A code is not a hidden command. There is no secret list inside ChatGPT. It is one word that describes a way of picturing something, and because ChatGPT reads your whole message as instructions, that one word ends up deciding the entire look of the image. The author of the original list says it plainly: "these aren't magical secret commands built into ChatGPT, think of them as visual shorthand".
That is good news, because it means you can put the code in front of literally anything, and it means you can invent your own (there is a section on that at the bottom).
These are the five I showed, in the same order. Swap the square brackets for your own subject.
/xray a modern laptop showing the battery, CPU, cooling system and motherboard.
Draw it as a clean see-through cutaway, with the outer shell faded to a translucent ghost and the internal parts in full colour underneath. Label each major part with short text and a thin leader line, and keep every label crisp and correctly spelled. White background, soft studio light, 16:9./blueprint show the architecture of an AI employee.
Draw it as a technical engineering blueprint in white line work on a deep blue ground, with measurement lines, annotation boxes and a title block in the bottom right corner reading "AI EMPLOYEE v1". Label the parts: inputs, instructions, tools, memory, output review. Keep every label short and correctly spelled. 16:9./isometric an AI startup office with humans and AI agents working together.
Build it as a small 3D world seen from above at a 45 degree angle, with cutaway walls so every room is visible, tiny desks, screens, plants and a meeting corner. Add three small floating labels reading "research desk", "content desk" and "support desk". Warm neutral floors with cool blue and teal accents, soft ambient light, gentle shadows, 1:1./miniature tiny workers building a giant [thing you want to explain, for example a LinkedIn profile].
Make the giant object the hero in the centre, photoreal and oversized, with miniature people in hard hats climbing it, painting it and carrying parts into place. Use a shallow depth of field so the whole thing reads as a tabletop model. Warm daylight, one clean background colour, 4:5./figurine turn the person in this photo into a collectible action figure inside its retail box.
Keep the face, hair and outfit recognisably the same as the attached photo. The box has a clear plastic window, a printed cardboard back carrying the name "[your name]" and the title "[your job title]", and three accessories moulded into their own slots: a laptop, a microphone and a coffee cup. Photoreal product shot, soft studio light, 4:5.These five are the ones that make you look like you understand the thing. Use them for carousels, slide decks and anything you are teaching.
/cutaway a [building or object, for example a coffee shop] showing what happens on every level.
Slice the front wall away so the whole interior is visible at once, and label each floor or zone with short text. Keep the outer edges intact so it is obvious what has been cut open. Clean modern illustration, light neutral ground, blue and teal accents, crisp correctly spelled labels, 16:9./crosssection show how [a process, for example a sales funnel] works.
Draw a clean diagrammatic slice through it, layer by layer, with every layer labelled and arrows showing which direction things move. Add one short caption under the diagram stating the outcome at the end of the process. Flat modern vector style, white ground, 16:9./anatomy of [the thing you want to break down, for example a great LinkedIn post].
Lay the subject out like a museum specimen, with 6 to 8 parts pulled slightly apart and each one labelled with short text and a thin leader line. Order the labels top to bottom in the order someone would actually read them. Clean editorial illustration, warm neutral stage, one accent colour, 4:5./layers show the layers of [system, for example an AI employee].
Stack 4 to 6 translucent horizontal planes at a slight angle, one above the other, each holding the icons and the short label for that layer. Name them from the bottom up so the foundation sits at the base and the visible result sits on top. Modern 3D render, soft shadows between the planes, cool blues with one warm accent, 16:9./explodedview take apart [product] and show every component separately.
Float each part in its correct position along an invisible assembly axis, evenly spaced, with thin dotted guide lines connecting them back together. Label 5 to 8 of the parts with short text. Photoreal product render on a plain light background, soft reflections, 1:1.Seven codes for the moment you have a list, a process or a pile of numbers and no idea how to make it look like something.
/infographic explain [topic, for example the 7 stages of building a personal brand].
Build it as one clean vertical infographic with a bold title at the top, numbered sections running down the page, and a short line of 4 to 8 words inside each section. Use simple line icons rather than illustrations, and keep all text crisp and correctly spelled. White cards on a light neutral ground, blue and teal accents, 4:5./mindmap show [subject, for example 30 ways a small business can use AI].
Put the central idea in a white rounded card in the middle, then branch out to 5 or 6 category nodes, each carrying 3 or 4 short child labels. Use thin curved connectors and keep every label under four words so nothing gets cramped. Modern flat style, light ground, a different accent colour per branch, 16:9./flowchart show what happens when [a trigger, for example a lead replies to your email].
