Best Practices

Content policies, cost optimization, ethical guidelines, and professional workflow tips for getting the most out of DALL-E.

Content Policy

DALL-E has strict content policies enforced by OpenAI:

• No generation of real people's likenesses (celebrities, politicians, etc.)
• No violent, hateful, or explicit content
• No deceptive content (fake news imagery, misleading photos)
• All images include C2PA metadata watermarking for provenance tracking
• ChatGPT may rewrite prompts that approach policy boundaries

Cost Optimization

DALL-E 3 API Pricing:
  Standard quality, 1024x1024:  $0.040 per image
  Standard quality, 1024x1792:  $0.080 per image
  HD quality, 1024x1024:        $0.080 per image
  HD quality, 1024x1792:        $0.120 per image

DALL-E 2 API Pricing:
  1024x1024:  $0.020 per image
  512x512:    $0.018 per image
  256x256:    $0.016 per image

Cost-saving tips:
  - Use standard quality for exploration, HD for finals
  - Use DALL-E 2 for variations and edits (cheaper)
  - Use ChatGPT Plus for unlimited exploration
  - Use Bing Image Creator for free generations

Professional Workflow

1. Start in ChatGPT: Use the conversational interface to explore ideas and iterate quickly
2. Refine your prompt: Once you find a direction, craft a detailed prompt with style, lighting, and composition specifications
3. Check the revised prompt: DALL-E 3 rewrites your prompt. Read the revision to learn what additions improved the output
4. Use the "natural" style: For photorealistic work, use style="natural" in the API to get less stylized results
5. Post-process: Use image editors (Photoshop, GIMP, Canva) for final adjustments DALL-E cannot handle

Ethical Use

• Disclose AI generation: Always tell your audience when an image was created with AI, especially in commercial and editorial contexts
• Do not mislead: Never present DALL-E images as real photographs, especially for news or documentation
• Respect privacy: Do not attempt to generate images of real people, even if the model does not explicitly block it
• Commercial rights: You own the images you create with DALL-E (subject to OpenAI's terms of service). They can be used commercially.

Common Issues & Solutions

• Prompt rejected: Rephrase to be more specific and positive. Describe what you want, not what you do not want.
• Text rendering issues: Keep text short (1-5 words), put it in quotes, and specify the font style.
• Style inconsistency: Lock in a style by being very specific about medium, lighting, and aesthetic in every prompt.
• Prompt rewriting changes intent: In the API, add "I NEED to test how the tool works with extremely simple prompts. DO NOT add any detail, just use it AS-IS:" before your prompt to minimize rewriting.