AI image tools: designing with Arabic prompts and comparing options

AI image tools can now design posts, ads and illustrations from a prompt written in Arabic, but they differ in what they do well. Compare them by task, price model, how they handle Arabic prompts and Arabic text inside the image, and the usage terms for commercial work, then check every letter before you publish.

This guide compares five widely available tools for image design in Saudi Arabia: ChatGPT Images, the Gemini app, Adobe Firefly, Canva and Microsoft Designer. We read every price and term on the vendor's own pages on 14 October 2026, as shown to a visitor in Saudi Arabia. O AI is not affiliated with OpenAI or any other company named here. This guide is about creating new images; editing photos you already have is a separate job with its own tools.

Arabic prompts and Arabic text: two different tests

"Supports Arabic" can mean two different things, and only the first is reliable today.

Understanding an Arabic prompt. ChatGPT lists Arabic among its supported languages [1]. Canva says Canva AI supports Arabic among its languages [2]. HUMAIN Image 1, a model from HUMAIN that Adobe offers inside Firefly and Adobe Express for creators in Saudi Arabia, was built for Arabic-language prompts; Adobe notes that Arabic prompts are translated for processing by the model, and that Firefly understands prompts typed in Arabic even though its interface is not yet in Arabic [3].

Writing Arabic letters inside the image. This is harder. Google says the Gemini app adds text to images "with more accurate spelling, for all supported languages" [4]. Microsoft warns that text generated by Designer may not be in the requested language or may have spelling errors [5]. OpenAI's help page says ChatGPT Images can follow instructions to add text, without listing which scripts work best [6].

In practice, Arabic text from an image model often comes out with letters that do not join, words in the wrong direction or missing dots. The dependable method:

1. Generate the image without text, leaving empty space where the headline will go.
2. Add the Arabic text in a design tool with a proper Arabic font. Adobe says Adobe Express offers native right-to-left Arabic editing [3]; whichever editor you use, confirm that it joins Arabic letters correctly.
3. Let a native reader check every word, number and diacritic before publishing.

AI image tools compared by task, price and terms

All prices were shown in Saudi riyals on 14 October 2026.

Price models: what you are paying for

• Plan with message or image limits (ChatGPT, Gemini): you pay a monthly plan that raises how much you can create. ChatGPT's Free tier lists image creation as limited and its Pro tier as unlimited, subject to abuse guardrails [7].
• Monthly credits (Adobe Firefly): paid plans include unlimited standard image generation and a monthly credit allowance for premium features such as video; credits reset each billing cycle and do not roll over [10].
• Shared AI allowance (Canva): AI tools draw on one monthly allowance; Canva estimates up to 200 uses of Premium AI tools a month on Pro and up to 400 on Business [2].
• Free with conditions (Microsoft Designer): free, but licensed for personal, non-commercial use [5], which rules it out for a company's adverts.

Adobe's Saudi page also invited eligible citizens and residents aged 13 and over to register for 12 months of free Firefly Standard, with 2,000 generative credits a month and Adobe Express Premium features, under a National Access Programme [3]. Check the eligibility conditions on the page before you buy a plan.

Illustrative example: one year of ad images for a café in Al Khobar

Illustrative example. A café wants four promotional images a week for Instagram and in-store screens, with Arabic headlines, and pays for one tool.

The cheapest option is not automatically the right one. If the café needs finished posts with Arabic headlines and brand colours, a design tool that also generates images saves a second step; if it needs varied scenes and quick concept rounds, a chat-based image tool may be faster. Test two on the same brief before paying for a year.

ChatGPT images: what you can do with them

ChatGPT Images is available on all ChatGPT plans, on the web, iOS and Android [6]. According to OpenAI's help page, you can [6]:

• Create from a description, or start from templates such as a poster or a logo.
• Add text, details or a transparent background by asking for them.
• Edit an uploaded image by describing the change, or by highlighting the area with the selection tool first; OpenAI warns that edits may extend beyond the selected area.
• Choose any aspect ratio with the aspect-ratio picker.
• Turn a sketch into an image on the mobile app.

"Images with thinking" is available on Plus, Pro and Business [6]. Images you create are saved under Images in your account, and deleting the conversation removes the image from that view [6].

On terms, OpenAI assigns you its rights in the output, notes that other users may receive similar output, and forbids presenting AI output as human-generated [8]. OpenAI adds that images generated with ChatGPT carry both Content Credentials and SynthID watermarks [12].