Draw a real flowchart with a start node, decision diamonds carrying yes and no branches, and two or three possible end states. Label every arrow so the path can be read without explanation. Clean vector style, white ground, charcoal boxes with white text, one warm orange accent on the decision points, 16:9./timeline show the evolution of [subject] from [year] to today.
Draw a horizontal timeline with 6 to 8 milestone markers, each carrying its year, a short title and a one-line description underneath. Make the bigger moments visibly bigger so the shape of the story is readable at a glance. Modern editorial style, light ground, one accent colour, 16:9./roadmap beginner to advanced [skill].
Draw a winding path running from a start point to a finish flag, with 5 stages along the way. Label each stage with the skill being learned and a short "you can now..." line underneath. Show the path climbing so the rising difficulty is obvious. Clean illustrated map style, warm neutrals with cool blue accents, 4:5./dashboard show the numbers a [role, for example a freelance designer] should check every week.
Build it as a realistic app dashboard with a dark header bar carrying an app name and a date range, then a row of four metric tiles, a line chart and a ranked list with small priority tags. Use believable specific numbers such as 7,412 and $2,843.67 rather than round ones, because round numbers read as fake. Photoreal UI render, 16:9./comparison [option A] versus [option B].
Split the frame down the middle with a labelled header on each side, then compare the two across 4 or 5 rows of short text. Give each side a subtly different background tint so they separate instantly without shouting. Clean modern layout, white ground, crisp correctly spelled labels, 1:1.Three codes for when the idea is a system, a market or a web of people, and a flat diagram would make it look boring.
/lego build [concept, for example a one-person AI-powered company] out of LEGO bricks.
Show the finished build as a photoreal brick model on a plain surface, with a few loose bricks beside it and a small printed instruction card leaning against the base. Keep the shapes chunky and readable at phone size. Bright even light, shallow depth of field, 1:1./ecosystem show the modern [industry or platform] ecosystem.
Put the main platform in the centre and arrange everything around it in labelled rings, ordered by how closely each player sits to the centre. Use small rounded chips for the players and a short category label on each ring. Modern flat design, light ground, blues and teals with one warm accent, 16:9./network visualise how [something spreads, for example one post reaching thousands of people].
Draw a node graph starting from one highlighted source node and branching outward through connected nodes, with thicker lines where the connection is stronger. Label four or five key nodes and place a small figure beside the source so the scale is human. Dark charcoal ground, glowing blue and teal connections, 16:9.Two codes that turn a change or an idea into something with a beginning and an end.
/beforeafter [a person or a workspace] before and after [the change].
Split the image down the middle and keep the same subject, same setting and same camera angle on both sides, so the only visible difference is the change itself. Add a small label at the bottom of each half reading "before" and "after". Photoreal, warm natural light, no other text anywhere in the image, 1:1./storyboard a 6-panel [type of video, for example a customer review video for a candle brand].
Lay it out as a 2 by 3 grid of numbered panels, keeping the same character and setting across all six, with a one-line caption under each panel describing the shot. Keep the drawing style loose and sketchy so it reads as a plan rather than a finished ad. 16:9.Three codes that quietly outperform polished graphics, because they look like a person made them.
/handwritten [list, for example 10 rules for building a personal brand].
Present it as a page from a real notebook with visible paper texture, ruled lines, dark ink handwriting, one or two lines marked with a highlighter and a small doodle in the margin. Keep every line short enough to read at phone size and spell every word correctly. Shot slightly from above with a natural shadow across the page, 4:5./stickynotes organise [a set of ideas, for example 20 ways to use AI in marketing].
Arrange the notes into 4 labelled columns on a plain wall or whiteboard, with a header note in a different colour at the top of each column. Keep the handwriting to three or four words per note so it stays readable. Photoreal, soft even light, a slight shadow under every note, 16:9./sketch draw the idea of [an abstract concept, for example compounding effort].
Render it as a loose pencil sketch on off-white paper with visible construction lines and light cross-hatching, using one figure or object only. Add a single short handwritten caption underneath. No colour except one soft accent, 4:5.Since the codes are ordinary words rather than commands, nothing stops you writing your own. Think of a look you keep asking for, name it in one word, and write the recipe underneath it once. From then on, the word carries the whole recipe.
I want to make my own image code for ChatGPT. When I type "/[your code word]" in front of a subject, generate the image in this exact style every time: [describe the look, the layout, the colours, the lighting and whether it carries text].
First, write that back to me as a short reusable style recipe I can paste in front of any subject. Then generate one example using the subject "[your test subject]" so I can see whether the recipe holds. If the result misses the style, tell me which line of the recipe was too vague and rewrite it.
The original 25 visual codes, and the line about them not being secret commands
Images in ChatGPT: creating, editing uploads, adding text, aspect ratios, plan availability
Why a slash word is read as a normal style instruction