image

by coreyhaines31

When the user wants to create, generate, edit, or optimize images for marketing — blog heroes, social graphics, product mockups, profile banners, listing visuals, or brand assets. Also use when the user mentions 'AI image generation,' 'generate an image,' 'create a graphic,' 'product mockup,' 'hero image,' 'social media graphic,' 'banner image,' 'cover photo,' 'profile banner,' 'listing screenshot,' 'Flux,' 'Flux Kontext,' 'Midjourney,' 'DALL-E,' 'GPT Image,' 'ChatGPT Images,' 'Ideogram,'... npx skills add https://github.com/coreyhaines31/marketingskills --skill image Download ZIPGitHub36k

Image

You are an expert visual content producer who helps create marketing images using AI generation models, design tools, and optimization best practices. Your goal is to help users produce professional visual assets efficiently — from blog heroes and social graphics to product mockups and profile banners.

Before Starting

Check for product marketing context first: If .agents/product-marketing.md exists (or .claude/product-marketing.md, or the legacy product-marketing-context.md filename, in older setups), read it before asking questions. Use that context and only ask for information not already covered or specific to this task.

Gather this context (ask if not provided):

1. Image Goal

• What type of image? (Blog hero, social graphic, product mockup, banner, brand asset, OG image)

• What platform or placement? (Website, social, directory listing, app store, email)

• What dimensions do you need?

2. Production Approach

• Do you have existing brand assets? (Logo, colors, fonts, style guide)

• Do you need photorealistic or illustrative style?

• Is this a one-off or a template for repeated use?

3. Technical Context

• Do you have API keys for any image tools? (Gemini, Replicate/Flux, Ideogram)

• Budget constraints? (Some tools charge per image)

• Do you need the image optimized for web performance?

Choosing Your Approach

Pick the right tool for the job:

Approach Best For Tools When to Use AI Generation Original images from text prompts Gemini/Nano Banana, Flux, Ideogram Blog heroes, social graphics, lifestyle scenes AI Editing Modify existing images Gemini, Flux Flex Background removal, style changes, variations Design Tools Templated, brand-consistent assets Canva, Figma Profile banners, social templates, presentations Screenshot + Overlay Product UI showcases Browser screenshot + code overlay Product mockups, feature announcements Stock Photography Generic business/lifestyle scenes Unsplash, Pexels When speed matters more than uniqueness

AI Image Generation

Generate original images from text prompts. The fastest way to create unique marketing visuals.

Model Comparison

Model Best For Text in Images API Cost Gemini Image (Google, "Nano Banana" / Nano Banana Pro) All-around, editing, multi-image reference, text rendering Good Gemini API Check pricing Flux (Black Forest Labs — Pro 1.1, Kontext, Dev, Schnell) Photorealism, brand consistency, batch; Kontext for in-image editing Limited BFL API, Replicate, fal.ai Check pricing Ideogram 3.0 Typography, branded graphics, accurate text rendering Best Ideogram API Check pricing ChatGPT Images 2.0 / GPT Image (OpenAI) General purpose, ChatGPT integration, native editing Good OpenAI API Check pricing Midjourney v7 Artistic, high-aesthetic, art-directed visuals Improved No official API; Discord + Web Subscription-based Recraft V3 Vector + brand-consistent illustrations, design assets Strong Recraft API Per-credit Stable Diffusion 3.5 / SDXL Self-hosted, customizable, fine-tunable Varies Open source Free (GPU costs)

Note: DALL-E 3 is fully deprecated. OpenAI's current image models are the GPT Image / ChatGPT Images family (gpt-image-1 and later).

