11 Cool Ideas for Festive Christmas Pictures with AI
Every year, they fill up my inboxes on all my messengers: the same old Christmas pictures, sometimes contemplative, sometimes amusing and sometimes frivolous. Funny GIFs alternate with glittery Santas that were sent to me decades ago, when the internet was still made of wood.
Now we can get back at these people, who undoubtedly mean well when they contact us exactly once a year, and send similarly uninspired Christmas pictures on Facebook, Insta, WhatsApp and elsewhere. Or we can use an AI that generates pictures for us, for somewhat more original images.
- Read more: This is why Google’s image AI is so good
How do you create a festive Christmas picture of yourself with AI?
I have already roughly explained the guidelines in my “How the police caught me” article. So take another look there if you need tips on what to look out for when generating images. Generally speaking, it’s simple: just copy the prompt below, paste it into Gemini, click on the image tool and upload your own photo.
Within Gemini, “Nano Banana Pro” now provides outstandingly good images. However, you’re quite limited there with a free account. As an alternative, I would therefore again recommend Google Whisk, or alternatively sites such as LMArena.
This time I tried to use shorter prompts. Since my Halloween images article, Google AI has become much smarter. As a result, the AI also copes better with shorter prompts and prompts in German. Also, in some prompts I didn’t even mention that the person in the picture should look exactly like the photo I uploaded.
Generally speaking, let off steam with the prompts! Change anything that doesn’t suit you. Each image can also be generated to show a woman, a whole family or more. That’s why you should see my ideas shown here more as suggestions. But enough talk now. Here are my 11 ideas for Christmas AI images:
11 great ideas for Christmas AI photos of you
Prompt 1:
Fold and copy prompt here
Generate a genuine and comfortable Christmas scene featuring the individual in the image seated by the window in gentle morning light, dressed in snug knit pajamas, cradling a drowsy cat, with fairy lights softly illuminating the background, steam wafting from a cup of cocoa, offering a natural handheld appearance, and exuding a magical and heartwarming atmosphere. make it hyperrealistic, 4k solution and 16:9 ratio
No, I don’t have a cat … and no dog either … but Christmas pictures just look more festive when you show yourself with a cute little animal. So don’t be surprised if even more pets sneak into the picture.
Prompt 2:
Fold and copy prompt here
Create a spontaneous picture of the man in the photo wearing a blue sweaterwrapping Christmas presents, with cozy textures, wrapping paper and string, in a natural photo style, warm golden tones and a charming, magical atmosphere. Hyper-realistic, 4K resolution and 16:9 aspect ratio.
Incidentally, I have attached to all of these prompts that they should not only be high-resolution and particularly realistic, but in 16:9 format as well. Since the “Pro” version of Nano Banana has been launched, you have been able to choose the format. If you prefer to create these images on ChatGPT or other AI platforms, you may end up with square images.
Prompt 3:
Fold and copy prompt here
Create a warm and inviting living room scene in which the person from the uploaded photo is cuddling with a dog under a thick knitted blanket, with a slightly blurred Christmas tree in the background, soft window light, and delicate, magical sparks floating subtly to convey a homely atmosphere. It is evening, and the Christmas tree alone provides cozy lighting in the room. Hyperrealistic, 4K resolution, and 16:9 aspect ratio.
Here I’ve added a little glitter to the prompt. Together with the dog, I really do look a lot more Christmassy than I feel. Let’s see – maybe this is exactly the picture I’ll send you via WhatsApp in a few days.
Prompt 4:
Expand and copy prompt here
Craft an enchanting Christmas kitchen scene: the individual in the uploaded image is baking cookies alongside a small dog adorned with a festive bandana. Flour is scattered on the counter, the lighting is warm and inviting, capturing a candid expression and a natural, lifestyle atmosphere. hyperrealistic, 4k solution and 16:9 ratio.
I find this picture really spectacular because a lot of what is shows is not mentioned in the prompt in nearly the same way. I’m not mentioned in the prompt as being “dredged in flour several times”, nor is the cute interaction between the dog and me mentioned separately. Don’t be surprised if your result looks completely different.
Prompt 5:
Fold and copy prompt here
Luxury Christmas portrait, gold and emerald color palette, warm candlelight, festive outfit, snow falling on a frosted window. 4K resolution and in 16:9 format.
Sometimes you have to go a bit over the top in the prompt and present yourself so obviously in the picture as a person that you really aren’t in real life. Again, I’m impressed by how short the prompt is and how detailed the result is. By the way, I borrowed this prompt.
Prompt 6:
Fold and copy prompt here
Create an intimate and warm portrait of an individual seated by the fireplace, wearing a cozy christmas sweater, and with a puppy dozing on their lap. The scene is illuminated by a soft orange glow, with fairy lights twinkling in the background, offering a cinematic yet authentic lifestyle ambiance, enhanced by gentle, magical sparkles floating around. There’s a christmas tree in the background. hyperrealistic, 4k solution and 16:9 ratio.
Here’s something festive with a dog again. The more I look at the pictures, the more convinced I am that I need a pet again. Subliminally, I assume that the AI is trying to push me in this direction.
Prompt 7:
Fold out and copy prompt here
Vintage 1950s Christmas card style, red and green tones, classic sweaters, gently falling snowflakes, warm fireplace glow, light film grain, hyper-realistic, high-resolution and 16:9 ratio.
