Introduction: From Creator to Composer
You’ve explored the basics. You’ve learned to build structured prompts, balance clarity with creativity, and generate strong, coherent images with DALL·E 3. Now you’re ready to go deeper. This guide is for those who want to move from simply generating images to composing visual stories and unlocking the true potential of prompt engineering.
This is a hands-on, example-rich guide written for intermediate users of DALL·E 3—those who have read the first tutorial and now want to refine their craft with advanced techniques.
Each chapter will introduce a new skill, show you how it works in practice, and offer real prompts to try and adapt.
All examples are written for DALL·E 3.
Chapter 1: Composing Complex Scenes
What You Will Learn: How to describe scenes with multiple subjects, each with unique characteristics, and how to define spatial relationships.
Goal: Create images where several characters, objects, or elements coexist logically and visually.
How-To: Instead of writing a single sentence that tries to do everything, break your scene into logical segments. Use relational phrases like “to the left of,” “behind,” “in the distance,” and “in the foreground.” This gives DALL·E a hierarchy of composition to follow.
Ineffective Prompt: “A cat, a dog, and a boy in a forest.”
Improved Prompt: “In a sun-dappled forest, a small boy in a yellow raincoat walks along a muddy path. To his left, a shaggy brown dog runs ahead joyfully, while to his right, a curious tabby cat walks cautiously through the underbrush.”
Try this:
- Use directional terms: left, right, foreground, background, center
- Assign actions or expressions to individual characters
- Set a consistent time of day and lighting for unity
Chapter 2: Multi-Image Referencing
What You Will Learn: How to combine elements from multiple reference images into one cohesive scene.
Goal: Generate images that borrow specific visual elements (character design, background, styling) from other images.
How-To: If you’re using DALL·E inside ChatGPT, you can upload multiple images and reference them directly in your prompt. For example, you might say: “Use the character from image 1 and the environment from image 2.” Think like a creative director: instruct the AI on what to borrow from each image and how they should be combined.
Prompt Example: “Take the young woman from the first image, with short silver hair, cyberpunk goggles, and a glowing blue jacket. Place her in the neon-lit Tokyo alleyway from the second image. Maintain the cinematic lighting and futuristic vibe of the alley while keeping her facial features and outfit from the original.”
Input image 1:
Input image 2:
Here is the resulting image that took the character from image 1 and the background from image 2. You need to copy all the images you are referencing into the prompt.
What to Try:
- Combine real photos and illustrations stylistically
- Borrow color palettes: “use the color scheme from a 90s comic book”
- Anchor characters with clear visual traits (hair, outfit, posture)
Chapter 3: Micro-Edits Without Edit Mode
What You Will Learn: How to change only a small detail in a scene without losing the rest.
Goal: Gain more granular control over revisions by anchoring context.
How-To: Since DALL·E doesn’t yet allow for pixel-precise edits outside of edit mode, you can mimic this behavior with prompt reinforcement. Describe the whole scene as it should be, then name only the detail you want to change.
This is the original image:
Prompt Example: “A man in a business suit stands on a New York rooftop at dusk, city lights glowing behind him. Keep the entire scene the same, but change his tie from black to dark red with yellow dots.”
The resulting image with a slight change:
Tip: Repeat the unchanged parts of the scene to reinforce them. DALL·E relies on verbal context.
Bad Prompt: “Same image, but change the tie color.”
Better Prompt: “Keep the same man, rooftop, lighting, and background. Only change the color of his tie from black to dark red with yellow dots.”
Chapter 4: Style Swapping While Preserving Composition
What You Will Learn: How to retain the scene but change the artistic style, mood, or visual tone.
Goal: Render one composition across different visual interpretations.
How-To: This is where DALL·E excels at “repainting” an image with a new visual language. Keep your prompt structure consistent, but swap out the style or emotional description.
Copy the original image into the prompt and request a style change.
Prompt Variations:
- “Same cottage and composition. Rendered in Studio Ghibli animation style.”
- “Same cottage and composition, but in photorealistic style with dramatic lighting.”
- “Same scene in watercolor style, evoking peaceful nostalgia.”
Original image:
The resulting image with the same scene in Ghibli style:
Style Phrases to Try:
- In the style of Gustav Klimt / Frank Frazetta / a Pixar short
- As a charcoal sketch / pixel art / manga
- Lit like a golden hour movie scene
Chapter 5: Panel and Window Composition
What You Will Learn: How to describe split scenes or multiple visual windows within one frame.
Goal: Create images that include multiple perspectives, panels, or visual frames.
How-To: Treat each window or panel as a mini scene with a title or descriptor. Be specific about position: top/bottom, left/right, panel 1/panel 2.
