Master Seedream AI: The Complete Prompt Writing Guide for Professional Image Generation

Seedream is OpenAI's cutting-edge AI image generation and editing model, with the latest version being GPT Image 1.5 (released in late 2025, also known as Doubao-Seedream-4.5 on some platforms). Building on the strong foundation of Seedream 4.0, version 4.5 brings comprehensive improvements in subject consistency, instruction following, spatial reasoning, aesthetics, and professional creative workflows.

Whether you're a digital artist, designer, marketer, or creative enthusiast, mastering Seedream's prompt writing can unlock professional-grade images in seconds. This guide compiles best practices, core principles, and practical English prompt examples based on official documentation, user testing, and community insights.

What Makes Seedream Special?

Seedream stands out in the AI image generation landscape with several key capabilities:

• Natural Language Understanding: Excels at interpreting conversational prompts rather than keyword lists
• Text-to-Image Generation: Create stunning visuals from descriptive text alone
• Image-to-Image Editing: Transform existing images with natural language instructions
• Multi-Reference Fusion: Combine elements from multiple reference images
• Batch Generation: Create multiple consistent variations in one go
• High-Resolution Output: Native support for up to 4K resolution
• Text Rendering: Excellent at rendering readable text within images
• Professional Workflows: Optimized for commercial use cases

Available on platforms like Doubao (豆包), Volcano Engine, SeaArt, fal.ai, and getimg.ai, Seedream often offers free trials, making it accessible for experimentation.

1. Core Prompt Writing Principles

Understanding these fundamental principles will dramatically improve your results with Seedream.

Use Natural Language, Not Keywords

Seedream excels at understanding conversational sentences. Instead of keyword stuffing, write like you're describing the image to a friend.

❌ Poor: woman, blue dress, beach, sunset, bokeh, 4k

✅ Good: A young woman in an elegant blue dress walking along a beach at sunset, soft bokeh in the background, cinematic quality

Follow the Recommended Structure

For best results, organize your prompts using this pattern:

Subject + Action/Pose + Environment + Style/Lighting/Composition

Example: A confident CEO (subject) standing with arms crossed (action/pose) in a modern glass office (environment), dramatic side lighting, corporate photography style (style/lighting/composition)

Keep It Concise Yet Descriptive

Aim for 30-100 words. Seedream 4.0+ requires less detail than earlier models, producing more natural results without over-embellishment.

• Too Short: May lack direction
• Too Long: Can confuse the model
• Just Right: Clear, focused description with key details

Specify Your Intent Clearly

Tell the model what type of image you want to create:

• "Design a logo for..."
• "Create a professional headshot of..."
• "Generate food photography showing..."
• "Produce a surreal art piece featuring..."

Control Text in Images

To include readable text in your image, enclose it in quotes:

"Design a concert poster with the title 'Summer Music Festival' and date '2025.07.15'"

Add Professional Polish

Enhance quality with technical photography terms:

• Lighting: golden hour lighting, studio lighting, soft diffused light, dramatic side lighting
• Depth of Field: shallow depth of field, bokeh background, f/1.8 aperture
• Lens: 35mm lens, 85mm portrait lens, wide-angle shot
• Quality: cinematic quality, 8K details, high-end commercial photography

2. Text-to-Image: Creating from Pure Description

These examples demonstrate how to generate high-quality images from text alone.

Portrait Photography

A young woman in elegant clothing, holding a parasol on a tree-lined
path, Monet oil painting style, soft lighting, dreamy atmosphere.

Professional Headshot:

A short-haired blonde female CEO with a confident expression, wearing
a navy blue suit, neutral office background, studio lighting, shallow
depth of field, high-end corporate photography style.

Artistic & Surreal

Surreal female portrait lying on the ground with poppies growing from
her face. Soft pink background, muted earth tones, melancholic expression,
poetic surrealism, dreamy mood, contemporary fine art inspiration.

Logo & Brand Design

Design a logo for a gaming company featuring a dog playing with a game
controller, with the company name 'PITBULL' on it.

Product Photography

Food photography: A steaming hot pot of Mao Xue Wang, close-up of
chopsticks picking up ingredients, warm yellow lighting, appetizing,
commercial-quality texture.

Landscape & Environmental

A man sitting on a grassy hill at dusk, overlooking a lit-up city
skyline below. Sharp foreground grass, glowing distant city. Realistic
photography, soft cinematic tones.

Urban Architecture:

Modern glass skyscraper reflecting sunset clouds, photographed from
ground level looking up, dramatic perspective, golden hour lighting,
architectural photography style, 4K resolution.

3. Image-to-Image: Transforming Existing Images

Upload a reference image and describe changes using natural, conversational language.

Style Transfer

Convert this photo to anime style, keeping the character's features,
but change the background to a modern urban night scene.

From Photo to Painting:

Transform this portrait into a Renaissance oil painting style, with
warm museum lighting and classical composition.

Outfit & Accessory Changes

Dress the girl from Image 1 in the outfit from Image 2, paired with
shoes from Image 3.

Single Image Modification:

Add a black leather handbag to the woman's empty hand.

Pose & Composition

Have the person from Image 1 pose like in Image 2, full-body shot,
maintain composition proportions.

Text Modification

Change 'Santiago Music Festival' to 'Seedream Photography Exhibition',
and the date to '2025.10.01-07'. Keep the same colors, font, and alignment.