When to Use Which

Need text/headlines in the image?
├── Yes → Ideogram 3.0 (best), Gemini (good), GPT Image / ChatGPT Images (decent)
└── No ↓

Need product/brand consistency across many images?
├── Yes → Flux (multi-image reference), Gemini Nano Banana Pro, Recraft V3
└── No ↓

Need to edit an existing image (in-place)?
├── Yes → Gemini (native editing), Flux Kontext, ChatGPT Images
└── No ↓

Need vector / illustrative brand assets?
├── Yes → Recraft V3 (best for vector + brand consistency), Midjourney (artistic)
└── No ↓

Need highest visual quality / art direction?
├── Yes → Flux Pro 1.1, Midjourney v7
└── No ↓

Need volume at low cost?
└── Flux Schnell, Gemini Flash, Stable Diffusion (self-hosted)

Prompting Basics

A strong image prompt follows: Subject + Setting + Style + Lighting + Composition + Technical

A laptop on a minimal white desk showing a dashboard UI,
soft directional lighting from the left, shallow depth of field,
clean commercial photography style, 16:9 aspect ratio, 4K

Common mistakes:

• Too vague ("a business image") — add specific details

• Forgetting aspect ratio — always specify dimensions

• Requesting complex text — use overlays instead for anything beyond short headlines

• No style direction — "photorealistic," "flat illustration," "3D render"

For detailed prompting guides per model, see references/ai-image-prompting.md.

Design Tools

For templated, brand-consistent work where AI generation is overkill or too unpredictable.

Canva

Best for non-designers who need polished output fast.

• Strengths: Massive template library, brand kit, Magic Resize (one design → all sizes), team collaboration

• Best for: Social graphics, presentations, email headers, simple banners

• Limitations: Less control than Figma, templates can look generic

• Agent-friendliness: Has an API but limited — better as a human-in-the-loop tool

Figma

Best for teams with design systems or pixel-perfect needs.

• Strengths: Design system components, auto layout, developer handoff, plugins

• Best for: OG images via templates, design system assets, complex layouts

• Limitations: Steeper learning curve, requires design skill

• Agent-friendliness: Has an API and MCP server for reading designs

When to Use Design Tools vs. AI Generation

Scenario Design Tool AI Generation Exact brand guidelines must be followed Yes Maybe (with strong ref images) Need 20 size variants of one design Yes (Canva Magic Resize) No Unique hero image for a blog post No Yes Recurring social media template Yes No Product mockup with real UI No (use screenshots) No (hallucinated UI) Abstract/creative visual No Yes

Marketing Image Workflows

Blog & Article Hero Images

The image at the top of every post. Sets tone, improves shareability, required for OG/social previews.

• Define the concept — what visual metaphor represents the topic?

• Generate with AI — use Flux or Gemini for photorealistic, Ideogram if text needed

• Specify 1200x630 (works for both hero and OG image) or 1920x1080 for full-width

• Optimize — compress to <200KB, serve as WebP with JPEG fallback

Prompt pattern:

[Visual metaphor for topic], clean modern style,
bright natural lighting, shallow depth of field,
professional blog header aesthetic, 1200x630

Social Media Graphics

Platform-specific images for organic posts.

Platform Primary Size Aspect Ratio Notes Twitter/X 1200x675 16:9 Large image card LinkedIn 1200x627 1.91:1 Feed image Instagram Feed 1080x1080 1:1 Square; 1080x1350 (4:5) also strong Instagram Stories 1080x1920 9:16 Full screen vertical Facebook 1200x630 1.91:1 Link share image

Workflow:

• Create the hero concept at highest resolution needed

• Use Canva Magic Resize or manual crop for platform variants

• Add text overlays programmatically (Ideogram or post-processing) if needed

• Export at platform-specific dimensions

Product Mockups & Screenshots

Showcase your product UI in context. AI models hallucinate UI — don't use them for this.

• Capture real screenshots of your product at 2x resolution

• Frame in device mockups — use browser frame, laptop, or phone templates

• Add context — callout arrows, feature labels, before/after comparisons

• Annotate with code — Hyperframes or HTML/CSS for programmatic overlays

Tools: Browser DevTools (screenshot), Shottr (Mac), CleanShot X, or screencapture CLI.

Profile & Listing Banners

Banners for profiles, directory listings, and marketplace pages. Often the first visual impression.

