image generation and editing. This briefing provides a comprehensive overview for developers looking to integrate Nano Banana into their applications using the Gemini Developer API. Key functionalities include image creation from text, image editing with text and image inputs, photo restoration, multi-image inputs, and conversational image editing. The tutorial emphasizes practical implementation steps, including API key generation, billing setup, SDK installation, and best practices for prompting.

2. Key Themes and Concepts

2.1. Introduction to Nano Banana (Gemini 2.5 Flash Image)

• Definition: Nano Banana is Google's latest model for image generation and editing, offering "state-of-the-art capabilities for creating and manipulating images."
• Purpose: It unlocks "a wide range of new applications" for developers.
• Access: While end-users can access it via the Gemini app, developers are encouraged to prototype and test prompts in Google AI Studio (aistudio.google.com).
• Model ID: For all API requests, the model ID to use is gemini-2.5-flash-image-preview.

2.2. Development Environment and Setup

• Google AI Studio: This is the primary playground for experimenting with AI models before coding, and the entry point for building with the Gemini API. Developers can use Nano Banana "free of charge within AI Studio." A direct link for a new session is ai.studio/banana.
• Required Tools:An API key from Google AI Studio.
• Billing set up for your Google Cloud project.
• The Google Gen AI SDK for Python or JavaScript/TypeScript.
• API Key Generation: Available in Google AI Studio by clicking "Get API key" and then "Create API key." This requires selecting or creating a Google Cloud project.
• Billing: While prototyping in AI Studio is free, using the model via the API is a "paid service." Billing must be enabled on the Google Cloud project associated with the API key.
• Cost: Image generation with Nano Banana costs $0.039 per image. This is based on an official pricing of "$0.30/1M input tokens and $30/1M output tokens," where "A standard 1024x1024px output image consumes 1290 tokens, which equates to $0.039 per image."
• SDK Installation:Python: pip install -U google-genai (and pip install Pillow for image manipulation).
• JavaScript/TypeScript: npm install @google/genai.

2.3. Core Capabilities and Functionalities

• Image Generation from Text: Users can "generate one or more images from a descriptive text prompt." The example provided creates a "photorealistic image of an orange cat with green eyes, sitting on a couch."
• Image Editing with Text and Image Inputs: The model allows users to "provide an existing image along with a text prompt to perform edits," noting its excellence "at maintaining character and content consistency from the input image." An example transforms a cat image into a "street-level view of the cat walking along a sidewalk in a New York City neighborhood."
• Photo Restoration: A "powerful application" of the model, enabling restoration and colorization of old photographs "with impressive results" using a simple prompt like "Restore and colorize this image from 1932."
• Multiple Input Images: The model can handle "multiple images as input for more complex editing tasks," demonstrated by applying a T-shirt from one image onto a person in another: "Make the girl wear this t-shirt. Leave the background unchanged."
• Conversational Image Editing: For "iterative refinement," developers can use chats sessions to "maintain context across multiple requests." This enables conversational editing, such as initially changing a cat to a Bengal cat and then, in a subsequent prompt, instructing it to "wear a funny party hat."