Blog
I used ChatGPT-5 to level up my image prompts — here’s how
As AI image generators like Midjourney, Leonardo, and Ideogram continue aiming for pixel-perfect responses to our creative or sometimes weird prompts, our obsession with AI art is showing no signs of fading.
Considered to be one of the best AI image generators currently available, ChatGPT manages to satisfy our curiosity as we use it to turn our kids’ doodles into 3D characters or our entire family into Lego figures.
With the release of its latest model, GPT-5, ChatGPT promises to deliver even better creative responses to our prompts than we’ve been accustomed to.
If you’ve been a fan of OpenAI’s chatbot and the AI images it creates, or are new to the hype, here are four ways you can use ChatGPT-5 today to create better AI images.
1. Discovering the full menu
(Image: © Tom’s Guide)
I’ve previously suggested using AI as a tool to discover the gaps in your knowledge. When it comes to improving your AI generated images, I feel duty-bound to, once again, recommend this technique.
If you have a long history of using ChatGPT to generate AI images, you can ask it to highlight any parts of your prompts that it thinks could be enhanced. Are you consistently specifying the time of day in your image prompt? What about the weather? Did you include any lens effects you want to see?
However, if you’re new to AI image creation, that’s totally fine! Just ask ChatGPT: “Can you create a list of styles, parameters, and features I should reference to make my AI image prompts more detailed?”
With a list of things ChatGPT can render or alter in hand, you just have to remember to specify what things you want to see included in the final design.
2. Inspiration from a reference image
(Image: © Tom’s Guide)
You can use the power of GPT-5 to get it to describe a reference image. I use this trick when I want a detailed piece of text I can rework to base my next creation on. Way better than starting with a blank prompt box.
For this example, I grabbed a photographer’s shot of Berlin’s famous TV tower, captured in the reflection of a mirror. The tower (known locally as the Berliner Fernsehturm) is seen alongside some high-rise buildings, with the rest of the imagery blurred, making the structures stand out.
What if I wanted to re-create the shot but with another iconic landmark featured instead? To form the basis of my prompt, I asked ChatGPT to describe the original photo in a way that an AI image generator could understand.
Using this description as a template, I simply had to swap the key elements with the new ones. Below is what my new prompt became:
“A creative cityscape photograph taken in Paris, France. The famous Eiffel Tower is visible in the background, framed inside a rectangular reflective surface, such as a mirror.
The foreground is blurred and metallic, creating a framing effect, while on the left side, warm sunlight illuminates a building with many rectangular windows. The perspective feels artistic, with the tower sharply in focus and the rest of the scene slightly blurred.”
Having ChatGPT describe the reference image took out the guesswork, and, with detailed description, I only had to swap out a few words.
3. Building a story
(Image: © Tom’s Guide)
Before hitting enter on your prompts, you can use ChatGPT-5 to create sequences of connecting prompts that build out a scene or story. If you have a message or story to tell, try asking ChatGPT to create complementary images that enhance your storytelling and make it more impactful.
Let’s use a concrete case study. If all plastic waste in the ocean were collected, it would fill 5 million shipping containers. That’s mind-boggling and it’s a message that deserves to be spread far and wide.
If I were working on a campaign to raise awareness of the dangers of plastic pollution, maybe I’d want to create an AI image of a boy on a little island surrounded by fish that are clearly struggling to live a healthy life.
I asked ChatGPT to: “create prompts for a 4-part narrative arc” and instantly received some proposals. I then used the exact prompts I received in order to generate images that worked well together as one complete series.
When trying this out yourself, emphasize the importance of consistency between one image and the next in your ChatGPT prompt to get the best results.
4. Sticking to trends
(Image: © Tom’s Guide)
Another way ChatGPT-5 can help you stay ahead of the curve is by recommending what design trends to incorporate in your images. Trendy images go beyond viral tourist hotspots, cyberpunk scenes, or portraits — you can also use ChatGPT’s image generator to design things like websites.
Let’s imagine there’s a content creator who’s trying to scale up their channels. A simple way to guide fans to different products or platforms is with a ‘link in bio’ site — a single page that neatly lists key links.
Using ChatGPT, I can easily create a mockup design for my own page, which I can then use as the first draft of my eventual website. By asking ChatGPT-5 what the latest trends are and including your target audience, you’ll be able to create a design which will feel familiar to your followers.
Try a simple prompt like: “You’re the lead designer of a marketing agency. Create a link in bio website, incorporating the latest trends for similar websites, which I can use to target a Gen Z audience.”
For an extra-personalized image, upload a headshot which ChatGPT can add to the final design. This will give you a better idea of what the final page would look like.
If you’re looking for even more customization options, have a discussion with ChatGPT about what the latest trends for web design in this niche actually are. Then you can pick and choose the elements you want to keep and ask for the rest to be tweaked or discarded.
Follow Tom’s Guide on Google News to get our up-to-date news, how-tos, and reviews in your feeds. Make sure to click the Follow button.
