AI photo dump collage: a 3x3 photo diary with doodles, from one prompt

By GetStepSnap · Tested October 8, 2026

The prompt

Replace [your subject] with a few words: a trip, a meal, a hobby, a place.

A 3x3 grid collage of nine tightly packed, realistic snapshots about [your subject], like a photo diary rearranged on one page: clean edges between the frames, no decorative borders. Each frame does a different job: a close look back or a moment of action, the wider scene for scale, a detail close-up, a frame that follows the way through the place, and some quiet empty space. Over the photos, a hand-drawn white doodle layer: marker lines of uneven weight, circles around the subject, wavy lines, stars, arrows, short dashes, hearts, cloud shapes that cover parts of the picture, and a few short handwritten words about the subject, each used once. Some lines cross from one frame into the next; others trace the subject's edge, as if someone had just marked it. The photos keep real, mid-to-low brightness colors from the scene with clear light; the subject's own color carries the story, with a small accent color on a few details. The doodles stay bright, clean white, drawn with a slightly shaky hand. Crowded frames sit next to breathing ones, with some tight crops. Mood: on the spot, light, intimate and a little youthful, like one page of a personal visual journal.

Any subject, no photo needed

A weekend in Lisbon

A 3x3 grid collage of nine tightly packed, realistic snapshots about a weekend in Lisbon, like a photo diary rearranged on one page: clean edges between the frames, no decorative borders. Each frame does a different job: a close look back or a moment of action, the wider scene for scale, a detail close-up, a frame that follows the way through the place, and some quiet empty space. Over the photos, a hand-drawn white doodle layer: marker lines of uneven weight, circles around the subject, wavy lines, stars, arrows, short dashes, hearts, cloud shapes that cover parts of the picture, and a few short handwritten words about the subject, each used once. Some lines cross from one frame into the next; others trace the subject's edge, as if someone had just marked it. The photos keep real, mid-to-low brightness colors from the scene with clear light; the subject's own color carries the story, with a small accent color on a few details. The doodles stay bright, clean white, drawn with a slightly shaky hand. Crowded frames sit next to breathing ones, with some tight crops. Mood: on the spot, light, intimate and a little youthful, like one page of a personal visual journal.

A tram, a custard tart, tiles, the river. The doodles name each frame in a word or two (Rooftops, Quiet, Tagus).

Try this prompt1:1 · 1K

A slow Sunday brunch

A 3x3 grid collage of nine tightly packed, realistic snapshots about a slow Sunday brunch at home, like a photo diary rearranged on one page: clean edges between the frames, no decorative borders. Each frame does a different job: a close look back or a moment of action, the wider scene for scale, a detail close-up, a frame that follows the way through the place, and some quiet empty space. Over the photos, a hand-drawn white doodle layer: marker lines of uneven weight, circles around the subject, wavy lines, stars, arrows, short dashes, hearts, cloud shapes that cover parts of the picture, and a few short handwritten words about the subject, each used once. Some lines cross from one frame into the next; others trace the subject's edge, as if someone had just marked it. The photos keep real, mid-to-low brightness colors from the scene with clear light; the subject's own color carries the story, with a small accent color on a few details. The doodles stay bright, clean white, drawn with a slightly shaky hand. Crowded frames sit next to breathing ones, with some tight crops. Mood: on the spot, light, intimate and a little youthful, like one page of a personal visual journal.

Steam drawn over the moka pot, a circle around the friends at the table, "crunch!" on the bread. It reads like a real morning.

Try this prompt1:1 · 1K

A rainy day in Tokyo

A 3x3 grid collage of nine tightly packed, realistic snapshots about a rainy day in Tokyo, like a photo diary rearranged on one page: clean edges between the frames, no decorative borders. Each frame does a different job: a close look back or a moment of action, the wider scene for scale, a detail close-up, a frame that follows the way through the place, and some quiet empty space. Over the photos, a hand-drawn white doodle layer: marker lines of uneven weight, circles around the subject, wavy lines, stars, arrows, short dashes, hearts, cloud shapes that cover parts of the picture, and a few short handwritten words about the subject, each used once. Some lines cross from one frame into the next; others trace the subject's edge, as if someone had just marked it. The photos keep real, mid-to-low brightness colors from the scene with clear light; the subject's own color carries the story, with a small accent color on a few details. The doodles stay bright, clean white, drawn with a slightly shaky hand. Crowded frames sit next to breathing ones, with some tight crops. Mood: on the spot, light, intimate and a little youthful, like one page of a personal visual journal.

Umbrellas, a subway map, a lantern alley, wet sneakers. The lower-brightness color the prompt asks for suits rain well.

Try this prompt1:1 · 1K

With your own photo

Put one line in front of the prompt to use your own pet or face. Where they appear, they looked much like the photo in our tests; the other frames show the place and small details.

Your cat's day at home

Use the cat in this photo as the subject and keep it looking exactly like this cat. A 3x3 grid collage of nine tightly packed, realistic snapshots about this cat's ordinary day at home, like a photo diary rearranged on one page: clean edges between the frames, no decorative borders. Each frame does a different job: a close look back or a moment of action, the wider scene for scale, a detail close-up, a frame that follows the way through the place, and some quiet empty space. Over the photos, a hand-drawn white doodle layer: marker lines of uneven weight, circles around the subject, wavy lines, stars, arrows, short dashes, hearts, cloud shapes that cover parts of the picture, and a few short handwritten words about the subject, each used once. Some lines cross from one frame into the next; others trace the subject's edge, as if someone had just marked it. The photos keep real, mid-to-low brightness colors from the scene with clear light; the subject's own color carries the story, with a small accent color on a few details. The doodles stay bright, clean white, drawn with a slightly shaky hand. Crowded frames sit next to breathing ones, with some tight crops. Mood: on the spot, light, intimate and a little youthful, like one page of a personal visual journal.