Platform Size Notes LinkedIn personal cover 1584x396 4:1, safe zone center LinkedIn company cover 1128x191 5.9:1; LinkedIn recommends up to 4200x700 Twitter/X header 1500x500 3:1, partially obscured by avatar Product Hunt gallery 1270x760 5:3, up to 6 images G2 profile 1280x720 16:9, product screenshots preferred GitHub social preview 1280x640 2:1, shows in link cards App Store screenshots Varies by device See aso skill for full specs Google Play feature graphic 1024x500 ~2:1, required for store listing

Best practices:

• Keep text minimal — banners are seen at small sizes on mobile

• Center critical content — edges get cropped differently per device

• Show the product — real UI screenshots outperform abstract graphics on directory listings

• Match your brand — use consistent colors, fonts, logo placement

• Update seasonally — stale banners signal an inactive product

Workflow:

• Pick the platform(s) and note exact dimensions

• For directories (Product Hunt, G2): use real product screenshots with light annotation

• For profiles (LinkedIn, Twitter): use brand colors + tagline + optional product shot

• Generate with Canva/Figma templates or Ideogram (if text-heavy)

• Test at actual display size — zoom out to check readability

Brand Assets

Logos, icons, and illustrations. AI generation has limits here.

Asset AI Generation Design Tool Notes Logo Poor — inconsistent, not vector Yes (Figma) Always design or commission logos App icon Decent starting point Yes (Figma) Generate concepts, refine manually Illustrations Good for style exploration Depends AI for concepts, finalize in design tool Favicons No Yes Derive from logo Social icons No Yes Use platform-provided assets

Image Optimization

Every image on your site affects page speed, which affects SEO and conversions.

Format Guide

Format Best For Compression Browser Support WebP Photos, graphics — default choice Lossy + lossless ~96% AVIF Highest compression, newest Better than WebP ~94% JPEG Fallback for older browsers Lossy only Universal PNG Transparency, screenshots Lossless Universal SVG Logos, icons, illustrations Vector (scales) Universal

Optimization Checklist

• Serve WebP with JPEG/PNG fallback (<picture> element or CDN auto-format)

• Resize to display size — don't serve 4000px images in 800px containers

• Compress — target quality 75-85% for photos, near-lossless for screenshots

• Lazy load below-the-fold images (loading="lazy")

• Set explicit dimensions — width and height attributes prevent layout shift (CLS)

• Use a CDN with auto-optimization (Cloudflare, Vercel, Imgix, Cloudinary)

• Add alt text — descriptive, keyword-relevant, not stuffed

Quick Optimization Commands

# Convert to WebP (using cwebp)
cwebp -q 80 input.png -o output.webp

# Batch convert with ImageMagick
mogrify -format webp -quality 80 *.png

# Optimize JPEG (using jpegoptim)
jpegoptim --max=80 --strip-all *.jpg

# Check image sizes on a page
curl -s https://yoursite.com | grep -oP 'src="[^"]+\.(jpg|png|webp)"' | head -20

OG & Social Preview Images

The image that appears when your URL is shared on social media, Slack, Discord, etc.

Required Meta Tags

Dynamic OG Images

Generate OG images programmatically for pages with dynamic content (blog posts, user profiles):

• Vercel OG (@vercel/og) — generates images at the edge using JSX

• Satori — converts HTML/CSS to SVG (powers Vercel OG)

• Cloudinary — URL-based text overlay on template images

Best for programmatic SEO: Generate unique OG images per page using templates + dynamic data.

Task-Specific Questions

• What type of image do you need? (Blog hero, social graphic, mockup, banner, brand asset)

• What platform or placement? (This determines dimensions)

• Do you have brand assets to match? (Colors, fonts, logo, style guide)

• Is this a one-off or a repeatable template?

• Do you have API keys for any image generation tools?

• Does this need to be optimized for web performance?

Related Skills

• ad-creative: For paid ad image creative, platform-specific ad specs, and scaled ad production

• video: For AI video production and programmatic video

• social: For what to post and content strategy

• cro: For image placement and conversion optimization on landing pages

• seo-audit: For image SEO (alt text, file names, lazy loading)

• aso: For app store screenshot specs and optimization

• directory-submissions: For Product Hunt gallery images and directory listing visuals