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Your photo, reimagined as a colored-pencil scrapbook

Give an everyday photo the feel of a handmade scrapbook page. This prompt asks ChatGPT to redraw the whole scene in colored pencil while keeping the people, outfits, props, and setting recognizable.

The look
Visible pencil strokesWarm paper texturePlayful doodles
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By AI Tip Club · Updated

These are AI-generated examples. Results can vary with the input photo, model and settings; the prompt does not guarantee an identical result.

How to use it

  1. Open ChatGPT.
  2. Upload one photo you want to transform.
  3. Copy the prompt below, paste it into the chat, and send.

The prompt

PROMPT · EN
Transform the uploaded photo into a charming handmade colored-pencil doodle illustration on warm white textured drawing paper. IMPORTANT: Use the uploaded photo as the single source of truth. Preserve the main subject’s recognizable identity, exact number of people, hairstyle, hair color, facial impression, expression, pose, body position, outfit, outfit colors and patterns, accessories, important props, camera angle, framing, and overall composition. Preserve the original location and important background elements so the final illustration is clearly recognizable as the same photo. Redraw the ENTIRE main image as a real hand-drawn colored-pencil illustration. Nothing in the main scene should remain photorealistic. STYLE: Create a cute, slightly naive, imperfect colored-pencil drawing that feels genuinely handmade, like a lovingly decorated personal diary, childhood drawing, scrapbook, or Pinterest-style doodle page. Use visible colored-pencil strokes, slightly rough sketch lines, overlapping pencil marks, uneven pressure, subtle gaps in coloring, imperfect edges, soft cross-hatching, and visible paper grain. Colors should feel bright, soft, warm, and cheerful, but never digitally smooth or airbrushed. Do NOT make the artwork look like a polished AI illustration, professional digital painting, anime, webtoon, vector art, sticker art, or 3D render. The charm should come from its handmade imperfections. FACE: Keep the person recognizable, but simplify the facial features into an adorable colored-pencil character style. Use small simple eyes, a minimal nose and mouth, soft round rosy cheeks, and a sweet natural expression. Keep the original hairstyle and overall facial impression recognizable. Avoid large glossy anime eyes, exaggerated eyelashes, doll-like facial proportions, hyper-realistic facial rendering, or overly polished beauty illustration. BODY AND CLOTHING: Keep the original pose, body direction, hand placement, clothing silhouette, colors, patterns, accessories, and important personal details as faithfully as possible. Maintain natural human proportions. Do not redesign the outfit or replace it with different clothing. BACKGROUND: Keep the original environment recognizable, including important furniture, landscape, architecture, plants, food, objects, and scenery, but simplify minor details naturally into the same handmade colored-pencil style. Do not replace the original background with a generic scene. DOODLE DECORATIONS: Decorate the empty outer areas and margins with playful hand-drawn colored-pencil doodles that match the ACTUAL subject, location, season, activity, and mood of the uploaded photo. Automatically choose relevant doodles instead of repeating the same decorations for every image. Examples: - travel or outdoor photo → sun, clouds, flowers, tiny stars, butterflies, leaves, mountains, travel-inspired doodles - cafe or dessert photo → cake, coffee cup, cherries, strawberries, candy, bows, hearts, sparkles - home or self-care photo → stars, hearts, clouds, slippers, cozy motifs, flowers, bows - picnic photo → flowers, fruit, basket motifs, butterflies, sunshine, grass-inspired doodles - fashion or mirror selfie → bows, hearts, stars, flowers, tiny accessories, playful swirls - beach or vacation photo → shells, sunshine, waves, flowers, clouds, tropical-inspired doodles - pet photo → paw prints, hearts, toys, bones or treats appropriate to the pet Mix several different doodles naturally. Use playful colors such as pink, yellow, sky blue, lavender, mint, peach, and soft green. Make the doodles different sizes and slightly irregular, as if someone casually drew them by hand around the photograph. Keep the arrangement lively and visually balanced, but leave enough breathing room. Never cover the subject’s face, body, hands, or important objects. POLAROID: Add ONE small polaroid-style inset containing the original uploaded photograph in an available corner of the composition. The polaroid should be slightly tilted and look casually pasted onto the scrapbook page. Keep it relatively small so the colored-pencil artwork remains the clear main focus. The image inside the polaroid must remain photographic and closely match the original uploaded photo. The people visible inside this small polaroid are only a reproduction of the original reference photo and must NOT cause additional people to appear in the main colored-pencil illustration. COMPOSITION: Keep the main subject prominent and easy to see. Preserve the original crop and overall aspect ratio as much as possible. Do not unnecessarily crop the head, hands, feet, important props, or clothing. Keep the composition clean, charming, balanced, and visually engaging enough for an Instagram or Pinterest carousel. FINAL LOOK: A cute handmade colored-pencil scrapbook illustration with warm white paper texture, recognizable original subject and scene, simple rosy-cheeked character features, visible imperfect pencil strokes, colorful contextual doodles, and one small original-photo polaroid inset. It should feel personal, nostalgic, playful, cozy, and genuinely hand-drawn rather than digitally generated. STRICTLY AVOID: extra people in the main illustration, duplicated main subjects, changed gender, changed hairstyle, changed outfit, completely different pose, incorrect props, extra arms, extra legs, extra fingers, missing fingers, malformed hands, distorted anatomy, merged limbs, asymmetrical eyes, distorted face, unrecognizable identity, large glossy anime eyes, exaggerated anime features, hyper-detailed realistic face, overly polished line art, smooth airbrushed shading, plastic skin, photorealistic main scene, 3D render, anime, manga, webtoon, vector art, flat clipart, sticker style, watercolor, oil painting, marker illustration, thick black outlines, identical repeated doodles, perfectly symmetrical decorations, overcrowded doodles, messy composition, dark or muddy colors, random text, captions, usernames, signatures, logos, watermarks, borders, frames, multiple polaroids, collages, split screens, or additional photo inserts.

Paste it in English exactly as written. It works best that way, even if you chat in another language.

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Results

Press and hold a photo to see the originalHover a photo to see the original

AFTER: Turn a Photo into a Colored-Pencil ScrapbookBEFOREAFTER
AFTER: Turn a Photo into a Colored-Pencil ScrapbookBEFOREAFTER
AFTER: Turn a Photo into a Colored-Pencil ScrapbookBEFOREAFTER
AFTER: Turn a Photo into a Colored-Pencil ScrapbookBEFOREAFTER
Up nextCreate a Character Reference Sheet from One PhotoNext prompt →

Tips for the best result

  • Choose a clear photo where the main subject is easy to see.
  • Keep some surroundings in the frame; outfits, props, and scenery help shape the page.
  • Try a travel snapshot, café moment, picnic, outfit photo, or pet portrait.
  • Check faces, hands, and small details afterward. Results vary by photo and AI model.

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