Packaging, labels and lettering: getting product text right in AI ads

If you have tried making product ads with AI, you have probably seen it: a beautiful packshot with the brand name slightly wrong. An extra letter, a merged word, a logo that looks almost but not quite like yours. For a consumer, it is a small oddity. For a brand, it can look like a counterfeit.

Text has been one of AI image generation's weak spots for years, and while newer models are much better, product text still needs care.

Why it happens

Image models learn to paint shapes, and letters are shapes with very strict rules. A model can produce something that looks like writing without spelling anything at all. Long names, small print and unusual fonts are hardest. We wrote more about this in why AI ads get hands and text wrong.

Practical rules for product text

1. Start from a real photo of your packaging. Attach it in Tari Studio, and the Studio builds from it, keeping your actual design in view. How attachments work.
2. Keep on-screen words few and large. A brand name, a short headline, a price and a contact. Leave the ingredients panel to the real pack.
3. Use a model built for lettering for posters. On the quote, pick Ideogram 4 (clear text), which is designed for sharp, correctly spelled text.
4. Type your words exactly. In the Studio, brand names, prices, phone numbers and web addresses are kept exactly as you typed them.
5. Check every frame, letter by letter. Especially prices, weights and phone numbers.

Claims on packs carry legal weight

What your pack says is a legal statement: weight, ingredients, nutritional claims, certifications, warnings. An AI ad that shows a different claim from the real pack, or adds one, can mislead consumers. Never let an ad say more than your packaging and your evidence allow.

Video brings extra challenges

In video, text can shift between frames. A label that reads correctly at the start may blur or change as the pack rotates. Keep camera moves around the pack gentle, keep the label facing the camera, and check the whole clip, not just the first frame. If a result is wrong, use Improve to describe the fix and get a new quote, or try Another take.

Build brand memory

When a result gets your packaging wrong, rate it with a thumbs down and the reason, for example "logo distorted" or "brand name misspelled". The Studio keeps short notes about your brand that the AI director reads on every request. Brands and brand memory.

When to use real photography

For hero packshots on e-commerce listings and print, a real product photo is still the gold standard. AI shines in the scenes around the product: the kitchen, the family, the moment of use, the mood. Combine the two and you get the best of both.

Make a product ad from your pack.