How to use this page
Each recipe has three parts: the one-line idea a person would actually type, the full prompt for ChatGPT Images 2.5, and the clause that does the work. Copy the prompt, replace the specifics, keep the structure. The structure is explained in how to prompt Images 2.5.
These are Depikt's examples, produced with the Prompt workspace. They are not OpenAI's. Where a recipe uses an attached image, attach one; the prompt says how it will be used.
1. Event poster
Idea: "poster for a jazz night at a bar"
Print poster, 2:3 portrait. Layout: headline band top 25%, image middle 60%, footer strip bottom 15%. Exact text: "LATE SET" (headline, largest, condensed grotesk, all caps); "Live jazz · Thursdays from 9" (footer left, small); "The Alcove, 12 Rue Vieille" (footer right, small). No other text. Image: a single upright bass leaning against a dark green velvet curtain, one warm spotlight from upper-left, deep shadows. Style: screen print, three inks (bottle green, cream, near-black), visible halftone, paper grain. Avoid: musicians, instruments other than the bass, gradients, decorative borders.
The clause that works: the footer split into left and right. Without it the two lines stack and fight the headline.
2. Product on white
Idea: "product shot of our candle"
E-commerce product photo, 1:1. Subject: a 220 g soy candle in a frosted amber glass jar with a plain kraft label reading "No. 4 · Cedar & Smoke" (label text exactly as written, centered on the jar). Composition: jar centered, filling 65% of frame height, on seamless pure white. Lighting: large soft box upper-left, soft gradient on the glass, one soft contact shadow. 85mm catalog look. Avoid: lit flame, props, colored casts, room reflections, extra labels.
The clause that works: the label text is quoted and positioned. Product references alone do not carry text; the prompt has to.
3. Three-panel explainer infographic
Idea: "how sourdough starter works, infographic"
Explainer infographic, 4:5. Layout: title top; three horizontal panels stacked, numbered 1-3, each with a simple line diagram left and a two-line caption right; footer line bottom. Exact text: title "How a sourdough starter works" (largest); captions verbatim: 1 "Flour and water feed wild yeast and bacteria"; 2 "Fermentation produces gas and lactic acid"; 3 "The starter doubles in 4-8 hours at room temperature"; footer "Source: King Arthur Baking" (smallest). No other text. Style: flat vector, two colors (rust, charcoal) on off-white, 2px line weight, no gradients, no 3D. Do not draw a loaf of bread.
The clause that works: the source line. If the image carries facts, give the model the facts and where they came from.
4. Mobile app screen
Idea: "onboarding screen for a habit tracker app"
Mobile app screen mockup, 9:16, presented flat (no phone frame). Layout: status bar area top; large illustration in the upper 45%; headline; one-line body; primary button; text link. Exact text: headline "Build one habit at a time" (largest); body "Pick a habit, set a time, and we'll check in daily." (small); button "Get started" (full-width, high-contrast); link "I already have an account" (smallest, centered). No other text. Illustration: a single line-drawn calendar page with one checkmark, two colors. Style: clean iOS-like layout, 24px margins, white background, one accent color (deep green), system-style sans. Avoid: gradients, stock-photo people, extra icons, a navigation bar.
The clause that works: "presented flat (no phone frame)." Frames eat 40% of the pixels and blur the UI.
5. Reference-led portrait
Idea: "put me in a 1960s passport photo" (attach a photo)
Reference image: SUBJECT IDENTITY only. Keep the face, hairline, and build recognizable; do not copy the reference's clothing, background, or lighting. Passport photo, 1:1, 1960s. Subject in a plain dark wool jacket and white shirt, neutral expression, looking directly at camera. Composition: head and shoulders, centered, plain light gray backdrop. Lighting: flat frontal flash, slight vignette. Style: black-and-white silver gelatin print, fine grain, slightly soft. Avoid: modern eyewear, smiling, color, any text or stamps.
The clause that works: the first sentence. It tells the model the photo is a who, not a how.
6. Precision edit: swap one object
Idea: "replace the coffee cup with a teapot" (attach a photo)
Edit the attached photo. CHANGE: replace the white coffee cup on the table with a small cast-iron teapot, same position and roughly the same footprint. PRESERVE: the person, their hands and pose, the table surface, the window, the plant, the crop, the color grade, and the grain. MATCH: the teapot must sit under the same soft window light from the left, with a matching soft shadow, same perspective as the cup. Do not add or remove any other object.
