Nano Banana 2.1 Tutorial: Turn One Product Photo Into Three Ads
beginner
The Rundown
Google released Nano Banana 2.1 in the Gemini API on October 6, 2026. Google reports improvements in image quality, text, and keeping subjects consistent across edits.
This walkthrough turns one ordinary product photo into a square ad, a portrait ad, and a wide banner. The difference between a bland result and a convincing campaign is not just a longer prompt: you need a clear visual concept, the real brand artwork, and a reference image you have checked.
Our live example uses a cream mug, the actual Rundown monogram printed on the mug, and a dramatic architectural set with warm light. The headline is “Make room for a break.” These are fictional practice ads.
University Pro members get the campaign brief, copyable prompts, review checklist, run log, and handoff template. Google access and usage are separate.
What you will make
The finished square Rundown mug campaign ad with the headline Make room for a break
The three formats share one concept: a cream mug on a dark plinth, sculptural charcoal planes, a circular opening carrying warm light, and restrained steam. The square and portrait put the headline above the product; the wide version gives the words their own area on the left.
We generated the product scenes and headline edits in Google Flow with Nano Banana 2.1 selected. Canva is used to frame the walkthrough screenshots and comparison images.
Our source image is Saif Selim’s White Ceramic Cup photograph on Wikimedia Commons, released under CC0 1.0. We kept its pixels unchanged when preparing the upload. The Rundown logo came from our actual vector artwork; we exported an approved dark version on transparency without changing its geometry.
Nano Banana 2.1 vs Nano Banana 2, Lite, and Pro
Model
Where it fits
Nano Banana 2.1
The model used for this generation-and-editing walkthrough.
Nano Banana 2 Lite
An option for simpler, high-volume work; Google describes limitations for multiple references and repeated edits.
Nano Banana Pro
A separate model to compare for difficult layouts or precise brand work. This guide did not run a model bake-off.
Nano Banana 2
The older model; Google recommends 2.1 for new projects and as its API replacement.
These roles follow Google’s image-model guidance. Its deprecation page gives no shutdown date for the stable Nano Banana 2 model. Do not confuse Nano Banana 2.1 with Nano Banana Pro.
Google’s model card reports gains in product consistency and editing. Your actual result still needs review.
What you need
Use Google Flow on a computer, an eligible account, an approved product photo, and the actual logo artwork if the product needs branding. Check Google’s age, regional, and account requirements, including paid Google AI and qualifying Workspace access. Confirm that your account offers Nano Banana 2.1 before buying anything.
Use non-confidential images you are entitled to upload. Google warns against confidential information in Flow and explains how uploads and outputs may be used when product improvement is enabled. Check your organization’s policy.
What does Nano Banana 2.1 cost?
For Flow, check the product’s current credit cost, eligibility, and plan.
The Gemini Developer API has separate billing. Current Standard image-output equivalents are:
Resolution
Image-output charge
1K
$0.0336
2K
$0.0504
4K
About $0.113
These are image-output charges, not complete request prices. Input, generated text and thinking, search, and repeated attempts can add cost. API prices do not describe Flow subscription costs.
Common problems
Problem
Try this
The result feels like a bland product mockup.
Define a visual concept, product scale, set materials, light direction, and purposeful copy space.
The model invents a similar logo.
Supply actual, high-contrast artwork; name its role and check the negative spaces. Use an editor for exact reproduction.
The mug changes between formats.
Reattach the original photo, identify the mismatch, and preserve the camera view.
A small edit changes more than requested.
Return to the approved version; narrow the request or use a non-generative editor.
The headline is wrong.
Correct only the observed error, or add approved editable type to the text-free image.
You cannot find 2.1.
Check the selected model and your account’s options. A different default is not a 2.1 test.
Turn the images into a better ad test
Once you have a consistent set, decide which audience and message deserve a test.
In Build and Run Your Ad Creative Strategy with Claude, Rishi Lalwani teaches customer research, ad concepts, and using performance data to choose the next test. It covers the wider strategy, not a dedicated Nano Banana 2.1 lesson.
Pro members also get this guide’s campaign brief, prompt set, review checklist, run log, and handoff template. Google access and usage have separate terms.
Step 1
Select the model and prepare two references
Open Google Flow and create a new project. Keep Agent off so the standard image controls, rather than automatic routing, determine the model.
Open Settings, select Image → Nano Banana 2.1, choose x1, and set 1:1. Use Flow’s image controls rather than assuming a ratio written in your prompt is enough.
Use Add ingredients to attach:
The original product photo: authority for the mug’s shape, rim, handle, and finish.
The actual logo: authority for the printed artwork, not a suggestion to design a similar mark.
Check that both thumbnails are attached. For a saved project asset, select it and use Add to prompt when shown.
Use a clean, high-resolution logo in the color you actually want printed. Our first white-logo recoloring attempt produced the wrong geometry. Exporting the approved dark artwork ourselves gave the model a clearer reference. Do not ask it to reconstruct your logo from the brand name.