The cat is in eight frames, from "morning" to "good night", and looks much like the photo in each. The ninth frame is an empty windowsill.

Try it with your photo1:1 · 1K

Your dog's afternoon at the park

Use the dog in this photo as the subject and keep it looking exactly like this dog. A 3x3 grid collage of nine tightly packed, realistic snapshots about this dog's afternoon at the park, like a photo diary rearranged on one page: clean edges between the frames, no decorative borders. Each frame does a different job: a close look back or a moment of action, the wider scene for scale, a detail close-up, a frame that follows the way through the place, and some quiet empty space. Over the photos, a hand-drawn white doodle layer: marker lines of uneven weight, circles around the subject, wavy lines, stars, arrows, short dashes, hearts, cloud shapes that cover parts of the picture, and a few short handwritten words about the subject, each used once. Some lines cross from one frame into the next; others trace the subject's edge, as if someone had just marked it. The photos keep real, mid-to-low brightness colors from the scene with clear light; the subject's own color carries the story, with a small accent color on a few details. The doodles stay bright, clean white, drawn with a slightly shaky hand. Crowded frames sit next to breathing ones, with some tight crops. Mood: on the spot, light, intimate and a little youthful, like one page of a personal visual journal.

A nose up close, a paw, a run, a head pat, with "Good Boy!" and "Park day" in the doodles. The dog looks alike wherever it appears; one frame holds only its tennis ball.

Try it with your photo1:1 · 1K

Your day out in the city

Use the woman in this photo as the subject and keep her face, hair and style exactly the same. A 3x3 grid collage of nine tightly packed, realistic snapshots about her day out in the city, like a photo diary rearranged on one page: clean edges between the frames, no decorative borders. Each frame does a different job: a close look back or a moment of action, the wider scene for scale, a detail close-up, a frame that follows the way through the place, and some quiet empty space. Over the photos, a hand-drawn white doodle layer: marker lines of uneven weight, circles around the subject, wavy lines, stars, arrows, short dashes, hearts, cloud shapes that cover parts of the picture, and a few short handwritten words about the subject, each used once. Some lines cross from one frame into the next; others trace the subject's edge, as if someone had just marked it. The photos keep real, mid-to-low brightness colors from the scene with clear light; the subject's own color carries the story, with a small accent color on a few details. The doodles stay bright, clean white, drawn with a slightly shaky hand. Crowded frames sit next to breathing ones, with some tight crops. Mood: on the spot, light, intimate and a little youthful, like one page of a personal visual journal.

Where her face shows, it stays close to the photo; two frames have no one in them, a window view and a museum ticket. It also wrote two of our instructions as captions ("detail close-up", "moment of action") and used "where to?" twice; see the tips below.

Try it with your photo1:1 · 1K

In another language

The original prompt, in Chinese

主题对象：一只橘色虎斑猫。围绕任意主题对象生成一组带生活记录感的九宫格影像拼贴：画面由紧密相邻的多张真实感瞬间组成，边界清楚但不加装饰边框，每一格承担不同阅读功能，有主题主形体的近距离回望或动作瞬间，也有环境尺度、细节特写、路径感和留白空间，形成像随手拍日记被重新编排后的节奏。最强图形机制是覆盖在影像之上的手绘白色涂鸦层：用粗细不一的手写线条、轮廓圈选、波浪线、星点、箭头、短划、心形、云状遮挡和少量主题派生手写短语，把主题对象从真实场景中“划出来”，有的线条跨过格子边界，有的只贴着主体边缘制造被标记、被追踪、被强调的即时感。涂鸦要像马克笔或数码笔直接画在照片上，边缘干净、略有手抖，局部大块白色形状可以遮住信息，制造俏皮的空白压力，但仍让影像叙事可读。色彩从主题自身的环境、材质和情绪中提取：大面积影像底层使用中低明度的真实环境色与清楚光影，主题主色承担叙事重量，结构暗部稳定空间，少量主题派生强调色落在局部标记、物件或细节节点上；最上层手绘标记保持高明度、干净、清晰、不发灰，以小面积高对比激活全局，整体情绪是现场、轻快、亲密、即时，带一点青春感和漫游记录感。构图要有拥挤与呼吸交替的密度，局部可以强裁切，主题对象可被线条包围，背景只作为场景证据和节奏底层存在，最终效果像一页被私人涂写过的视觉手账，真实照片质感与自由手绘符号同时成立。

We wrote this prompt in Chinese first. The handwriting came back mixed: Chinese words such as 最爱的玩具 (favorite toy), English ones ("Sunny Day", "Miao!") and one garbled Chinese word by the scratching post. The bottom row also has four frames instead of three. We haven't tested whether it can keep every word in Chinese.

Try this prompt1:1 · 1K

Tips for a better grid

• Name the subject, not the frames. "A rainy day in Tokyo" is enough; the prompt already tells the model to mix wide shots, details and empty space.
• Keep the doodles to comments. If a frame gets a label like "detail close-up", add "the handwritten words are short comments about the day, never descriptions of the frames".
• Pick the shape. 1:1 for a grid post, 4:5 for a feed post. Choose 2K if you'll print it; it still takes 1 credit.
• Change the pen if you like. We only tested white, which reads best on these mid-dark photos. To try another color, replace "white" in the prompt.
• Run it again for a new mix. Each run picks different moments, so a second try is a different page of the same day.

What it costs

On GetStepSnap your first 1K image is free. After that a collage takes 1 credit at 1K or 2K, and 100 credits cost $9.90 (plus local tax where it applies), about $0.10 a collage, with no subscription. Ours took 18 to 26 seconds each. More styles in our prompt library.