Add or Remove Elements

Adding:

Add falling cherry blossom petals around the person, create a romantic
spring atmosphere.

Removing:

Remove the boy from the picture, fill the background naturally.

Scene & Setting Changes

Using the reference character, generate a high-definition portrait in
traditional Chinese attire, outdoor garden setting, full body, cool tones.

Creative Transformations

Create a 1/7 scale commercial figurine of the character, realistic style,
in a real environment. Place the figurine on a desk with a computer screen
showing its ZBrush modeling process, and a Bandai-style box nearby with
the original artwork.

4. Multi-Reference & Batch Generation

Leverage multiple references for consistency or create series of variations.

Consistent Character Series

Using the reference character, generate a series of photos in different
scenes: beach, city, forest. Keep features consistent, 4K high resolution.

Fashion Lookbook:

Create a series of 4 fashion shots featuring the same model: casual
street style, business formal, evening wear, and athletic wear.
Maintain lighting consistency, studio background.

Brand Visual Systems

Based on this logo, create a set of healing plush toy brand visuals for
'Kjie', including packaging bags, boxes, cards, in yellow tones, cute
aesthetic.

Composite Editing

Dress the tallest panda in the image in pink Beijing opera costume with
headpiece, keeping the pose unchanged.

Product Variations

Generate a series of product shots for this smartwatch: on wrist in
gym, on desk with laptop, close-up of screen interface, outdoor hiking
scene. Consistent product appearance throughout.

5. Advanced Tips & Best Practices

Professional Enhancement Keywords

Elevate your images with these quality descriptors:

• Cinematic: cinematic quality, movie poster aesthetic, film grain
• Resolution: 8K details, ultra high definition, sharp focus
• Atmosphere: ethereal mood, dramatic atmosphere, serene ambiance
• Composition: rule of thirds, leading lines, symmetrical composition

Iterative Refinement

1. Start Simple: Begin with a base prompt
2. Generate: Create initial image
3. Refine: Use image-to-image mode to adjust specific elements
4. Polish: Add final touches with detailed editing prompts

Platform-Specific Tips

• Doubao (豆包): Best for Chinese text rendering and Asian aesthetics
• Volcano Engine: Optimized for commercial batch processing
• SeaArt/fal.ai: Great for experimentation with free credits
• API Access: Ideal for integrating into workflows and applications

Common Strengths to Leverage

• Complex Layouts: Seedream excels at multi-element compositions
• Text Rendering: Both Chinese and English text are handled well
• Batch Consistency: Character and style remain stable across series
• Natural Lighting: Particularly strong with golden hour and studio setups

Limitations to Be Aware Of

• Very Long Prompts: May confuse the model; keep refined and focused
• Extreme Detail: Sometimes less is more; trust the model's judgment
• Abstract Concepts: Works better with concrete, visual descriptions
• Reference Quality: Better input images yield better outputs

6. Real-World Use Cases

E-Commerce & Product Marketing

Product photography of a luxury watch on a marble surface, reflected in
water droplets, dramatic lighting from left, black background,
commercial quality, focus on watch face details.

Social Media Content

Instagram-style flat lay of a cozy morning scene: coffee cup,
croissant, flowers in vase, open book, soft morning light from window,
warm aesthetic, top-down view.

Editorial & Magazine

Fashion editorial shot of a model in avant-garde clothing, dramatic
pose against geometric background, high contrast lighting, vogue style,
sophisticated and artistic.

Concept Art & Illustration

Fantasy concept art of a floating island city with waterfalls cascading
into clouds, magical architecture, sunset lighting, detailed matte
painting style, epic scale.

Advertising & Campaigns

Advertisement for sustainable fashion brand: diverse models in organic
cotton clothing, natural outdoor setting, soft sunlight, authentic and
eco-friendly aesthetic, lifestyle photography.

7. Quick Reference Cheat Sheet

Structure Template

[Subject] [doing what] [where] [how it looks] [style/mood] [technical specs]

Essential Keywords by Category

Quality: cinematic, 4K, high-resolution, professional, commercial-grade

Lighting: golden hour, studio lighting, soft diffused, dramatic, natural light

Style: realistic, artistic, surreal, minimalist, vintage, modern

Mood: dreamy, energetic, calm, mysterious, joyful, dramatic

Composition: close-up, wide shot, aerial view, portrait, landscape

Technical: shallow depth of field, bokeh, 35mm lens, f/1.8, HDR

Conclusion

Mastering Seedream prompt writing is both an art and a science. By understanding the core principles—natural language, clear structure, appropriate detail level, and professional terminology—you can consistently generate professional-grade images.

Remember:

• Start with clarity: Know what you want to create
• Use natural language: Write conversationally, not with keywords
• Iterate and refine: Use image-to-image editing to perfect results
• Leverage references: Multi-image fusion yields the best consistency
• Trust the model: GPT Image 1.5 is intelligent; let it fill in artistic details

Whether you're creating commercial content, artistic projects, or experimental visuals, these prompt writing techniques will help you unlock Seedream's full potential. Start experimenting today, and don't be afraid to iterate—the best results often come from refining initial generations.

Ready to create stunning AI images? Try these prompts with Seedream and discover what's possible. If you need examples for a specific theme or use case, the community is always ready to help. Happy creating!

Have questions about specific prompt scenarios? Drop a comment below or reach out to the community. We're constantly discovering new techniques and would love to hear about your experiences with Seedream.