Articles: AI

AI will not design the material for you - it suggests variants, speeds up the search for an idea and helps when you are staring at an empty page. The articles under this tag add up to a simple way of working: idea and prompt first, then a proper layout in a graphics program, and finally a calm check of whether the result suits paper.

Talking to the tool

Most of the outcome depends on the prompt. The more precisely you describe what should be in the picture, in what mood and what it is for, the fewer random results you get. Several pieces also show how to hold one style across a whole series, so that the leaflet, the poster and the social post look like siblings rather than a random collection.

• Be specific - subject, mood, colours, framing and the purpose of the image.
• Work in variants - a few colour versions of one layout are easier to compare than to describe.
• Mix your tools - an AI image, a layout in Canva or GIMP, and copy written by a person.
• Do not hide real photos - an honest product shot usually convinces more than a pretty vision.

Before it goes on paper

An AI image can look wonderful on screen and disappoint once printed - it may be soft, have odd details along the edges or letters that mean nothing up close. It pays to view the picture enlarged, tidy the details in a graphics program and remember that a screen glows while paper reflects light, so colours will look calmer.

A separate thread covers the rights to images and what a company may safely use in its advertising. If you are starting from scratch, read the pieces on writing prompts first, then the one on preparing artwork for print.