# A product ad from one phone photo

Take one plain photo of your product, then edit it into a studio ad with GPT Image 2. Say what may change and what must stay.

You do not need a studio. One clear phone photo of your product is enough, if the edit says what may change and what must stay. The starting picture for this guide was made with GPT Image 2 from a plain prompt, standing in for your own photo: a sage-green candle on a kitchen table, crumbs and all.

From that one photo we made five different ads in twelve edits: a studio shot, a dark slate version, a candlelit scene, a beach and a doodle. The candle's shape, colour and lid came through all twelve. The steps below show how, and the ten prompts in this guide are the ones we would start from.

## Step 1: Take one plain photo

Get the whole product in the frame, sharp, in daylight. The mess around it does not matter: the edit replaces it. What the model needs is the product's real shape, colour and material, so do not crop into it or shoot through glare. Our prompt for it began: *A casual iPhone photo of a handmade candle in a matte sage-green ceramic tumbler, its light oak wooden lid leaning against it, sitting on a kitchen table.*

## Step 2: Ask for the ad, and say what stays

Attach your photo, then paste this prompt with your product and background filled in.

```text
Professional advertising product photo of "{product}", studio shot on a {background}, soft diffused lighting, subtle shadows, product centered in frame, three-quarter angle view, high detail on material texture, clean modern aesthetic in the style of premium brand campaigns, 4K resolution, 1:1 aspect ratio
```

Prompt: [Professional Product Advertising Photo](https://promptclay.com/prompts/professional-product-advertising-photo-23wt2y)

Change these words to your own: {product}, {background}.

Note: Attach your photo first. We wrote sage-green ceramic candle and warm beige paper backdrop.

Before it, we added these lines, the way OpenAI's [prompting guide](https://developers.openai.com/cookbook/examples/multimodal/image-gen-models-prompting-guide) says to edit: *Change only the background and the light. Keep the candle exactly as it is in the photo: the same matte sage-green tumbler and its shape, the oak lid, the white wax and the wick. No label, no text, no logo.*

Before and after: Kitchen-table photo and the ad made from it. [Before](https://cdn.promptclay.com/media/v/01M6TZVNJCQP36TW6TEJ586T60/w1200.webp), [after](https://cdn.promptclay.com/media/v/01M6TZVNKENSV20B1REK244K8A/w1200.webp).

Both runs with those lines kept the candle and added nothing. Of two runs without them, one put a sprig of dried flowers in the corner we never asked for.

## Step 3: Change one thing at a time

For a second ad, edit the ad, not the photo, and change one thing. Then repeat the keep list: OpenAI's guide says to restate it on every edit so the product does not drift.

![The same sage-green candle with its oak lid on a dark slate surface against a charcoal wall](https://cdn.promptclay.com/media/v/01M6TZVNKV9352NX8GA16XSDDE/w1200.webp)

We wrote: *Change only the background: a dark grey slate surface and a deep charcoal wall behind it. Keep the candle exactly as it is: the same matte sage-green tumbler and its shape, the oak lid leaning on the right, the white wax and the wick. Keep the soft light, the camera angle and the framing. No label, no text, no logo.* Two runs, two keepers.

```text
Using REFERENCE_0 as the base photo, retouch it into a clean, professional lifestyle shot while preserving the bouquet, clear glass vase, white ribbon text “JUST FOR YOU,” and the exact arrangement with 4 visible peach roses. Brighten the entire scene with warm natural sunlight coming through the window, improve exposure and color, make the greenery and roses look fresh and vivid, and add a soft shallow-depth-of-field look to the outdoor view. Neaten the composition by centering the vase and bouquet more elegantly, removing distracting table items such as the 2 gray placemats and dark chair backs, and making the tablecloth look freshly ironed, smoother, cleaner, and softly lit. Keep the window, sheer curtains, and cozy indoor setting, but make the result look polished, airy, and photorealistic, as if shot for a home decor or flower delivery advertisement.
```

Prompt: [Sunlit Bouquet Photo Retouch](https://promptclay.com/prompts/sunlit-bouquet-photo-retouch-nge38w)

Change these words to your own: while preserving, Keep the window.