How to write an Arabic image prompt that works

A clear prompt in Arabic follows the same structure as a good brief to a designer. Four parts are enough:

1. Subject and setting: what is in the picture, and where.
2. Style and light: realistic photo, 3D illustration or watercolour; morning light, golden hour, studio light.
3. Layout and ratio: where the empty space for text goes, and the format (1:1, 4:5, 16:9).
4. What to leave out: no text, no logos, no people if you do not have their consent.

Illustrative example. A prompt for the café above, written in Arabic:

صورة إعلانية واقعية لدلة قهوة عربية وفناجين صغيرة وصحن تمر على طاولة خشبية في مقهى بالخبر وقت الغروب، إضاءة دافئة جانبية من نافذة، ألوان بنية وذهبية مع لمسة فيروزية، مساحة فارغة في الثلث العلوي للعنوان، بلا أي كتابة أو شعارات، بنسبة 4:5.

In English: a realistic ad image of an Arabic coffee pot, small cups and a plate of dates on a wooden table in a Khobar café at sunset; warm side light from a window; brown and gold with a touch of turquoise; empty space in the top third for the headline; no text or logos; 4:5 ratio.

Then add the Arabic headline and offer in your design tool, and keep the prompt with the image so the next version stays consistent.

Designing an ad with AI: five steps

AI ad design works best as a pipeline, not a single prompt.

1. Write the brief in one line: product, audience, offer, channel and size.
2. Generate the visual with no text, two or three variants. Canva lists AI ad creation with Canva Grow among its Premium AI tools [2], and Firefly's own models are described by Adobe as safe for commercial use [10].
3. Add text and brand elements in a design tool: Arabic headline, price, logo and contact details.
4. Check claims and appearance. The product in the ad must look as it does in reality; SDAIA's Deepfakes Guidelines tell retailers not to present products in a way that misrepresents their appearance, functionality or quality [13].
5. Check the people. A recognisable real person, a customer, an employee or a public figure, needs clear, documented consent, and synthetic media should be disclosed with labels or disclaimers, according to the marketing section of SDAIA's guidelines [13].

Using customers' photos or details in marketing also falls under the Personal Data Protection Law: personal data other than sensitive data may be processed for marketing only if it was collected directly from the person and they consented [14]. This is general information, not legal advice; for a specific campaign, check the official text or a licensed advisor.

Rights and usage terms: who owns an AI image?

Vendor terms answer the question between you and the vendor, not whether the image is free of anyone else's rights.

SDAIA's Generative AI guidelines for the public add two points: customers should do their own due diligence on whether a model was trained on protected content before using it, and generative AI services should obtain permission from the owner before generating content based on their intellectual property [15]. In practice, do not ask any tool for a competitor's logo, a famous character or "in the style of" a living artist for commercial work.

Labelling AI images

SDAIA's guidelines ask users of generative AI to make it clear when content was generated by AI and recommend watermarks to help others identify it [15]. Several tools add machine-readable labels automatically: OpenAI attaches Content Credentials and SynthID to ChatGPT images [12], Adobe attaches Content Credentials to Firefly outputs [10], and Microsoft attaches Content Credentials metadata to Designer images [5].

That metadata does not survive everything. OpenAI notes that Content Credentials can be lost through screenshots or file conversion [12], and Canva's terms prohibit removing provenance metadata on purpose [11]. For an ad or a post, a short visible note such as "AI-generated image" is the simplest way to stay transparent, and it is essential for any image that a viewer could mistake for a real photo of a real event.

A checklist before you publish an AI image

1. Prompt and image saved together, with the tool and date.
2. No text generated by the image model left in the final design.
3. Arabic headline set in a proper font and checked by a native reader.
4. No real person without consent; no public figure; no children.
5. No logos, characters or trademarks you do not own.
6. Product shown as it really is.
7. Commercial use allowed under the tool's licence.
8. Label added where a viewer could take the image as real.

For a company-wide rule on which AI tools staff may use and how, SDAIA's AI Adoption Framework is a useful starting point; our guide to the SDAIA AI Adoption Framework explains what a smaller company can borrow from it.

Your next step

Take one real brief this week, such as next month's offer post, and run it through two AI image tools using the same Arabic prompt structure above. Add the Arabic headline in a design tool, check every letter, and compare the time and the number of fixes. To turn the test into a two-week trial with a clear measure, see our guide on how AI can help your business. If you later need image generation built into your own app or store, you can read about O AI, a software and AI company in Al Khobar, on our home page.