Seedream

ByteDance's image family behind CapCut and Dreamina: sharp small text, edits by instruction, and up to 6 pictures in one run.

Whisperer's verdict: 4.3 / 5

What it nails

• Draws answers from its own knowledge
• Tiny, dense text stays sharp
• Up to 6 pictures per run

Watch out for

• Bigger sizes cost more credits per picture

Seedream is ByteDance's image family, from the team behind CapCut and Dreamina. It was built to make pictures and edit them in one model, and it has a talent few models share: it knows things. Ask for the solution to an equation and it works it out before writing it on the blackboard.

The Lab runs four versions and can make up to 6 pictures in one run, so you pay per picture and keep the best.

What Seedream is secretly great at

It answers from its own knowledge

ByteDance shows Seedream 4.0 drawing worked maths, timelines and science charts from a one-line request. You describe the question; it supplies the content.

Draw the following system of binary linear equations and the corresponding solution steps on the blackboard: 5x + 2y = 26; 2x - y = 5.

Example by ByteDance Seed · source ↗

Tiny, dense text that stays sharp

Seedream 4.5 was released with "enhanced typography and dense text rendering". Three lines of very small print on a poster come out clean and aligned.

Minimalist art exhibition poster with an off-white background. A black line drawing of a human portrait is positioned slightly to the right of the center. The title "A/W ART FAIR" is written in serif font at the top left corner. Three lines of extremely small font at the bottom left corner indicate the exhibition period, venue, and exhibition story, aligned to the left with even spacing.

Example by ByteDance Seed · source ↗

Beauty new product KV design with a pink-white gradient background. The product features soft light reflection. Large text at the top: Revitalize Skin Foundation Multi-Effect Repair. Small text for ingredient description on the right, arranged in sections: Sodium Hyaluronate 3% moisturizing factor; Niacinamide 2% brightening; Ceramides 1.5% repairing; Centella Asiatica + Calendula Extract 2.8% complex.

Example by ByteDance Seed · source ↗

Edit a design by saying what to change

Name the new words and say what to keep ("color scheme, font, and alignment"). Seedream replaces only the text.

Change 'Santiago Music Festival' to 'Seedream Photography Exhibition', and the date into '2025.10.01-07'. Keep the color scheme, font, and alignment of the text unchanged.

Example by ByteDance Seed · source ↗ · This is an edit: add your own poster as a reference picture first.

Change a material, keep everything else

Swap metal for water, cotton for leather, day for night, while the pose, shape and framing stay locked.

Keep the model's pose and the flowing shape of the liquid dress unchanged. Change the clothing material from silver metal to completely transparent clear water (or glass). Through the liquid water, the model's skin details are visible. Lighting changes from reflection to refraction.

Example by ByteDance Seed · source ↗ · This is an edit: add your own fashion photo as a reference picture first.

Crowds that look real

Seedream 5.0 Pro focuses on "realistic imagery and portrait textures". Eleven people looking at the camera, each with a different face, is a hard test most models fail.

Generate a photo of a family of 11 sitting together for a meal in a large villa. Everyone is looking at the camera. Add a timestamp in the bottom-right corner: 2009.06.21.

Example by ByteDance Seed · source ↗

Which Seedream to pick

How to prompt Seedream

1. Describe the layout like a designer's brief: background, where the subject sits, where each block of text goes.
2. Write the exact words in quotes, and say how big they are ("large text at the top", "extremely small font").
3. For edits, name the change and what to keep: pose, font, colours, alignment.
4. Let it think: for maths, charts or facts, ask the question and let Seedream supply the content.
5. Use several references when a product or face must stay the same, and say which picture is which.

Posters, menus and translations

Seedream 5.0 handles text in many languages, so a finished menu can switch language in one line, and a photo poster can carry titles, boxes and a QR code.

Translate the menu into Chinese.

Example by ByteDance Seed · source ↗ · This is an edit: add your own menu photo as a reference picture first.

Realistic photographic science poster. A wild elephant is located in a tropical savanna. At the top is the title: 'Let elephants not rely on imagining.' Below the title, inside a framed box, it says: 'August 12: World Elephant Day.' In the lower-left corner, within a black semi-transparent box, there are three sections of educational text about wild elephants. In the lower-right corner, there is a QR code.

Example by ByteDance Seed · source ↗

FAQ