Note: A real edit prompt built the same way: what to keep, then what to change.

## Step 4: Give it a mood

A plain backdrop sells the shape; a scene sells the feeling. This post is written for candles, and it reads more like a sales brief than a prompt: flame light, molten wax, the warmth of the material. We filled in *hand-poured candle* and *sage-green ceramic*, attached the kitchen photo and put the keep lines first. This time the props were allowed to change too, so the first line became *Change only the background, the light and the props around the candle.*

```text
Produce warm, atmospheric {product} product images that sell the feeling of luxury, comfort, and calm. This prompt captures glowing flame light, molten wax texture, the warmth of {material}, and all the sensory visual cues that make candle buyers click "purchase." Perfect for candle brands, Etsy candle sellers, home fragrance startups, and lifestyle brands wanting imagery that evokes the full sensory experience of their product
```

Prompt: [Luxury Candle Product Photography](https://promptclay.com/prompts/luxury-candle-product-photography-7tv22c)

Change these words to your own: {product}, {material}.

Note: Attach your photo and put your keep lines in front. We wrote hand-poured candle and sage-green ceramic.

![The sage-green candle lit, on a linen cloth with olive leaves, dried flowers and a glowing glass lantern behind it](https://cdn.promptclay.com/media/v/01M6TZVNJQE6FSC5WB4H28C4VA/w1200.webp)

Both runs lit the wick, which the prompt's flame light asks for. Tumbler, colour and lid stayed. The post's own cover is a grid of four candles, each with a made-up label; ours came back as single pictures with no label, because our lines said so.

## Step 5: Take it outside

This prompt was written for a sunscreen tube on a rock by the sea, and it has three blanks: colour, product and setting. We wrote *sage-green*, *ceramic candle* and *sunlit rock by the sea*. Read the whole prompt before you run it: further on it says *the surface of the tube*, so it names the product a second time. We changed *tube* to *tumbler* so the prompt describes one thing, not two.

```text
A sleek {product_color} {product} stands upright on a {setting}. Light reflects off the gentle blue waves behind it, while fine droplets sparkle on the surface of the tube. The background sky fades into soft cyan, creating a clean and luxurious summer aesthetic. Simple composition, minimalist tone, bright daylight photography, ultra-sharp details, high-definition realism, stock photo quality.
```

Prompt: [Luxury Sunscreen Product Shot](https://promptclay.com/prompts/luxury-sunscreen-product-shot-54z25m)

Change these words to your own: {product\_color}, {product}, {setting}, tube.

Note: Attach your photo and add the keep lines. Change the second product word as well.

![The sage-green candle and its oak lid on a sunlit rock, with sparkling sea and blue sky behind](https://cdn.promptclay.com/media/v/01M6TZVNK384XARV4G9G1MMNYF/w1200.webp)

Both runs kept the candle and put fine droplets on the tumbler, as the prompt asks. The light went from flat kitchen yellow to bright sun, and the candle still read as the same object.

## Six more prompts for product pictures

Grouped by what you need the picture for. We ran the first on our candle. The rest we read in full, so we say what each asks for, not what it gives.

### Edits on an ad you already have

A doodle is a quick way to turn a clean ad into a post people stop on. This prompt leaves the product alone and draws on top of it: a black line-art character with arms, legs and a face, plus a handwritten speech bubble. We attached the beige ad from step 2 and wrote *calm* and *Slow evenings*.

```text
Take this product photo and add a playful hand-drawn doodle character on top of it — simple black line-art style, cartoon arms and legs, expressive face showing {emotion}. Add a short handwritten-style text bubble saying '{caption}'. Keep the product photo untouched and realistic, background clean white/light grey.
```

Prompt: [Product Photo Doodle Overlay](https://promptclay.com/prompts/product-photo-doodle-overlay-mkmnzc)

Change these words to your own: {emotion}, {caption}, background clean white/light grey.

Note: Attach your finished ad. We ran it on the beige candle ad.

