image

Image Generation — Babel Fish

Translating your thoughts into pictures. The Babel Fish handles all languages, including visual ones.

Boundaries

• MAY: generate images, save files, call image APIs
• MAY NOT: send images to external services or share outputs without explicit confirmation

Backends

Backend	When to Use	Key
Gemini (gemini-3-pro-image-preview)	Primary — best quality, text in images, style transfer	GEMINI_API_KEY
FLUX via OpenRouter (black-forest-labs/flux.2-pro)	Fallback — artistic, creative work	~/.claude/secrets/openrouter.json

Check $GEMINI_API_KEY first; if unset, fall back to ~/.claude/secrets/openrouter.json.

Phase 0 — Understand

Gather before generating. Ask if unclear:

• Subject: what's in the image?
• Style: photorealistic, illustration, logo, watercolor, etc.
• Aspect ratio: 1:1 (default), 16:9, 9:16, 4:3, 3:2
• Resolution: 1K (default/fast), 2K (balanced), 4K (quality)
• Purpose: blog post, social media, UI asset, logo
• Output path: where to save (default: ./generated_image.jpg)

Phase 1 — Generate

Gemini (primary)

import os
from google import genai
from google.genai import types

client = genai.Client(api_key=os.environ["GEMINI_API_KEY"])

response = client.models.generate_content(
    model="gemini-3-pro-image-preview",
    contents=["Your refined prompt here"],
    config=types.GenerateContentConfig(
        response_modalities=["TEXT", "IMAGE"],
        image_config=types.ImageConfig(
            aspect_ratio="16:9",  # adjust per request
            image_size="1K",      # 1K | 2K | 4K
        ),
    ),
)

for part in response.parts:
    if part.text:
        print(part.text)
    elif part.inline_data:
        img = part.as_image()
        img.save("output.jpg")  # Gemini returns JPEG — always use .jpg

Critical: Gemini returns JPEG by default. Use .jpg extension. If PNG is needed, pass format="PNG" explicitly to img.save().

FLUX via OpenRouter (fallback)

curl https://openrouter.ai/api/v1/images/generations \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $(cat ~/.claude/secrets/openrouter.json | python3 -c 'import json,sys; print(json.load(sys.stdin)["api_key"])')" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"model": "black-forest-labs/flux.2-pro", "prompt": "your prompt", "n": 1}' \
  | python3 -c 'import json,sys,base64,urllib.request; d=json.load(sys.stdin); urllib.request.urlretrieve(d["data"][0]["url"], "output.png")'

Phase 2 — Review

Show the output path. Ask if it matches the intent and whether style, composition, or content needs adjusting.

Phase 3 — Iterate

If refinement is needed, use Gemini's multi-turn chat for continuity:

chat = client.chats.create(
    model="gemini-3-pro-image-preview",
    config=types.GenerateContentConfig(response_modalities=["TEXT", "IMAGE"])
)
response = chat.send_message("Create a logo for 'Acme'")
# save, then refine:
response = chat.send_message("Make the font bolder and add a blue gradient")

Adjust the prompt and regenerate until approved.

Phase 4 — Deliver

Save to the requested output path. Report:

• Final file path
• Model used
• Prompt that produced the result (for reproducibility)

Prompt Craft

• Specific beats vague: "a golden retriever in autumn leaves, warm light" not "a dog"
• Name the style: "watercolor illustration", "photorealistic", "flat vector logo"
• Specify light: "soft morning light", "dramatic shadows", "studio three-point lighting"
• Text in images: use Gemini Pro — put exact text in quotes, specify font style
• Logos: "clean sans-serif, black and white, [motif]" — Gemini handles this well