Prompt Example: “A comic-style layout with two horizontal panels. Top panel: a young woman opens a letter in a bright apartment. Bottom panel: the same woman reading the letter at a bus stop in the rain, her expression changed to concern.”
Variants:
- Use “before and after” structure
- Try triptychs for environmental storytelling
- Describe time progression within frames
Chapter 6: Prompt Chaining for Narrative Sequences
What You Will Learn: How to guide DALL·E through multi-step image creation using narrative logic.
Goal: Generate a series of images that evolve in content.
How-To: Use output from one image as the baseline for the next. Reiterate known elements and introduce new changes logically.
Example Series:
1) “A knight riding into a foggy forest.”
2) “Same knight, now standing before an ancient stone gate within the forest.”
3) “Same scene, now showing the gate opening, revealing a glowing blue chamber.”
Image 1:
Image 2:
Image 3:
Key Tactic: Reinforce continuity between steps with clear references.
Chapter 7: Prompt Weighting and Emphasis
What You Will Learn: How to subtly prioritize certain elements in your prompt.
Goal: Control which parts of a scene DALL·E emphasizes visually.
How-To: Although DALL·E doesn’t support weighted tokens like some models, you can simulate emphasis through repetition and elaboration.
Example Prompt: “A vast, VAST desert stretching endlessly under a pale sky. In the center, a tiny, weathered temple with crumbling pillars. The desert is the dominant feature.”
Alternatives:
- “Dominated by…”
- “Most of the image shows…”
- Repeat key ideas: “desert, sand dunes, horizon, dry, endless sand”
Chapter 8: Image Consistency Across a Series
What You Will Learn: How to generate multiple images that feature the same character, style, or visual language.
Goal: Create a set of images that feel narratively and visually cohesive.
How-To: Use fixed identifiers: “the same woman with auburn hair in a green leather jacket” or “a robot with a cracked glass eye and rusted steel arms.”
Repeat these identifiers in every image. Anchor clothing, posture, background tones.
Prompt Set:
- “The same teenage girl with curly black hair, oversized denim jacket, and round glasses, sitting on a rooftop at night.”
- “Same girl walking through a neon-lit street, holding a glowing drink, wearing the same denim jacket.”
Images 1 and 2:
Chapter 9: Using Negative Prompts (Implicit Control)
What You Will Learn: How to indirectly steer DALL·E away from unwanted features.
Goal: Improve image quality by filtering out problematic elements.
How-To: DALL·E doesn’t formally support negative prompts, but you can preempt unwanted features.
Example Prompt: “A clean, white ceramic kitchen with natural lighting. No people, no text, no logos.”
Phrases to use:
- “Without…”
- “Excludes…”
- “No visible…”
Chapter 10: Overcoming Biases and Defaults
What You Will Learn: How to spot and override DALL·E’s default outputs.
Goal: Avoid generic or stereotypical visuals.
How-To: DALL·E sometimes defaults to common interpretations: businesspeople in suits, European architecture, etc. Be culturally and visually explicit.
Weak Prompt: “An office worker sitting at a desk.”
Better Prompt: “A young Indian woman in a colorful sari working on a laptop in a sunlit co-working space in Mumbai, surrounded by plants and murals.”
Chapter 11: Photorealism vs. Surrealism
What You Will Learn: How to control realism level and creative exaggeration.
Goal: Direct DALL·E’s rendering style between grounded photography and imaginative art.
How-To: To push realism: “Photorealistic, natural lighting, DSLR clarity, 35mm depth of field.”
To push surrealism: “Dreamlike, impossible proportions, Salvador Dali style, floating elements.”
Prompt Test:
1) Realism: “A bowl of fresh fruit on a wooden table, soft morning light, shallow depth of field.”
2) Surrealism: “A floating bowl of fruit in a sky made of silk, with glowing birds circling around.”
Image 1:
Image 2:
Chapter 12: Defining Image Ratios and Aspect Orientation
What You Will Learn: How to suggest whether the image should be horizontal, vertical, or square, and what phrasing improves results.
Goal: Gain greater control over the image’s composition and framing, especially for posters, mobile art, and cinematic frames.
How-To: While DALL·E does not take explicit aspect ratio inputs through prompt text, phrasing can encourage it to interpret the scene with a certain orientation.
Common Phrasings to Try:
- “Cinematic wide shot”
- “Tall vertical illustration”
- “Poster format”
- “Square layout, centered subject”
Prompt Comparison:
- Default: “A wizard standing on a cliff during a lightning storm.”
