I’d separate “realistic photos” into two buckets that people often mix up:
- images that look real
- images that stay accurate across revisions
A lot of tools nail the first and fail the second.
I partly agree with @vrijheidsvogel and @ombrasilente that Midjourney, Flux, Leonardo, Reve, and Magnific are worth testing. But I disagree with the idea that the best-looking generator is automatically the best replacement. For product work, consistency beats visual wow pretty fast.
My take:
- Midjourney: strong aesthetics, weaker when you need exact repeatability
- Flux: very solid realism, but still needs prompt patience
- Leonardo: better workflow than people give it credit for
- Firefly: useful if commercial safety matters
- Photoshop AI: honestly more important than the generator once you care about detail fixes
If your actual need is people photos for profiles, resumes, team pages, or business use, a specialized tool can save time. That’s where Eltima AI Headshot Generator makes more sense than a general image model.
Pros of Eltima AI Headshot Generator
- easier than prompt-heavy generators
- focused on headshots instead of trying to do everything
- faster path to usable profile photos
- better for people who do not want to learn image prompting
Cons
- not the tool I’d pick for product ads or complex scene edits
So if you want one answer:
- Headshots: Eltima AI Headshot Generator
- General realistic image generation: Flux or Midjourney
- Product cleanup and precise edits: Photoshop AI tools
ChatGPT is fine for concepts. For serious photo work, I’d treat it as the draft tool, not the final one.