How to use Nano Banana in Gemini

What it is

Nano Banana is the nickname for Google’s image editing model inside Gemini. The nickname is now used more than the official name. You use it the same way you use anything else in Gemini. Attach a photo, say what you want changed, send.

The difference from a normal image generator is subject consistency. Ask a generator to put your friend on a beach, and you get a different person on a beach. An editing model keeps the face, the clothes and the person who was already there, and changes only the thing you asked about.

What it does really well

• New background, same person. And the light gets matched, not just pasted.
• Removing or adding objects. A dustbin in the corner, a wire, an extra chair.
• Changing the style. Studio photo to film look. Daytime to golden hour. Modern to old-fashioned.
• Joining two photos. Give it two and ask for one. This product, in that room.
• Fixing old photos. Cracks, fading and torn corners, with colour if you want it.

How to write the request

The biggest improvement most people can make is simple. Say what must not change.

A good edit request has four parts, in this order.

1. The one change. One per message. Two changes in one line is how you get a full re-draw.
2. What to keep. Name the face, the pose, the clothes, the framing.
3. How it should sit. Light direction, shadow, angle, size.
4. The finish. Lens, grain, colour, if you care about those.

Work in small steps

Treat it like talking to a photo editor, because that is what the model is built for. Change the background. Look. Then fix the light. Look. Then adjust the colour. Each message builds on the last picture.

When one step goes wrong, do not try to fix it on top. Go back to the last good image and write the request again. Mistakes add up, and faces drift a little with every re-generation.

Where it struggles

• Small text. Labels, boards and logos still come out roughly.
• Straight lines. Building edges and exact product shapes bend.
• Counting. “Exactly five” is treated as a suggestion.
• Faces over many steps. Each re-generation moves the face slightly. After six tries it is someone else.
• Real famous people. Those requests are refused, and that is correct.

What comes out

Edited images are watermarked like everything else from these models. The sparkle in the corner, and SynthID inside the pixels. If the corner mark sits where your design needs space, the tool here rebuilds what was under it instead of blurring it. The hidden signal stays, which is correct.

Want the prompt side rather than the how-to? Read prompts that actually work.

Questions people also ask

Is Nano Banana free to use?

Image editing works in Gemini on the free plan, with limits. Paid plans get more. The exact numbers change often, so check the limit message in your own account instead of trusting a figure in an article.

How do I keep the face the same when editing?

Say it in the request. Name the face, the pose and the clothes as things to keep. Change one thing at a time. And go back to the last good image instead of stacking fixes on a bad one.

Can Nano Banana combine two photos?

Yes. Attach both, and say which part comes from which photo. It is one of the things the editing model handles best.