How to Turn Your Photo into a Caricature Using Gemini

I’ve been playing around with Google’s Gemini lately, and I found something pretty cool. You can turn regular photos into caricatures that actually look good. Not the weird, distorted kind you see at carnivals, but the polished, professional-looking ones.

Let me show you how I did it.

Google recently released something called the Nano Banana Pro. This thing is seriously impressive when it comes to photo editing and creating realistic images.

I’ve tested it with different types of photos, and the results consistently surprised me. It understands lighting, shadows, and how to maintain someone’s likeness while making creative changes. That’s the sweet spot for caricature work.

The Step-by-Step Process

Here’s exactly what I did to create my caricatures.

First, head over to gemini.google.com or open gemini app and start a new chat. Make sure you’ve selected the Gemini 3 Pro model from the dropdown menu. This matters because the older models won’t give you the same quality results.

Next, attach your photo. Click the attachment icon and upload a clear photo of yourself or whoever you want to turn into a caricature. Front-facing photos work best. Make sure the face is well-lit and not blurry.

Now comes the fun part. Copy and paste this prompt into the chat:

Create a high quality digital caricature based on the reference photo. Keep the facial identity accurate while exaggerating the head size, smile, eyes, and ears in a fun and expressive way. Use bold clean outlines, smooth shading, and glossy highlights. Maintain the real hairstyle, skin tone, beard details, and glasses if present in the reference. Give the character a bright energetic expression. Keep the neck slightly elongated and the shoulders simplified to match the stylized look. Use a flat bold background color similar to illustrated caricatures so the character stands out clearly. Use aspect ratio 1:1.

Hit send and wait few seconds. That’s it.

My Test Results

I tried this with two photos: one of a man with a beard, and one of a woman with wavy hair. Both turned out great.

Here’s the reference photo of man.

The man’s photo came back with a bigger head, wider smile, and slightly larger ears. But you could still tell it was him. The beard looked natural, and the overall vibe was fun and friendly.

Following is the reference photo of woman.

The woman’s caricature kept her hairstyle intact but made her eyes more prominent and her smile brighter. The skin tone matched perfectly, and the simplified shoulders gave it that classic caricature look.

Both had that glossy, polished finish you see in professional illustrations. The backgrounds were solid color that made the characters pop.

Break Down of the Prompt

Let me explain what each part of that prompt actually does. Understanding this will help you modify it later.

• “Keep the facial identity accurate” tells Gemini not to turn the person into someone completely different. You want exaggeration, not transformation.
• “Exaggerating the head size, smile, eyes, and ears” is where the caricature magic happens. These are typically the features that get amplified in traditional caricatures.
• “Bold clean outlines, smooth shading, and glossy highlights” defines the art style. This gives you that digital illustration look instead of something hand-drawn or sketchy.
• “Maintain the real hairstyle, skin tone, beard details, and glasses” ensures accuracy. You’re not changing who the person is, just how they’re represented.
• “Bright energetic expression” sets the mood. Caricatures should feel lively and positive.
• “Neck slightly elongated and shoulders simplified” follows traditional caricature proportions. The big head needs a longer neck to balance it out.
• “Flat bold background color” keeps the focus on the face. No distracting elements.
• “Use aspect ratio 1:1” gives you a square image, perfect for social media profiles.

Customize Your Caricature

You can tweak this prompt to get different results.

Want to change the clothing? Add “dress the character in a red sweater” or whatever you prefer.

Need a different pose? Try “show the character from a three-quarter angle” or “include hands in a waving gesture.”

Want more or less exaggeration? Adjust phrases like “slightly exaggerate” or “dramatically amplify” depending on your taste.

You can even change the background. Instead of a flat color, try “place the character in a simple office setting” or “use a gradient background from blue to purple.”

I’ve spent maybe an hour total creating caricatures with Gemini, and I’ve made about a dozen that I actually love. Some I’ve used as profile pictures, others I’ve printed out as gifts.

The whole process feels less like using a tool and more like collaborating with a digital artist. You provide the photo and the direction, and Gemini handles the technical execution.

Try it out. Start with the basic prompt I shared, see what you get, then experiment with modifications. You might be surprised at how professional your results look.

And if you end up with something you really like, save it immediately. These AI-generated images don’t get stored permanently in your Gemini chat history, so download them right away.