Here’s something completely different. A Christmas greeting in the vintage style of the 50s. Incidentally, the “Merry Christmas” is not in the prompt, as the AI has decided to do this on its own again.
Prompt 8:
Expand and copy prompt here
Create an atmospheric winter picture for me. The person depicted is in a magical, snowy winter forest at dusk. Ethereal glow, pastel blue and silver tones create atmosphere. The man in the photo is trudging happily through this forest in thick winter clothes, pulling a sleigh with Christmas-wrapped presents on it. Add a wide, heavy frame of ice and snow surrounding the scene with detailed frost patterns and ice crystals.
I thought the picture was beautiful at first, but then I moved it to dusk and then thought about what was still missing. It still seemed a bit empty somehow. So I asked Gemini how I could best formulate it to give the picture a “frosty” frame. Experiment a success, I would say.
Prompt 9:
Expand and copy prompt here
A dynamic, high-contrast image in the style of a 1950s vintage comic, shot in 16:9 format. The bald man with the beard from the original images races directly towards the camera in a frontal shot on an old-fashioned, roaring snowmobile. He wears retro snow goggles, has a wild, manic grin on his face and clutches the handlebars as the snowmobile jumps over a bump and kicks up huge amounts of snow.
On the luggage rack behind him, numerous colorfully wrapped Christmas presents are whirled wildly and physically impossible through the air by the speed and the bumpy track; ribbons and paper fly around. In the immediate foreground, a completely frightened, shaggy cartoon cat with plate-sized eyes and ruffled fur leaps dramatically out of the roadway to the side at the last second, accompanied by streaks of movement.
A look back up the slope shows a trail of devastation: to the left and right of the track, several skiers and sledgers are stuck upside down in snowdrifts, with only wriggling legs and broken skis sticking out comically. The piste is lined with a snow-covered fir forest in classic cartoon style, while the silhouette of Santa’s sleigh and reindeer flies across the sky in the far distance against a dramatic evening sky. At the right-hand edge of the picture, half-hidden between the snow-covered fir trees, the green, grinning Grinch peeks out and rubs his hands gleefully. At the top centre of the picture is the text: ‘Merry Christmas, you scoundrels’ in a curved, cheerful, slightly weathered 1950s advertising slogan in red, green and gold. The entire image has a grainy texture, bold black outlines, halftone dots and a rich, slightly aged color palette.
For this prompt, I simply let my imagination run wild and then asked the AI to build me the most precise, detailed prompt possible from my ideas. It did and conjured up this wonderful picture for me. If you expand the prompt text above, you’ll see that it’s much longer than the other prompts in this post.
Prompt 10:
Unfold and copy prompt here
A photorealistic, cinematic photo in 16:9 aspect ratio shows the man from the uploaded image and a jolly Santa Claus in an intimate, warm embrace, leaning happily against each other as they sing exuberantly at a worn wooden counter. The man is wearing a festive, brightly patterned “ugly Christmas sweater” with reindeer, snowflakes and lights in red, green and white. Both are holding foaming mugs of beer in their hands. The run-down pub is festively decorated with warm fairy lights, gold tinsel and garlands amidst old memorabilia and clutter. The lighting is warm and contrasting, coming from old lamps and fairy lights, creating a cozy, vibrant atmosphere with visible film grain.
Image 10 and still nothing with a bar? That’s not possible! So here’s a nice, Christmassy bar picture with Santa and me.
Prompt 11:
Fold and copy prompt here
An ultra-high-resolution, hyper-realistic photo in 16:9 format, designed as a tribute to the famous ‘Lunch atop a Skyscraper’ image. Ten men, all with the exact facial features, bald head and beard of the man from the uploaded image, sit side by side on a weathered, rusty steel girder suspended at a dizzying height above a metropolis (similar to New York City). The ten ‘clones’ are dressed differently and festively and interact with each other: on the far left sits one in a full Grinch costume (green fur, make-up, Santa hat) and looks glumly at a candy cane. Next to him is a man in a full Santa Claus suit, laughing and drinking steaming cocoa from a thermos flask. In the middle, a man in an elf costume (green tunic, pointed ears) carefully balances a sparkling sparkler. Several men wear extremely eye-catching Ugly Christmas sweaters (with reindeer, flashing lights etc.) and share an open tin can with Christmas cookies. Others are wearing thick, sometimes old-fashioned winter jackets and hats, one is eating a gingerbread man. The city deep below them is bathed in the blue hour of twilight and lavishly lit up for Christmas. You can see fairy lights on the skyscrapers, and far below in a square you can make out the warm, bustling glow of a large Christmas market with stalls and a huge tree. The lighting is rich in contrast, the air seems icy cold (you can see your breath in places). The image has incredible depth of field, showing details like rust on the girders and crumbs on the jackets, and captures the grainy, documentary feel of the original photo in color.
Actually, I only wanted to put ten prompts in the article. But then I didn’t know which of the pictures to use, so I came up with something new and this is the result. Of course I couldn’t keep this prompt from you, could I?
I hope you have fun with these prompts and that the people you send them to enjoy them too. And as I said: try it out and change as much as you like to create your very own masterpieces.
In case we don’t read any more about each other before then: Merry Christmas, dear people. Enjoy it, don’t let it stress you out and, quite honestly, take a break from your smartphone or computer and enjoy the people around you.