Ad Images

Make ad images from real finished work, with large text that names the service and reads on a phone. No stock photos, fake people, or fake damage.

For contractors and agency owners10 principles6 playbook steps

Many people look at the image and never read the copy. The image has to show the right trade and say what is on offer in one glance. Real photos of real work do that better than anything an image generator invents.

Every job also follows the 12 ground rules.

How to use this page: read the principles, or copy the starter prompt into ChatGPT or Claude. Other ways

Principles

Use the business's real photos of finished work first.
Why
Real photos show a real company. Homeowners can tell a stock photo, and stock makes the ad look like every other ad.
How to apply
Collect finished-work photos from the business's website and Google Business Profile. Put two or three plain real photos with no text in every ad set.
GoodA phone photo of a finished roof on a real customer's house, with no text on it.
BadA stock photo of a smiling worker in a spotless hard hat.
Show the real job the ad names, with that job's price.
Why
A photo of the exact job proves the job happened. A stock, generated, or staged photo next to a real price makes the price look made up too.
How to apply
Use real before and after photos or finished photos of that exact job, taken by the business, with the homeowner's permission. Put the work and that job's price on the image, where $X in these examples stands for that job's real price. Use only real jobs with real photos and real prices. Never invent a job, a photo, or a price, never round a price down to look better, and never pass off stock, generated, staged, or another company's photos as the job.
GoodA before and after of the same house, with the words New siding on this ranch in [town], $X, on a dark band across the bottom.
BadA generated picture of a spotless bathroom with the words This bath remodel cost $X. The bathroom does not exist, so the price means nothing.
Put text on the image that names the service and the offer.
Why
Text that names the service tells a scrolling homeowner in one glance whether the ad is for them.
How to apply
Write who it is for, what they get, and the next step in a few words. Leave the rest to the copy.
GoodYour new roof price range, texted to you. Answer a few questions.
BadTransform your home today.
Make the on-image text easy to read on a phone.
Why
Most people see the ad on a small screen. Small or faint text there is the same as no text.
How to apply
Use large type and strong contrast. Put a solid band behind the text when the photo is busy. Look at every image at phone size before you send it.
GoodWhite text on a dark band across the bottom third, readable at arm's length.
BadThin grey letters over a busy photo of a roof.
Never show fake people or fake damage.
Why
A made-up owner, crew, or storm damage is a lie the homeowner can catch. Meta also rejects ads it finds misleading.
How to apply
Show a person only in a real photo, with their permission. Run a storm offer only after a real storm hit the service area. Use a news-style graphic or a grid of real photos instead of invented hail dents.
GoodA grid of four real photos of roofs the business replaced after last year's storm.
BadAn image generator's picture of a smiling owner who does not exist, next to a roof with invented hail holes.
Match the image to the offer and the trade.
Why
A roofing offer with a picture of a kitchen confuses people, and confused people scroll on.
How to apply
A roof campaign shows roofs. Show what the homeowner gets. If the offer is a price range sent by text, show a phone with a price range on it.
GoodA window price report offer shows a phone with a price range on screen.
BadThe same window offer shows a tape measure, which suggests someone will come out to measure.
Show homes that look like the buyer can afford the work.
Why
People picture their own house in the ad. A run-down house tells them the ad is for someone else.
How to apply
Pick tidy, ordinary homes in good shape. A worried homeowner is fine. A falling-down house is not.
GoodA tidy two-story home with a new roof and a trimmed lawn.
BadA sagging porch with a blue tarp on the roof.
Leave the business name and logo off the image.
Why
Meta already shows the Page name and picture above every ad. Repeating them takes space the offer needs.
How to apply
Use the space for the offer. Never invent a logo for a business.
GoodThe image shows the finished bathroom and the starting price of a bath remodel in large type.
BadHalf the image is a logo, and the offer is in small type in a corner.
Make each new image a new idea.
Why
A new crop or new colours on the same picture tests nothing. Meta also treats ads that look alike as one ad, so they compete for the same people.
How to apply
Change the subject, the angle, or the reason the ad should win. Mix images that look like a phone photo with images that look polished.
GoodOne real photo, one text-only image, one before and after, and one phone showing a price range, all in one batch.
BadFour copies of the same roof photo with different colour filters.
Check every image at full size before anyone sees it.
Why
Image generators bend straight lines, misspell words, and add things that were never asked for. One flaw makes the whole ad look fake.
How to apply
Open each image at full size. Check the spelling, straight lines, the right trade, and anything that looks fake. Make it again if anything is off.
GoodThe reviewer sees wavy shingle rows at full size and makes the image again before the approval step.
BadThe image goes to the client at thumbnail size, and the client finds the misspelled word.

Agent playbook

Steps an AI agent can run in order. Each step names what it needs and what it hands to the next step.

Read the offer sheet.
Inputs
The offer sheet.
Output
The offer, the trade, and the allowed phrases for on-image text.
Collect real photos.
Inputs
The business's website and Google Business Profile.
Output
A folder of finished-work photos, best first, with stock and decorative photos left out. Photos of each real job the ads may show sit in their own folder with that job's cost and the homeowner's permission.
Plan the batch.
Inputs
The offer and the photo folder.
Output
A list of six to ten images. For each: real photo or new idea, phone-style or polished, and the on-image text.
Make the images.
Inputs
The plan, the photos, and your image generator.
Output
Images at 4:5 for single image ads and 1:1 for carousel cards. Leave the platform's name out of every image prompt, because generators paint its logo into the picture.
Check each image at full size.
Inputs
The images.
Output
Pass or fail for each image, with the reason. Every failed image is made again.
Pair each image with its copy.
Inputs
The passing images and the ad copy.
Output
Finished ads, each one image with the exact copy that will run beside it, ready for the approval step.

Final output

Six to ten images at 4:5
Two or three plain real photos with no text
The on-image text for each image
The copy each image is paired with
One line on why each image might win

Starter prompt

Read https://byminyona.com/brain/playbook.md first and follow its Ad Images rules and its ground rules. Plan 8 Meta ad images for a <service> offer in <city>. Use my real photos in <photo folder> first, and write the on-image text for each. A recent real job to show is <house type and size, town, exact work, what that job cost, and the folder with its photos, or none>.

If your AI cannot open links, paste this page's principles into the chat with the prompt. You can also paste the whole playbook or download AGENTS.md.

Next job: Video Ads

Principles

Agent playbook

Final output

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