Three people ask for “a graphic.”
One needs something on a wall. One needs something to hand a stranger. One needs a strip above a stall. If you give them the same file, two of them will come back.
/poster, /flyer, and /banner look related because they all end as designed sheets. They fail in different rooms. The picture at the top is a poster — the wall job — because that is the sheet you hang, not the flyer you hand out.
Name the surface before you name the vibe.
The wall: /poster
A poster is loud on purpose. It has to read from across a room. The visual can carry the night. The words cannot be final — event names slip, partners get added, legal cuts a line.
Design a bold night-market campaign visual with indigo paper texture, coral light trails, food-stall silhouettes, and a reserved cream copy field.
That empty field is why this is a poster and not a picture of a poster. You will write the real line in the Design Editor. If the model invents letters, you got atmosphere with a lie on it.
A classroom sheet, a campaign key visual, a conference wall — same command. One sheet. Reserved type.
The handout: /flyer
A flyer has to survive a pocket. It owes people a date, a place, a price, a “come at 6.” Those facts already exist. They are not adjectives.
Design a bakery grand-opening flyer with loaves on linen, morning window light, and a large empty cream rectangle reserved for later facts. No readable text, prices, dates, or logos.
If you forget the empty field, the model will kindly invent an opening:
That is the expensive version of Wednesday. You cannot change “SARE F OPENING” into Saturday at 9. You can only generate again.
Use /flyer when the facts are real and must stay native. Do not ask it to invent an open-house time or a sale price. Bring the facts. Leave the field.
The stall: /banner
A banner is not a poster that went on a diet. It is a wide, quiet header: a stall, a profile, a booking bar. People see it while they walk past, not while they stop and study.
Design a summer makers-market banner with outdoor stalls, plants, and ceramics, plus a long empty cream strip reserved for later words. No readable text or logos.
Crop a 4:5 poster into 16:9 and you will cut the field that made it useful. The stalls remain. The place for the name does not.
The Friday mix-up
Someone says “just make it more graphic.” You run /image. You get a beautiful still of bread, or a night market with no place to write. Then you try to typeset on top of a photograph in a hurry. That is how headlines die at 4 p.m.
/image is a landing. /poster is a wall. /flyer is a handout. /banner is a header. /thumbnail is a tiny cover for a video — a different article, because a thumbnail is not a poster.
Ask this before you type:
Where does this live?
- Across a room →
/poster - In someone’s hand →
/flyer - Over a stall or profile →
/banner
Can the words still move?
If yes, reserve the field. If the model fills it, you do not have the job. You have a picture of the job.
A restaurant special and an open house use the same split. The dish hero is /image. The weekly-special sheet on the door is /poster or /flyer, depending on whether people stop or walk by. The listing photo is /image. The open-house handout is /flyer from verified facts — never from invented amenities. That last rule is why Promptha will not write the address for you.
The rest of the language is in What AskGL is. The week those three sit inside is the command list. Monday’s shoe is still /image. A tiny video cover is a thumbnail, not a poster.
Then open Ask and name the surface.
Frequently asked questions
Can I crop a poster into a banner?
You can crop the picture. You will lose the job. A banner is a wide reserved field, not a poster turned sideways.
Where do I write the date and price?
In the Design Editor, on the reserved field. Do not ask /flyer to invent opening times or prices.
Why did my flyer come back with fake letters?
The model filled the field. That is a raster of a flyer. Keep facts native so they can still change.