![The sage-green candle on white with a doodled sleepy face, crossed legs and a speech bubble saying Slow evenings](https://cdn.promptclay.com/media/v/01M6TZVNHZ0B3TWXCGM4M0S85P/w1200.webp)

Both runs kept the candle untouched and spelled the bubble right. Both also swapped our beige backdrop for white, because the prompt ends with *background clean white/light grey*. Delete that line if your background should stay.

### A set of angles for a listing

A contact sheet shows one product twelve times, at different angles on different coloured backgrounds: a fast way to choose the hero shot for a shop page. This one is written for a plain off-white mug and describes every tile, so swap the mug's sentence for your product's and change *handle on the right* if yours has no handle. Its own rule, *keeping the cup consistent*, is the keep list again. We did not run it.

```text
Create a clean contact-sheet collage showing exactly 12 photorealistic studio product photos of the same minimalist ceramic coffee cup, arranged in a 4-column by 3-row grid with narrow white gutters and a white page border. The cup is a plain warm off-white stoneware mug with a rounded cylindrical body, slightly thick rim, subtle speckled matte ceramic texture, and a simple C-shaped handle; no logo, no decoration, no liquid, no saucer. Vary the camera angle and lighting in each tile while keeping the cup consistent. Tile 1: side view on a warm beige background, handle on the right, soft shadow cast left. Tile 2: top-down view on a pale blue background, circular opening centered, handle pointing right. Tile 3: dramatic side view on a nearly black background, handle on the right, low-key lighting and strong rim highlight. Tile 4: side view on a dusty pink background, handle on the right, soft warm lighting. Tile 5: side view on a muted sage green background, handle on the right, calm diffused shadow. Tile 6: three-quarter side view on a cream background, handle on the right, bright softbox lighting. Tile 7: low-angle side view on a medium gray background with the mug sitting on a curved gray tabletop edge, handle on the right, sculptural shadow. Tile 8: high three-quarter view on a tan ochre background, handle on the right, visible inside of cup. Tile 9: side view on a cool gray-blue background, handle on the right, long horizontal shadow. Tile 10: side view on a caramel brown background, handle on the right, warm studio lighting. Tile 11: overhead three-quarter view on an off-white background, handle near the upper right, visible empty interior. Tile 12: side view on a pale sky-blue background, handle on the right, bright airy lighting. Add small centered serif text below the grid reading “{caption_text}”. Use a 3:2 landscape canvas, high-resolution editorial product photography, soft natural shadows, subtle paper-like backgrounds, consistent white spacing, and no extra objects or text. The customizable product is {product}; keep the main color {cup_color} and overall style {visual_style}.
```

Prompt: [12-Tile Ceramic Mug Contact Sheet](https://promptclay.com/prompts/12-tile-ceramic-mug-contact-sheet-hv4ja0)

Change these words to your own: plain warm off-white stoneware mug, handle on the right, keeping the cup consistent, {caption\_text}.

Note: Long prompt: edit the cup description and the handle notes for your product.

### Props, podiums and splashes

A podium and a few props make a small product look bigger and more finished. This one stands a bottle on a matte podium in silky foam and flowers, on a pale yellow gradient. It has three blanks: bottle colour, pump colour and flowers. It also says *The label emphasizes organic chamomile and calming care*, and its cover shows a full printed label with lines the prompt never quoted. If you attach your own bottle, cut that sentence and put your keep lines in its place.

```text
A soft {bottle_color} bottle with a {pump_color} pump stands on a matte podium, surrounded by silky foam and {flowers}. The background is a pale yellow gradient with subtle bubble details. The label emphasizes organic chamomile and calming care. Fresh chamomile flowers accentuate the gentle appeal.
```

Prompt: [Skincare Product Studio Shot](https://promptclay.com/prompts/skincare-product-studio-shot-9h5tpd)

Change these words to your own: {bottle\_color}, {pump\_color}, {flowers}, The label emphasizes organic chamomile and calming care..

