Use one licensed travel photograph to create 3 original poster directions while preserving provenance, viewpoint, and the landmark features that make the scene recognizable.
You will create: a source record, a visual anchor list, 3 complete prompts, a change log, and a final review checklist.
The examples below are AI artistic adaptations reviewed for this guide. They are not documentary photographs and are not proof of print quality.
1. Start with rights and attribution
The source example is Tram 28 in Rua da Conceicao (Lissabon 2016), photographed by Paul Arps on 25 March 2016 and shared under CC BY 2.0.
Credit line for the guide:
Source photograph: “Tram 28 in Rua da Conceicao (Lissabon 2016)” by Paul Arps, licensed under CC BY 2.0. AI artistic adaptations and layout changes by NEXAIUM. Changes include removal of commercial advertising, simplification of incidental people and traffic, reframing, color transformation, and illustration-style rendering.
For your own project, record the creator, work title, source URL, license URL, access date, allowed use, required credit, and every material change. A license record does not replace legal review when the intended use is unclear.
2. Define the visual anchors
The prompt may change style, color, texture, and emphasis. It should not casually replace the subject or viewpoint.
| Anchor | Preserve in this example | Review question |
|---|---|---|
| Main landmark | Yellow and cream tram in the left foreground | Is the tram still the same visual subject? |
| Viewpoint | Tram faces the camera at a slight angle | Did the model reverse or relocate it? |
| Street geometry | Rails lead down the street between tall buildings | Does the perspective still read coherently? |
| Overhead system | Dense tram wires cross the street | Were wires removed or turned into implausible structures? |
| Local context | Narrow Lisbon street, lamps, facades, and traffic | Were invented landmarks added? |
| Editable title area | Clear upper band | Can live text be added without covering the scene? |
3. Use the base template
Use this licensed photo as the visual reference. Preserve [LANDMARK FEATURES] and [VIEWPOINT]. Create a [POSTER DIRECTION] composition in [ASPECT RATIO], leaving a clear area for a title added separately.
Simplify or remove [DISTRACTIONS]. Do not add a new landmark, logo, watermark, or readable lettering. Keep the result recognizable as an artistic adaptation of the supplied scene, not a documentary recreation.
Return one finished artwork. I will compare it with the source for subject shape, viewpoint, perspective, additions, removals, crop, and text artifacts.4. Direction 1: clean city screenprint
Edit the supplied licensed Paul Arps photograph of Lisbon tram 28 into one vertical 3:4 clean city travel poster artwork, with no words. Keep the recognizable yellow and cream tram in the left foreground, facing the camera at a slight angle. Preserve the overhead wire network, steep receding street, tall buildings, and tram window silhouette.
Remove commercial advertising and simplify pedestrians and traffic into discreet shapes. Use a refined minimal screenprint direction: ivory paper, charcoal architectural contours, a mustard-yellow tram, and 2 restrained pale-cyan accents. Leave the upper 12% clear for live title text. No frame, mockup, watermark, lettering, or invented landmark.Title added separately: LISBON / CITY LINES
Observed adaptation: the tram, rails, street direction, and upper buildings remain recognizable. The visual treatment reduces color and detail into a restrained screenprint. People and vehicles are simplified, advertising is removed, and a large title area is created.
5. Direction 2: saturated geometric print
Edit the supplied licensed Lisbon tram photograph into one original vertical 3:4 graphic travel-print artwork, with no text. Preserve the yellow and cream tram in the left foreground, the same angle and viewpoint, the sloping street, tall buildings, overhead wires, and major architectural arrangement.
Remove commercial advertising and simplify people and cars without featuring individual faces. Use bold geometric shapes, cobalt and deep-cyan shadows, a warm ochre tram, off-white facades, a few vermilion accents, and subtle ink grain. Leave the upper 12% clear for live title text. No frame, mockup, watermark, letters, or invented landmark.Title added separately: LISBON / IN COLOUR
Observed adaptation: the second poster increases saturation, geometric contrast, and street motion. The tram remains the focal point, while facades and figures become simplified blocks. This is an illustration, not a colorized documentary record.
6. Direction 3: pencil and gouache journal
Edit the supplied licensed Lisbon tram photograph into one original vertical 3:4 travel-journal poster artwork, with no text. Preserve the yellow and cream tram in the left foreground, its viewpoint and window silhouette, the overhead wires, and the same long street between tall buildings.
Remove commercial advertising and simplify incidental people and vehicles. Use hand-drawn pencil and soft gouache on warm textured paper, muted blue-gray shadows, restrained torn-paper collage margins, and one blank ticket-shaped scrap at lower right. Keep one coherent scene. Leave the upper 12% clear for live title text. No duplicate tram, fake handwriting, logo, watermark, frame, or invented landmark.Title added separately: LISBON / FIELD NOTES
Observed adaptation: the third poster converts the scene into a tactile memory-page treatment. Paper edges and collage elements are new. The tram and street remain legible, while commercial details and incidental figures are simplified.
7. Keep a change record
| Version | Preserved | Changed | Removed | Added | Review status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| City Lines | Tram, viewpoint, rails, buildings, wires | Limited palette and screenprint texture | Advertising and fine crowd detail | Clear title band | Reviewed as AI adaptation |
| In Colour | Tram, street direction, architecture, wires | Geometric shapes and saturated palette | Advertising and identifiable facial detail | Strong color blocks | Reviewed as AI adaptation |
| Field Notes | Tram, viewpoint, street, wires | Pencil, gouache, paper texture | Advertising and excess traffic detail | Collage margins and blank ticket | Reviewed as AI adaptation |
8. Final review
- [ ] Source ownership or license is recorded.
- [ ] Creator, title, source, license, and changes are credited.
- [ ] The landmark and viewpoint still match the source.
- [ ] Added or removed details are documented.
- [ ] Commercial marks and unintended text are inspected.
- [ ] Poster titles are added as live text, not trusted to the image model.
- [ ] The target crop is checked after export.
- [ ] Print quality is not claimed until the final file is inspected at its intended dimensions and production settings.
- [ ] Every adaptation is labeled as AI-generated or AI-assisted where the publishing context requires it.
Continue on NEXAIUM
Before adapting another image, use The 3-Step AI Workflow to preserve your source record, review decisions, and reusable production brief.
Sources
- Wikimedia Commons source record, reviewed 8 September 2026.
- Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 deed, reviewed 8 September 2026.