Step 2
Give the image a real art direction
A generic pale wall, wood desk, and small mug gave us a technically usable but visually weak draft. We rejected it. The revised brief makes concrete choices about scale, materials, light, and a visual idea: the circular opening reinforces “make room.”
Attach the original mug and actual dark logo, then copy this tested prompt:
Prompt
Create one premium square advertising key visual from the two attached references. This is a fictional Rundown-branded mug campaign, not a claim that this product is for sale.
REFERENCE ROLES
The outdoor mug photograph is the product reference, not a composition reference. Preserve this exact warm-cream stoneware mug's proportions, thick rim, rounded base, glaze, and distinctive squared handle. The transparent dark monogram is the actual Rundown brand artwork. Copy its supplied connected silhouette, openings, and proportions faithfully; do not invent letters or reinterpret it.
ART DIRECTION: ARCHITECTURAL PAUSE
Create a high-end studio product photograph with a large cream mug on a low matte-black sculptural plinth. Build a dimensional charcoal-black folded-paper architectural set behind it, with one large circular opening carrying restrained warm sunrise light. The opening visually expresses “make room.” Use dramatic but believable directional light, a crisp warm rim light, tactile surfaces, deep shadow detail, visible dark coffee, and one elegant, subtle curl of steam. The ceramic should feel tangible, not plastic or CGI. No generic kitchen, café clutter, folded cloth, scattered beans, extra mugs, or people.
COMPOSITION
Square 1:1. The whole mug and handle must be visible, with the mug about 50–55% of frame height, slightly right of center. Keep a natural three-quarter front view close to the source product. The architectural opening and layered set create depth rather than a blank wall. Reserve a compact upper-left headline area with a quiet dark background, but add no headline in this first draft.
LOGO PRINTED ON THE PRODUCT
Print the supplied dark Rundown monogram directly onto the front-facing cream ceramic, about 35% of the mug body's visible width. Use its actual silhouette, with no square tile, sticker, badge, plaque, or separate floating logo. Conform the print naturally to the cylindrical mug surface while preserving the artwork's connected strokes and negative spaces. Keep the mark upright, crisp, and recognizable. Do not substitute generic R or B letters. Do not put a logo anywhere outside the mug.
Use black, ivory/cream, and restrained natural warm light. Keep the product sharp and prominent. No added wording, price, offer, rating, product claim, endorsement, or decorative type. Return one review draft.
Generate one draft, then compare it with both references. Check the handle opening, rim thickness, proportions, and logo’s negative spaces before judging the styling.
Original source photo and the premium campaign transformation
A beautiful image with the wrong logo fails the brief. Reject invented letters, extra strokes, distorted openings, unwanted badges, and floating logos. Keep failed drafts separate from the approved campaign.
For an observed product or logo mismatch, use the originals and the current draft as references, then adapt this correction:
Prompt
Use the original product photo for the mug, the original logo artwork for the printed mark, and the generated draft for the setting. Correct only this observed mismatch: [describe the exact difference]. Preserve the rest of the composition as closely as possible. Do not invent product details, redesign the logo, or add wording.
The bracketed text is a field for your observation, not a claim that the model diagnosed the error. If exact preservation remains unreliable, use the original product or logo in a properly reviewed design-editor composite.
Step 3
Make one small edit and inspect the whole image
Open the approved image. In its edit box, request one change. We reduced the steam so it competed less with the future headline:
Prompt
Reduce only the steam above the mug to one delicate, natural curl, about half as dense as it is now. Preserve the cream mug, squared handle, rim, coffee, printed Rundown artwork, plinth, architectural opening, lighting, shadows, camera, and composition as closely as possible. Do not add or change text, logos, objects, or product details. Return one revised review draft.
Compare the result with the previous version. Our edit reduced the steam while visually retaining the mug, branding, set, and light.
Flow image edit and its previous version in History
Flow’s History keeps earlier versions and prompts. Return to a good version when a narrow edit changes an important product detail. Keep a text-free copy of the scene.
Step 4
Add the headline to the square ad
With the revised square open, request the approved words and placement:
Prompt
Add exactly this headline once to the approved square image: “Make room for a break.”
Place it in the upper-left dark area, left aligned with generous margins. Set it as a refined ivory editorial serif headline with three balanced lines: “Make room” / “for a” / “break.” Make it substantial, readable, and elegantly spaced, not tiny caption text. Keep the type clear of the mug and the steam. Do not add any other wording, price, claim, footer, badge, or separate logo.
Preserve the cream mug, printed Rundown artwork, handle, rim, coffee, delicate steam, architectural set, plinth, light, shadows, and camera as closely as possible. The actual monogram belongs only on the ceramic. Return one finished square campaign ad for review.
Read the output yourself. Check every letter, the final period, line breaks, contrast, and spacing around the mug and steam. Our square passed the exact wording check.
For an exact brand font or mandatory disclaimer, add editable type to the text-free file in your design editor. A generated headline is baked into the image; it is not an editable text layer.