Splash shots are the other classic. This one puts a tube on glossy marble with cream splashing and fruit flying past. The name on the tube goes in quotes, which is what OpenAI's guide asks for any text that must appear. The cover still printed extra lines under the name, so if the label matters, end with *no other text*.

```text
A sleek jade-pink tube labeled "{product_name}" upright on glossy marble, surrounded by creamy {fruit} splashes and flying {fruit} slices mid-air. Warm natural lighting, minimal light-beige background, ultra-realistic textures.
```

Prompt: [Strawberry Repair Cream Product Shot](https://promptclay.com/prompts/strawberry-repair-cream-product-shot-h77g35)

Change these words to your own: {product\_name}, {fruit}.

### No product photo yet

Before there is a photo, you can test an idea. This one sets the product against a textured beige wall in long sunlight, with a white line doodle of a character playing with it. It ends with *no extra text, no watermark*, a short exclusion list of the kind OpenAI's guide recommends. Once you have a real photo, use the doodle edit above instead, so the product is yours and not the model's guess.

```text
[{product}], minimalist product photo, clean warm studio scene, textured beige wall background, soft directional sunlight creating long shadows, simple tabletop surface, product arranged in a playful concept composition, hand drawn white line doodle overlay of {character} interacting with the product, mixed media look combining real photography and sketch illustration, high end branding feel, shallow depth of field, ultra realistic, no extra text, no watermark, 8k, 1:1
```

Prompt: [Minimalist Product Photo with Doodle](https://promptclay.com/prompts/minimalist-product-photo-with-doodle-7tznqa)

Change these words to your own: {product}, {character}, no extra text, no watermark.

The shortest prompt here makes a good mock-up: an unbranded glass bottle with one flower sealed inside. Three blanks: the flower, the background colour and the glass colour. The last line, *no logos, no readable text, no watermark*, is what keeps it unbranded; the cover is a clean bottle with no label at all. Keep that line on any shot you plan to put your own label on later.

```text
unbranded transparent perfume bottle, one {flower_type} enclosed inside, {background_color} background, {glass_color} glass, luxury product photography, no logos, no readable text, no watermark.
```

Prompt: [Unbranded Luxury Perfume Bottle Poster](https://promptclay.com/prompts/unbranded-luxury-perfume-bottle-poster-rftn1b)

Change these words to your own: {flower\_type}, {background\_color}, {glass\_color}, no logos, no readable text, no watermark.

## More looks to try

Three more product shots, each with its prompt on its page.

Shots:

- [Premium Spice Jar Product Photo](https://promptclay.com/prompts/premium-spice-jar-product-photo-tttjed)
- [Warm Minimalist Microwave Product Photo](https://promptclay.com/prompts/warm-minimalist-microwave-product-photo-m39q1t)
- [Luxury Ribbed Suitcase Product Photo](https://promptclay.com/prompts/luxury-ribbed-suitcase-product-photo-dytrqn)

## Questions

### Where do I run this?

In ChatGPT or any app that runs GPT Image 2 and takes a photo upload. Attach the photo first, then paste the prompt.

### Will it change my product?

In our six edits GPT Image 2 kept the candle's shape, colour and lid every time. We tested one plain product with no label, so check small printed text closely; OpenAI suggests `medium` or `high` quality for small text.

Six more edits since then, for the mood, beach and doodle pictures, kept it too. The only change was a lit wick, which the candle prompt asked for.

### Can I add a price or a slogan?

Yes. OpenAI's guide says to put the exact words in quotes and say where they go, for example *"Hand-poured" in small serif type, top left*.

### Can I get my product on a transparent background?

OpenAI's [guide](https://developers.openai.com/cookbook/examples/multimodal/image-gen-models-prompting-guide) says transparent backgrounds are in preview for GPT Image 2. Ask for the product isolated on a fully transparent background, save it as PNG or WebP, and in later edits repeat *preserve the transparent background*. We did not test it here.

### Can I use a second picture for the style?

Yes. OpenAI's guide says to name each image by number and say what it is for, for example *Image 1: product photo, Image 2: style reference*, then say how they combine. Keep the keep list for Image 1 in the same prompt.

### Which quality setting should I pick?

We ran every edit at high quality, and each pair of pictures took about a minute and a half. OpenAI's guide suggests starting at `low` when speed matters, then comparing `medium` or `high` for small text and fine detail.

---
Canonical: https://promptclay.com/guides/product-ad-from-one-phone-photo