Publishing, blogs and newsletters
A header image for every post, without the stock-photo look everyone recognises.
SamImageGenerator ·
Every article needs an image, and stock libraries have made all of them look the same. A generator solves a narrower problem than it first appears: not "art" but a specific, relevant picture for a specific piece of writing, at the size the layout needs, that nobody else has published this week.
What to generate for a piece
| Slot | Ratio | What works |
|---|---|---|
| Header image | 16:9 | A scene that matches the article's mood, not its title |
| Social card | 1:1 or 16:9 | Simpler, readable at thumbnail size |
| Section break | 4:3 | Abstract or textural, low detail |
| Newsletter header | 16:9 | Very simple, survives email clients |
The most common mistake is illustrating the title literally. An article about hiring does not need a handshake; it needs an image with the right feeling — a quiet office at dawn, an empty meeting room, a desk with two coffee cups. Describe the mood and the scene, not the metaphor.
Keeping a publication looking like itself
Pick one style and stay with it. A blog where every header is photorealistic reads as a magazine; a blog where every header is watercolour reads as a journal; a blog that alternates reads as neither. Add a fixed palette phrase to every prompt and the set holds together even when the subjects have nothing in common.
The editorial line
Never generate an image that could be read as documentary evidence: a real person, a real event, a real place presented as photographed. That is the one boundary that matters in publishing, and it is also the one place where a stock photo or a real photograph is not replaceable. Everything else — conceptual, abstract, illustrative — is fair game.
The prompt patterns are in the prompt guide, the ratio decision is in aspect ratio and resolution, and finished examples with their prompts are on Explore.