Documents
AI images in a document
Most documents need fewer pictures than people put in them, and the ones that earn their place are specific. Describing the figure you want beats searching for a photograph that nearly fits.
Three places an image is worth the space
A cover, where it sets the register before a word is read. A section opener in a long editorial document, where it gives the eye somewhere to rest. And a figure that shows something words are bad at, such as a site, a product or a physical arrangement. A photograph of people at a laptop in the middle of a proposal is costing you a third of a page.
Caption it, and it numbers itself
An image with a caption is numbered as a figure in the finished document, and the numbering is resolved at the end of layout along with the contents list, so it stays right when a section moves. That is what lets the text refer to figure three instead of saying the picture above, which breaks the moment anything reflows.
Write the prompt for a document, not a poster
Document images sit behind text and beside tables, so they want to be calm: a place, a light, a subject, no busy action and no text baked into the picture. Anything with words in it will clash with your typography and cannot be translated with the rest of the document.
Your own photographs beat generated ones
For a case study, a capability statement or a site report, a real photograph of the real thing is more persuasive than anything generated. Generation is for when the picture is illustrative rather than evidential. If the document is making a claim about a specific place or product, use the real image.
How it works, in three steps
Step 1
Ask what the image proves
If it proves nothing, the space is better spent on a figure or a table.
Step 2
Describe a scene, not an event
A place, a light and a subject. No text in the image.
Step 3
Add a caption
A captioned image is numbered as a figure, and the numbering survives reflow.
The full walkthrough with screenshots is in the guide Add and generate images in a document.
Limits worth knowing
- Generated images are illustrative. For a claim about a real place or product, use a real photograph.
- Text inside a generated image cannot be edited or translated with the document.
- Image generation runs as a background job, so it takes a moment.
See it on a finished piece
Questions people ask
Do figures get numbered automatically?
A captioned image is numbered as a figure, and the numbering is resolved at the end of layout, so it stays correct when sections move.
Can I upload my own photograph instead?
Yes, and for anything evidential you should. Generation suits illustrative images rather than proof.
Should the image contain text?
No. Text baked into a picture clashes with your typography and cannot be translated or edited with the document.
Make your own document
The button opens the generator with this use case already described. Change the wording to match yours, generate, then edit anything you like.
Create a document with OneCraftRelated pages
One page documents
The failure mode of a one page document is a page that is two thirds full. It is treated as a composed page rather than a short document, which means the blocks are sized to use the height they have.
Send an AI document for signing
The usual sequence is export to PDF, upload it somewhere else, then drag boxes over the printed lines and hope your aim was good. When the document was written here, the lines already know where they are.
Code blocks and equations
Some content has to be reproduced exactly: a configuration snippet, a decision rule, a formula. Prose paraphrases it and gets it wrong. These two blocks print it as written.
More finished work of this kind is on the document examples hub.