ByteDance's Dreamina guides for Seedream 5.0 and 5.0 Pro give a clear order and a short list of mistakes. This sheet keeps both, quoted.
- Order: purpose → subject → style and mood → composition → must-have details → reference. That is the step list in ByteDance's 5.0 Pro guide.
- Type the exact words for any text. ByteDance: “include exact text content when generating posters, flyers, or UI designs to avoid errors”
- Up to six reference images — and say what each one is for.
- One direction per prompt. ByteDance warns against “stuffing too many styles, ideas, or conflicting instructions into one prompt”.
- 5.0 Pro (8 July 2026) can split an image into layers for editing.
Every rule on this sheet is quoted from the vendor's own published documentation, linked where it is used.
The formula
Dreamina, How to use Seedream 5.0 Pro (7 Jul 2026), read at source 16 Sep 2026. Its steps: “Define the purpose”, “Identify the main subject”, “Set the visual style and mood”, “Plan composition and layout”, “List must-have details”, “Use a reference image”.
Template:
[what the image is for] [subject, stated plainly] [one style and mood] [where things sit in the frame] [lighting, colour, texture, exact text in quotes] [+ references, each labelled with its job]
Worked example:
Poster for an open-studio day. A ceramicist centring clay; documentary realism, quiet and warm; subject left of centre with the window behind; north light, muted earth palette, visible clay texture; headline reads exactly "OPEN STUDIO — SATURDAY"
Breakdown — what each part does
Purpose
Poster, product shot, social cover. Saying what it is for shapes every choice after it.
Subject
Stated, never implied. ByteDance: “Do not leave the main subject ambiguous or inferred.”
Style & mood
ByteDance: “It's better to develop one distinct direction and fill in with supporting visual details, rather than combining too many concepts.”
Composition & layout
Where things sit in the frame — especially on posters and covers where text needs room.
Must-have details
Lighting, colours, textures, and the exact text in quotes.
References
ByteDance: “Upload up to six reference images and clearly describe what each one contributes, such as color schemes, layouts, character poses, or artistic style”
Does it take a negative prompt?
ByteDance's guidance is to describe what you want and fix one thing at a time. Its warning is about overload, which is what a long exclusion list becomes:
Dreamina, How to use Seedream 5.0 Pro, read at source 16 Sep 2026: “Avoid stuffing too many styles, ideas, or conflicting instructions into one prompt.”
One direction, exact words in quotes, and one change per round.
What not to do
ByteDance's Seedream 5.0 guide (5 Feb 2026): “Small font rendering is more accurate, character repetition is minimized, and bold font bias is reduced.” An earlier version of this sheet dated that release 10 February 2026; the guide is dated 5 February and ByteDance's Seedream 5.0 Lite post 13 February.
Seedream 5.0 edits “through partial selection and pen input tools”. 5.0 Pro, released 8 July 2026, adds more: ByteDance lists “point selection, lasso selection, sketch rendering, color and material replacement, layer separation, and multi-image fusion”. An earlier version of this sheet said editing works "rather than layers", which is wrong for 5.0 Pro.
Free or paid? What the free plan allows, who owns the output, and when you need to pay: free vs paid AI image, video and music tools.
Where this model sits among the others: which models take a negative prompt, and what each vendor publishes as its formula.
Keeping one face across a set is on character consistency.
The checklist
Before you send it:
Dreamina, How to use Seedream 5.0 Pro · Dreamina, How to use Seedream 5.0 · ByteDance Seed, Introducing Seedream 5.0 Pro · ByteDance Seed, Introducing Seedream 5.0 Lite All read at source on 16 Sep 2026.
Model versions and vendor documentation both move. Re-read the source before relying on a specific number.
Every other sheet in this set: all model cheat sheets.