The clause that works: MATCH. Without it you get a teapot that was lit somewhere else.
7. Precision edit: background only
Idea: "put this product on a marble counter" (attach a product photo)
Edit the attached photo. CHANGE: the background and surface only, to a white Carrara marble counter with a soft out-of-focus kitchen behind it. PRESERVE: the product exactly (shape, color, label text, position, and scale), the camera angle, the crop, and the product's own highlights. MATCH: add a soft contact shadow on the marble consistent with the product's existing highlight direction (upper-left). Do not restyle, recolor, or move the product.
The clause that works: "the product exactly (shape, color, label text...)." Naming the label keeps the text from being redrawn.
8. Style transfer from a reference
Idea: "make this in the style of the attached painting" (attach an artwork)
Reference image: STYLE only. Match its palette, medium (gouache on toned paper), visible brush texture, and flat, slightly naive perspective. Do not reproduce the reference's subject, composition, or any text. New subject: a corner bakery at dawn, one baker in the doorway, bread in the window, wet cobblestones. Composition: 4:5, street-level, bakery filling the right two-thirds. Avoid: photorealism, lens effects, signage text.
The clause that works: "Do not reproduce the reference's subject." Style references drag their subjects along unless told not to.
9. Four-panel storyboard
Idea: "storyboard for a 15-second coffee ad"
Storyboard, 16:9, four equal panels in a single row, thin black gutters, numbered 1-4 in the top-left corner of each panel (numbers only, no other text). Same character in every panel: a woman in her thirties, short dark curly hair, mustard raincoat. Same style in every panel: loose ink line with one gray wash. Panel 1: wide shot, she steps out of an apartment door into rain. Panel 2: medium shot, she ducks under a café awning, shakes off her hood. Panel 3: close-up, hands around a paper cup, steam. Panel 4: wide shot from behind, she walks on, rain easing, cup in hand. Avoid: dialogue, captions, different characters, color.
The clause that works: the character anchor repeated as "same character in every panel" with three concrete features. This is what stops the face changing between panels.
10. Sketch to render
Idea: "turn my room sketch into a real photo" (attach a sketch, or draw one with @Sketch)
Use the attached sketch as the LAYOUT. Keep the placement and relative sizes of the bed, the window, the desk, and the rug exactly as drawn; keep the camera position implied by the sketch. Render as a photoreal bedroom, 3:2, late-morning light from the window, white walls, oak floor, a linen duvet in stone, a small desk lamp. Ignore the sketch's line quality, colors, and any handwriting. Avoid: adding furniture not in the sketch, people, text.
The clause that works: "Ignore the sketch's line quality, colors, and any handwriting." Sketches carry noise; say which parts are signal.
11. Transparent sticker
Idea: "a sticker of a cat astronaut"
Single sticker illustration, 1:1, transparent background: no backdrop, no floor, no ground shadow, no vignette. Subject: a round-faced tabby cat in a white spacesuit, helmet visor up, waving one paw. Style: flat vector, thick 6px white die-cut outline around the whole figure, four colors, no gradients. Nothing else in the frame; no text.
The clause that works: "no ground shadow." A shadow on a transparent canvas becomes a gray smear on whatever you place the sticker on.
12. Presentation slide
Idea: "slide showing our three product tiers"
Presentation slide, 16:9, white background. Layout: title top-left; three equal columns across the middle, each a rounded rectangle with a tier name at the top and three short lines below; nothing else. Exact text: title "Three ways to start" (largest); column 1: "Free", "1 project", "Community support", "No card required"; column 2: "Pro", "Unlimited projects", "Priority support", "$12/month"; column 3: "Team", "Shared workspaces", "SSO", "Talk to us". No other text. Style: flat, one accent color (deep blue) for the middle column's border only, dark gray text, generous margins. No icons, no gradients, no checkmarks.
The clause that works: "for the middle column's border only." Accent color without a target gets sprayed across the slide.
Adapting a recipe
Change the specifics, keep the skeleton: intent, subject, composition and ratio, quoted text with positions, medium, and an avoid list. If you attach an image, keep the reference clause and change only the description after it. Then paste the result into the Critique mode; it will tell you if a change introduced a contradiction or dropped the ratio.
For 500 more worked examples from the GPT Image 2 era, each with a note on why it works, browse the Library and remix any of them for 2.5.
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