Using AI to generate expert image prompts without technical knowledge

Executive overview

Most people struggle with AI image models because they try to learn technical prompting jargon — camera angles, lighting, lens types. You don't need to. Instead, ask an AI to research best practices for a given image model and generate the prompts for you.

Provide context about your goal, the emotion you want to evoke, and the subject — then let the AI produce expert-level prompts you can paste directly into the image tool.

The key insight: AI can research prompting best practices better than you can learn them, so use AI to prompt AI.

When to apply AI image editing

• Ask: can I do this image task better, faster, and cheaper with AI? The answer is often yes.
• Real estate staging: furnish empty rooms without altering walls, windows, or lighting.
• Ad creative: generate 30 variations for A/B testing.
• E-commerce: place products in different scenes or on different people.
• LinkedIn content: composite your headshot into contextually relevant scenes.
• Landscaping, presentation visuals, background swaps.

The context framework

Before generating prompts, give the AI four pieces of context:

• Purpose — what is the image trying to achieve? (sell, inform, engage)
• Emotion — how should the viewer feel? (urgency, curiosity, warmth)
• Subject — product, character, scene, mascot?
• Specific requirements — any constraints or stylistic needs

The base prompt structure

• Ask the AI to research best practices for the specific image model you're using, as of today's date.
• Include your context block beneath the research request.
• Ask for multiple prompt variations (e.g. four or five) so you have options to test.
• Use GPT-5 with extended thinking for higher-quality prompt research.

Real estate staging example

• Goal: help buyers visualise furnished versions of empty rooms.
• Prompt specified: furnish the space without altering anything else in the image.
• AI returned four style variations — Scandinavian, mid-century modern, Japandi, contemporary coastal.
• Each generated prompt included: specific furniture items, colour palettes, lighting instructions, negative prompts, and aspect ratios.
• Output preserved windows, outlets, trees, and ambient lighting exactly.

LinkedIn content example

• Goal: composite a headshot into compelling scenes tied to post content.
• Prompt instructed the AI to: maintain facial identity, adjust posture for the scene, add one or two contextual words to the image.
• Prompts must be standalone — each copyable independently into the image tool.
• Results vary: often convincing, occasionally uncanny, rarely off-base.
• Use XML tags to separate instructions from post content in the prompt.

Scaling with GPT projects

• Save the system prompt into a GPT project or custom GPT.
• For recurring use cases, provide only the new input (post, property photo, product) and receive prompts back.
• Applies to any image model — Nano Banana, Midjourney, Flux, or others.
• Access Nano Banana free via aistudio.google.com with generous rate limits.