How to Make Graphic Designs with AI: The Essentials
A free guide for business owners and beginners: the workflow, the prompt formula and ten prompts to start with
AI image tools can now help anyone make clean flyers, social posts and product photos. But most first attempts come out with spelling mistakes, strange hands and a look that screams "AI". This free guide gives you the essentials: what AI is good and bad at, the workflow professionals use, a simple prompt formula and ten prompts you can use today. The full guide is Create Professional Business Designs With AI.
1. What AI is good at, and what it isn't
| Good at | Unreliable at |
|---|---|
| Backgrounds and scenes | Exact text, prices and phone numbers |
| Lighting and mood | Your exact logo |
| Textures and patterns | Your exact product (shape, label, colour) |
| Illustrations and icons | Hands, fingers and specific faces |
| Many ideas, fast | Exact counts and layouts |
2. The hybrid workflow
- AI makes the picture: background, scene or illustration, with empty space left for text.
- You make the design: add headline, price, logo and contact details in a free editor such as Canva or Adobe Express.
- You check everything: spelling, numbers and that your product looks real.
3. The seven-part prompt formula
Write prompts in this order: format, subject, setting, composition, style, colour and light, constraints.
A square Instagram post background. A tray of golden puff-puff on a wooden
table in a bright Nigerian kitchen. The tray sits in the lower third, with
empty space at the top for a headline. Professional food photography, warm
and appetising. Warm orange and cream tones, soft morning window light.
No text, no logos, no people, no extra objects.
4. Leave space for text
Always tell the AI where your words will go: "empty space at the top third for a headline", "plain area on the left half". Then end the prompt with "No text, no letters, no logos." Add every word yourself.
5. Ten prompts to start with
Replace anything in {{braces}}.
1. New product post
A 4:5 social media image of {{product}} on a simple pedestal, soft studio
light, clean {{colour}} background, empty space at the top for a headline.
No text, no logos.
2. Sale background
A bold 4:5 promotional background with dynamic diagonal shapes in
{{colour 1}} and {{colour 2}}, large clean centre for a headline. No text.
3. Event flyer background
A vertical poster background for a {{event}}, with {{decor}} framing the
top and sides and a large clean centre for details. Elegant. No text.
4. Food hero shot
A 4:5 professional food photo of {{dish}} on a dark wooden table, steam
rising, warm side light, top third dark and plain for text. No text.
5. Empty product scene
An empty white marble counter in front of a softly blurred bright kitchen,
morning light, clear surface for placing a real product. No objects, no
text.
6. Price list background
A vertical elegant background with a soft {{colour}} paper texture, a
subtle decorative border and a large plain centre for a price list.
No text.
7. WhatsApp status
A vertical 9:16 image of {{product}} in the lower third with a tall clean
{{colour}} background above it for text. Soft natural light. No text.
8. Brand pattern
A seamless pattern of simple {{motifs}} in {{colour 1}} on {{colour 2}},
flat vector, evenly spaced. No text.
9. Logo ideas
A simple flat vector logo symbol for a {{business type}} combining
{{idea 1}} and {{idea 2}}, works in one colour, {{colour}} on white.
No text.
10. Fix a result (chat assistant)
Same image, but simpler: remove half the objects, move the {{subject}} into
the lower third and make the top third a plain {{colour}} area.
6. The two-minute check before you post
- Main subject obvious at phone size.
- Zoom in: no strange hands, faces or melted objects.
- No accidental letters or fake logos in the background.
- Spelling, prices and phone numbers checked twice.
- Your product looks exactly like the real thing.
7. Stay honest and stay safe
- Show your real product. AI may change the background, never the product.
- Never use real people's faces without permission, never copy other brands' logos, and never invent reviews or results.
- Read your AI tool's terms for commercial use before using images in ads or for clients.
8. Your first week
| Day | Task |
|---|---|
| 1 | Pick one AI tool and one editor; generate five test backgrounds |
| 2 | Choose three brand colours and two fonts |
| 3 | Make a new product post with prompt 1 |
| 4 | Make a sale or event design with prompt 2 or 3 |
| 5 | Photograph a real product and place it in scene 5 |
| 6 | Make a WhatsApp status and a price list |
| 7 | Put all your designs side by side: do they look like one brand? |
Go further: Create Professional Business Designs With AI
Create Professional Business Designs With AI is the complete guide (a designed ebook):
- 19 chapters, from design basics and the prompt formula to brand style blocks;
- 243 copy-ready prompts, including social posts, flyers, product photos, mockups, logos, print, thumbnails and banners;
- six industry prompt packs: food, fashion, beauty, real estate, churches and events, and services;
- photo edit prompts, 20 repair prompts and a troubleshooting table;
- print sizes, copyright and honesty rules, a client process, and a 14-day practice plan.
This free guide may be shared in full with credit to Scale Studios. All examples are illustrative.
Create Professional Business Designs With AI
Make flyers, social posts, product photos and brand graphics with AI: 240+ ready prompts.
See the full guide