The Death of Stock Photos (and What You Should Use Instead)

Hi, and welcome to The Atomic Builder - where product managers, founders, and non-technical creators learn to build software and products in the AI era.

This is Part 2 of our 3-part series on visual creation in the AI era.

👉 Missed Part 1? We explored how you can generate mockups, dashboards, and product visuals inside ChatGPT.

Today? We’re going after something way bigger: stock photos.

THEY. ARE. DONE. You’re not going to settle anymore.

Next week? We’ll wrap the trilogy with how to build a visual brand - powered by prompts, not a creative agency.

Let’s get into it.

🪦 Stock Photos Are…Soooo Over

Let’s be honest - stock libraries were fine, until they weren’t.

Too stiff. Too staged. Too many teams staring intently at a whiteboard... You know the image I’m talking about…And somehow the people in them are always just a bit too excited about that graph.

And don’t get me started on the fake dashboards. You know the ones.

But now, with ChatGPT’s new and improved built-in image generation, you can generate custom, high-quality visuals that fit your product, your vibe, and your message, in seconds.

As I said in issue 1 of this series, this stuff is still not perfect, but it’s an upgrade of epic proportions, relative to what we had before, so worth exploring…

📸 Visual Showdown: Stock VS Prompt

Let’s say you need a visual, for a pitch deck, a landing page, or a product launch.

Until now, that meant trawling stock photo sites, trying to find something kind of close to your vision. Most of the time? You settle. So did I.

But with prompt-based image generation, you’re not looking for almost right.

You’re building exactly what you need - from scratch.

Here’s what that looks like when you solve the same creative brief with stock vs prompt:

🧨 Showdown 1: Campaign Image for a Product Launch

The Brief: You need a powerful visual to launch a new AI productivity app. Something bold and eye-catching and unique.

🚫 Stock Image Attempt

Search Term: “AI founder at laptop”

Result: A person in a blazer. Sitting. Typing. Probably wearing a terrible shirt.

You get something that doesn’t sell your product - it sells co-working spaces and burnt coffee.

✅ ChatGPT / Prompted Version

Result: Dynamic, atmospheric, customized, exactly how you want it.

The point here is, instead of spending 25 mins searching for something 70% right, I spent 30 seconds getting something 90% right - and editable.

Usable? Not bad for a first pass. Looks like a launch ad - not a corporate brochure. Though not sure what that square is…Lets see if we can fix that below.

Let’s fix the square and change the colour. Want to make small modifications? Just ask for it.

📊 Showdown 2: Slide Visual for a Pitch Deck

The Brief: You need a clean, modern slide to show growth in a pitch deck. It should look sharp and persuasive. It should excite!

🚫 Stock Image Attempt

Search Term: “business success graph”

Result: I don’t not love this tbh….but lets face it, It says growth, but screams PowerPoint purgatory (or teletubbies, remember them?).

✅ ChatGPT / Prompted Version

Result: Look, stock images are fine….but this is yours, it’s custom, clean, and confident. Tells your story in seconds designed using natural language you’ve used.

Now…I know what you’re thinking…you’ll argue that I’m cooking the books here…using an inadequate (!) search term for the stock images and a super refined prompt for ChatGPT.

Well yes, because I can and ChatGPT supports that level of refinement…!

🖼️ How To Use Reference Images

Let’s address the elephant in the room.

You can and should use reference images.

Using reference images is sensible when you need to. It’s smart, even. But using a reference image doesn’t give you the license to clone a Nike ad or rip off Stripe’s homepage…

Designers use references. Directors use moodboards. You should too.

Think of reference images as vibe-setters - not templates. You’re guiding the AI like a creative director.

Here’s how to do it right:

✨ Example 1: Build an Ad with Mood, Not a Brand

🖼️ Step 1 - Grab a Reference Image (ensure you have the rights to use it)

💡 Why this works: You’ll use the drama - not the model, the clothes, or the product.

📤 Step 2 - Use it in ChatGPT

Use the reference to prompt ChatGPT to generate an image that feels like the reference - but is your own creation.

🌲 Example 2: Create a Homepage Hero with Atmosphere

🖼️ Step 1 - Grab a Reference Image (ensure you have the rights to use it)

📤 Step 2 - Use it in ChatGPT

Again, use the reference to prompt ChatGPT to generate an image that feels like the reference - but is your own creation.

✨ Your Turn

1. This week, generate a stock image, yep...a stock image using something like…shudder, Unsplash… then generate something to compare to it in ChatGPT. Which one do you prefer?

2. Then find a reference image you like and generate a new concept, leveraging the image in your prompt, in the same way that we did above.

How does ChatGPT fare? Likely it doesn’t hit the nail on the head immediately, so iterate on the image, don’t be afraid to spar if you need to, direct ChatGPT!

Tag it with #AtomicBuilder or send me your result - I’d love to feature a few next week!

💡 Final Thoughts

You’re not just replacing stock photos - you’re replacing the part where you settle.

Playing around with your own image generation will help you get a feel for what works best.

You’ve got this.

Right, I’m off to see if ChatGPT can make a photo of me pitching on Shark Tank with a lava lamp in the background. Wish me luck.

Until next time, keep experimenting, keep building, and as always - stay atomic. 👊

Faisal

This Week’s Build Beats 🎵

Each issue, we pair the newsletter with a track to keep you inspired while you build.

This week, because AI building is bold, unapologetic, and 100% yours now!

🎧 “Paint The Town Red” - Doja Cat

Grab the playlist on Spotify - I add to it each week!