- Horizontal framing: “A cinematic wide shot of a wizard standing on a cliff during a lightning storm, vast landscape spreading left and right.”
- Vertical framing: “A tall, vertical fantasy illustration showing a wizard on a cliff, towering storm clouds rising above him.”
Horizontal framing:
Vertical framing:
Try These Alternatives:
- Use real-world framing cues like “magazine cover,” “billboard format,” or “Instagram post style.”
- Mention camera angles like “overhead view” or “close-up portrait” to shape the image framing.
While it doesn’t guarantee an exact ratio, careful description of space and composition strongly influences the visual structure.
Chapter 13: Extracting and Applying Style from a Reference Image
What You Will Learn: How to analyze the visual characteristics of an existing image and use them to influence your own generations.
Goal: Recreate the style—not just the content—of a reference image, whether it’s from another artist, a film, or a previous generation.
How-To: Start by uploading a style reference image to ChatGPT. Then, describe the artistic attributes you want to extract from that image. These might include brush strokes, lighting, palette, composition, texture, line quality, or mood.
You can say things like:
- “In the style of image 1”
- “Apply the visual texture and lighting from the uploaded painting.”
- “Use the same color palette and brushwork as in the style reference.”
Use these phrases early in your prompt to establish the dominant influence.
Example Prompt: “Draw a mountain village at dusk in the style of Salvador Dalí, with melting shadows and surreal lighting as image 1.”
This is image 1 with the style that is to be copied.
Result image:
Advanced Tip: You can also describe the mood or emotional tone: “Apply the melancholic tone and high-contrast lighting from image 2.”
Common Style Cues to Observe:
- Color palette (pastel, high saturation, monochrome)
- Brushwork or texture (smooth gradients, oil strokes, pixel art, charcoal)
- Line work (clean outlines vs. sketchy)
- Composition (framed symmetrically, overhead views, close-ups)
Bad Prompt: “Make it like image 1.”
Better Prompt: “Use the color scheme, lighting contrast, and line style from image 1, but apply it to a sci-fi cityscape at night.”
Why It Works: You’re giving DALL·E specific visual traits to emulate rather than leaving it to guess what you mean by “like.”
This technique is extremely powerful when building series, brand visuals, or adapting moodboards into full scenes.
Chapter 14: Exploring Variations — Similar, Not Identical
What You Will Learn: How to prompt AI for a set of images that share a visual identity but aren’t repetitive.
Goal: Generate multiple original images in the same style and vibe, without duplicating the same composition or subject exactly.
The Problem:
You like an image the AI made—sort of. You want another one like it, but not a clone. Just “inspired by it.” This is a gray zone for AI models. If you’re too vague, it just copies. If you’re too specific, it locks into the same layout.
How-To:
Think like a concept artist exploring variations on a theme. Tell the AI what to keep and what to change. Emphasize style consistency while inviting compositional or subject diversity.
Prompt Formula:
“Create a new image in the same style as [the original image], with similar mood, color palette, and level of detail. Change the composition and subject slightly to feel like a different moment in the same world.”
Examples:
1) Base Prompt:
“A moody cyberpunk street at night with glowing signs, rain, and a lone figure.”
2) Variation Prompt:
“Another scene in the same cyberpunk world, same rainy atmosphere and glowing neon palette, but this time from inside a dimly lit ramen bar looking out onto the street. Keep the same visual style, but vary the composition.”
3) Another Variation:
“In the same gritty cyberpunk world, show a quiet alley behind the main street. Maintain the color tones and lighting style, but change the perspective and environment.”
Three images that maintain style consistency while differing in composition:
Image 1:
Image 2:
Image 3:
Key Phrases to Use:
- “Another image in the same style”
- “From the same world”
- “With similar colors and lighting”
- “Change the setting slightly”
- “Feels like a different moment, same atmosphere”
Tips:
- Mention what to keep (style, color, tone, vibe)
- Mention what to change (scene, angle, activity)
- Don’t just say “make it similar”—guide it by example
Avoid This:
“Make another one kind of like the last one.”
Use This Instead:
“Make a new image with the same dreamy watercolor style, pastel palette, and peaceful tone—but show a different village nestled in a mountain pass at twilight.”
Closing Thoughts
You now have the skills to turn DALL·E from a clever tool into a creative partner. These advanced strategies will help you unlock image generation with greater consistency, nuance, and purpose.
Each technique is best learned by iteration—start small, then scale. Explore themes, chain prompts, shift styles, or create entire narratives.
Your next image isn’t just a prompt away. It’s a direct result of your visual clarity and storytelling power.
Happy creating.
— Written by a prompt expert and graphic designer who believes words are the new paint.
