How to use Google ImageFX now that it's part of Google Flow

What happened to ImageFX

ImageFX, Google's free AI image generator, has been merged into Flow, a Google Labs service for making images and video in one place. Whisk, another Google Labs tool, went the same way. Google Labs announced the plan on February 25, 2026, and the press reported April 30, 2026 as the last day to create in ImageFX and Whisk. On October 26, 2026, the old ImageFX address (labs.google/fx/tools/image-fx) redirects to Flow (flow.google.com).

That is about two years and three months after launch. Here are the main events in order.

HIKARI'S TAKEImageFX didn't vanish so much as move into Flow. If you open the old ImageFX address today, it takes you straight to Flow.

Checking our 2024 ImageFX how-to

In May 2024 we published a step-by-step guide to ImageFX, with screenshots, in Japanese. Here is how what we wrote then holds up today.

Our biggest miss was not writing a single line about rights, or about how the images could be used.

We explained the buttons and features carefully. We did not say whether you could use the images for work, or what to do if the tool produced something that looked like someone else's work or face. We also didn't mention that the service might end one day and take your images with it. Reading it again now, those were the things that mattered to users.

HIKARI'S TAKE"It's free" and "English works better" still hold. The screens and the small features have all changed, and leaving out rights is the part we regret.

What happened to the images you made with ImageFX

In its February 2026 announcement, Google Labs said that from March you could move Whisk and ImageFX projects and assets into the Flow library. For Whisk, Google stated officially that the move was opt-in, not automatic, and that media left in the library after April 30 would be permanently deleted and could not be recovered.

If you made images with ImageFX, check in this order.

1. Look in your Flow library. Sign in to flow.google with the Google account you used for ImageFX and see whether the images you moved are there.
2. If you find them, download a copy. In Google Takeout (takeout.google.com), click "Deselect all," check only Flow, then click "Next step" and "Create export." You'll get an email when it's ready, and the link works for 7 days.
3. Open the files. The images are all in the media folder. Each one has a metadata file (JSON) that records the prompt and aspect ratio you used.
4. Check your computer's Downloads folder too. Images you saved with the download button back then are still on your computer, whatever happened to the service.

HIKARI'S TAKEStart with your Flow library and your Downloads folder. If you find images, download them today so you have your own copy.

How to make images in Flow, now that ImageFX is gone

Flow is Google Labs' tool for making images and video. It is available in the United States, in English, to people 18 and older. The image models are now the "Nano Banana" series.

Based on Google's help pages, here is how to make your first image.

1. Go to flow.google and sign in. Google recommends a desktop computer with a Chromium-based browser such as Chrome.
2. Open a project. Flow groups your images and videos by project.
3. Click the model name in the prompt box and choose "Image." You can pick the aspect ratio, the number of outputs and the model. To try it for free, choose Nano Banana 2 Lite, which Google says costs nothing.
4. Describe the image you want and click "Generate." You can add a reference image too.
5. To make changes, turn on "Agent." Drag the image into the prompt box, describe the change, such as "make it black and white," and click "Generate." The original is kept, and the "History" panel shows earlier versions and the prompts you used.

Here is how the free allowance and the paid plans fit together. Monthly prices are from Google's US plans page and credits from Flow Help, both checked on October 26, 2026.

The higher-end image models (Nano Banana 2.1 and Nano Banana Pro) and video generation use credits. If you run out, you can buy more AI credits. Google One Help says Google AI Pro and Ultra subscribers can buy them in countries where Flow is available, except Japan, so the US is included. There is also a Google Flow mobile app, but the desktop version has the most editing features.

HIKARI'S TAKEStart by making one image with the free Nano Banana 2 Lite. You can think about a paid plan once you actually run short.

Before you use Flow (formerly ImageFX) images for work

This is the part our 2024 article left out: rights and how the images can be used. Before you put an image on a flyer, a social post or a slide, check the following.

"Google won't claim ownership" does not mean the image is free of other people's rights. Before we use an image for work, we check these four things.

1. Does it look like a real person, or another company's logo or character? If it does, don't use it, even if the tool made it.
2. Did you put client names or internal documents in the prompt? Leave out anything you wouldn't want someone else to see.
3. Are you hiding that AI made it? Where it's expected, say that the image was made with AI.
4. Did you save the original file on your company drive? Keep the prompt you used with it.

HIKARI'S TAKEGoogle treats the images you make as yours, but it's up to you to check you aren't borrowing someone else's rights. When in doubt, leave it out.

Prompting habits from our ImageFX article that still work

The buttons have moved, but the way we built prompts in 2024 works just as well with Nano Banana in Flow and with other AI image tools. The trick is to add one layer at a time.

1. Pick one subject. Example: a tea house surrounded by bamboo forest in Kyoto.
2. Add visual detail. Light, color, texture. Example: soft sunlight filters through the leaves and falls on the mossy ground.
3. Name the style. Photo, watercolor, ink painting, poster and so on.
4. Add the mood in a word. Quiet, nostalgic, lively.
5. Don't mix words that clash. Don't put "a quiet shrine at night" and "a lively festival" in the same sentence.
6. Save prompts that work in your own notes. Tools change, but the way you write carries over.

As in the ImageFX days, Flow Help recommends English prompts for the best results, so writing in plain, specific English is already a good start.

HIKARI'S TAKETools change, but writing in the order subject, detail, style, mood stays useful. Keep the prompts you like, together with the images.