Step 5
Recompose the portrait and wide ads
Start each layout from the same three references: original product photo, actual logo, and approved square ad. The square is your approved-look reference, an ordinary image input whose role you describe.
Multiple reference images help communicate these separate roles. Do not make the wide ad from a flawed portrait.
Format
Set in Flow
Layout
Square
1:1
Prominent mug; headline upper-left.
Portrait
9:16
Mug lower in the frame; headline above it.
Wide
16:9
Mug on the right; headline on the left.
Full Flow reference setup with the selected Nano Banana 2.1 model and identifying account details blurred
For portrait, select 9:16 in Settings, attach all three references, and copy:
Prompt
Create one finished portrait 9:16 ad for the same fictional Rundown-branded mug campaign. Recompose the scene for portrait; do not crop or stretch the square image and do not create a collage.
REFERENCE ROLES
Use the outdoor photo only for the cream mug's proportions, thick rim, rounded base, glaze, and squared handle. Use the approved square ad for the charcoal architectural set, circular opening, warm light, low dark plinth, subtle steam, mood, and headline typography. Use the transparent dark Rundown monogram for the exact printed artwork, with the same connected silhouette and negative spaces, naturally conformed to the mug. The logo belongs only on the mug, never elsewhere.
Keep one whole cream mug, with the full right handle visible, prominent in the lower half. The circular warm-light opening and sculptural folded planes should build depth behind the mug. Preserve the recognizable product and brand rather than inventing a new mug or logo. Use the same black, cream, and restrained warm-light palette. Avoid a huge empty strip of background.
Place exactly “Make room for a break.” once, as a large refined ivory serif headline in the upper-left, with three balanced lines: “Make room” / “for a” / “break.” Keep generous margins and space between the text and the steam. Add no other copy, price, offer, claim, badge, person, extra product, or floating logo. Return one matching campaign ad for review.
Finished portrait Rundown mug campaign ad
For wide, select 16:9, use those same three references, and copy:
Prompt
Create one finished landscape 16:9 ad for the same fictional Rundown-branded mug campaign. Recompose the scene for landscape; do not crop or stretch the square image and do not create a collage.
REFERENCE ROLES
Use the outdoor photo only for the cream mug's proportions, thick rim, rounded base, glaze, and squared handle. Use the approved square ad for the charcoal architectural set, circular opening, warm light, low dark plinth, subtle steam, mood, and headline typography. Use the transparent dark Rundown monogram for the exact printed artwork, with the same connected silhouette and negative spaces, naturally conformed to the mug. The logo belongs only on the mug, never elsewhere.
Place one large whole mug on the right, including its full squared handle, about 55% of frame height. Keep the warm circular opening and sculptural architectural planes behind it, with the plinth anchoring the product. Retain rich shadow detail and premium tactile materials. Preserve the recognizable product and brand rather than inventing a new mug or logo. Use the same black, cream, and restrained warm-light palette.
Use the left half for exactly “Make room for a break.” once, as a substantial refined ivory serif headline, left aligned with balanced lines: “Make room” / “for a break.” Keep generous margins. Add no other copy, price, offer, claim, badge, person, extra product, or floating logo. Return one matching campaign ad for review.
Finished wide Rundown mug campaign ad
These are separately generated compositions. Inspect the full set for matching product details, recognizable branding, lighting, materials, and headline style.
The checked square portrait and wide campaign formats
Step 6
Download and check the actual files
Open each approved output and choose Download → 1K Original size for the native file. Flow also showed 2K Upscaled and 4K Upscaled options in this run. Those labels matter: do not describe an upscaled download as a native 4K generation.
Open the downloaded files and inspect their actual dimensions. A prompt’s ratio is not an export receipt. Check the placement requirements for the ad platform you intend to use; never stretch the product to fit.
Check
Pass condition
Product
Recognizable proportions, rim, finish, and handle; exactness requirements independently checked.
Brand
Supplied artwork is recognizable, with no invented mark or separate floating logo.
Consistency
The same architectural concept, warm light, palette, and type treatment.
Copy
Exactly “Make room for a break.” with readable placement.
Claims
No invented price, discount, rating, certification, or endorsement.
File
Download opens, matches the reviewed version, and fits the intended placement.
Keep the source files, text-free square, final ads, prompts, and run notes separate from failures. Collections in Flow can help organize approved assets; this walkthrough checked individual downloaded files.
Treat these as three formats of one creative concept, not three different marketing messages. This exercise makes no claim about ad performance.
Keep going
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Is Nano Banana 2.1 the same as Nano Banana Pro?
No. They are separate models. This guide uses 2.1; its API identifier is gemini-nano-banana-2.1.
Can it put my real logo on a product?
It can use your actual artwork as a reference, as this example shows. Check the result against the original. Recognizable is not the same as pixel-exact, and generated product details can drift. Use a human-reviewed composite when exact brand or product reproduction is required.
Can I use confidential client photos?
Only with the client’s permission and a setup your organization approves. Review Flow’s current data settings and terms before uploading unpublished material.
