FIELD NOTE
A responsible guide to AI portrait references
Practical boundaries for consent, copyright, disclosure, and respectful use when a prompt transforms a real person's image.
Start with permission
Use a reference you own or a person who has agreed to the transformation. Permission should cover the intended context: a private mood board, a public post, a commercial campaign, or a product. A casual message may not cover every use. Keep a simple record of what was agreed and where the image can appear.
If you do not have permission, choose a fictional subject, a public-domain source with suitable rights, or a self-portrait. The prompt library cannot transfer rights in a photograph or a person's likeness.
Respect the original image
A reference photograph may contain a photographer's copyright, a model release, visible artwork, or a trademarked setting. Transforming it with a prompt does not erase those rights. Avoid copying distinctive logos, editorial layouts, or a living artist's signature style when the result could imply authorship or endorsement.
Use generic props and ask for no readable branding when a mark is not essential to the story. If a source image is licensed, follow its credit and commercial-use requirements.
Disclose a generated result
A viewer should not mistake an invented 1980s frame for documentary evidence. Label public work as AI-generated or AI-assisted when the context could confuse people. Do not attach a fabricated date, location, event, or quote to the image. A short caption such as “AI-assisted 1980s-style portrait based on an authorized reference” is clear and proportionate.
Disclosure is especially important for public figures, sensitive events, political topics, and any image that could affect a person's reputation. Keep the caption near the image so it is not lost when the image is shared.
Avoid harmful transformations
Do not use identity controls to create intimate, sexual, humiliating, criminal, or deceptive scenes involving a real person. Do not target children with adult or exploitative transformations. If a request would harm someone or misrepresent their actions, stop and choose a fictional subject instead.
The decade is not a license to stereotype. Clothing, hair, and setting can evoke a period without assigning a person's identity, health, religion, sexuality, or social status.
Keep a safe workflow
Store only the references and outputs you need. Remove private originals from shared folders and avoid including names, addresses, school details, or other personal information in a prompt. The prompt composer on this site runs in the browser; check the external model's upload and retention policy before sending a reference there.
For a team project, decide who can access the reference, who approves publication, and how a removal request will be handled. A small written checklist prevents an exciting experiment from becoming an avoidable privacy problem.
Choose honesty over realism
The strongest creative work can be realistic while remaining honest about how it was made. Use the library's period details to build atmosphere, then preserve the subject's dignity and tell viewers what they are seeing. If a person withdraws permission, remove the work where you control it and contact any platform hosting the copy.
These guidelines are practical information, not legal advice. Laws differ by location and use; seek qualified advice for a commercial campaign or a sensitive publication.
Ready to try a prompt? Browse the archive or send a correction for this guide.