AI Image Looks Like Original – How Real Can It Get? (With Example & Prompt)

AI Images

July 3, 2025

AI Image Looks Like Original – How Real Can It Get? (With Example & Prompt)

Have you ever looked at an image and wondered, “Is this real or AI-generated?” You’re not alone. The line between real and artificial is getting so thin that even trained eyes get confused.

In this article, we’ll show you how AI-generated images can look 100% real, so real that they’re indistinguishable from DSLR photos. We’ll also share a real-life image example and the exact prompt used to generate it — so you can try it yourself.

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A medium shot captures a woman looking at the camera with a cheerful smile, revealing her teeth. She has long, dark hair, with a thick string of white jasmine flowers draped over her left shoulder and cascading down. She is wearing a purple saree with gold and green patterns, and a dark gold blouse. Her hands are clasped together in front of her, and she holds a white rose in her left hand. Several red bangles are visible on her left wrist, and a delicate gold bracelet is on her right. A small red bindi adorns her forehead, and a subtle line of red vermilion is visible in her hair part. The background is completely dark.

A medium shot captures a woman looking at the camera with a pleasant smile, her head tilted slightly to her right and her left hand near her cheek. She has long, dark hair, with a thick string of white jasmine flowers draped over her left shoulder and cascading down. She is wearing a deep green saree with a gold patterned border, and a dark, possibly maroon, blouse that shows a hint of cleavage. A delicate gold chain with a small pendant is visible around her neck. Several dark bangles are on her left wrist. A small red bindi adorns her forehead, and a subtle line of red vermilion is visible in her hair part. The background is blurred and dark.

A medium shot captures a woman looking back over her shoulder with a pleasant expression and a slight smile. She has long, wavy dark hair, with a thick string of white jasmine flowers draped over her left shoulder and cascading down. She is wearing an orange saree with a gold patterned border and a matching blouse with gold embroidered motifs on the sleeves. A small red bindi adorns her forehead, and a tiny nose piercing is visible on her left nostril. Large, ornate silver earrings with red stones dangle from her ears. Several thin orange bangles are visible on her left wrist. The background is blurred, showing a window with horizontal bars on the right and a light-colored wall on the left.

A medium shot captures a woman looking at the camera with a pleasant expression and a slight smile. She has dark hair styled in a braid, adorned with a thick string of white jasmine flowers that cascades down her left side. She is wearing a green dress with a golden patterned border on the sleeves and a gold heart-shaped pendant on a simple gold chain around her neck. She wears red and gold bangles on her left wrist and a gold bracelet on her right. A red bindi adorns her forehead. The background is blurred, showing a bright window and some light-colored soft furnishings.

A medium shot captures a woman looking back over her shoulder with a pleasant expression and a slight smile. She has long, dark hair, with a thick string of white jasmine flowers draped over her left shoulder and cascading down. She is wearing a green saree with a gold patterned border, and a matching blouse with subtle gold polka dot designs. She has henna designs on both hands, and is wearing several red bangles on each wrist, along with a golden waist chain. A delicate gold necklace with a floral pendant and small gold earrings are visible. A small red bindi adorns her forehead, and a subtle line of red vermilion is visible in her hair part. The background is blurred, showing outdoor greenery and a hint of white strings of flowers hanging from trees.

What is an AI-Generated Image?

AI image generators like DALL·E, Midjourney, and Stable Diffusion create images based on text instructions (called prompts). The technology uses deep learning, trained on millions of real-world photos, to produce images that look shockingly realistic.

But realism isn’t automatic — it requires precision prompts and real photo inputs.

Our Image: The Challenge

We started with a real portrait of a woman in natural outdoor light. The challenge was simple:

Make the dress and accessories different — but change NOTHING else.
Keep the original:

Face and expression

Pose

Skin texture and tone

Hair details

Background and lighting

Sounds impossible? Let’s look at how we did it.

A medium shot captures a woman sitting outdoors, looking over her left shoulder towards the camera with a pleasant smile. She has dark hair styled in a bun, with a thick string of white jasmine flowers draped over her left shoulder and cascading down her back. She is wearing a teal green saree with a gold patterned border, and a matching blouse. A small red bindi is on her forehead, and a tiny nose piercing is visible on her left nostril. The background is blurred, showing a dirt ground with some scattered debris and what appears to be a white building and a dark structure in the distance on the right.

The Exact Prompt Used

This is the full prompt we gave the AI. It controls every detail to ensure the final image looks like it was captured by a camera, not generated by a machine:

❝The full and fixed base without altering the original facial structure, pose, skin tone, background, or lighting setup — the background must remain completely untouched, not regenerated, stylized, enhanced, or blurred in any way. Change only the dress design and color, ensuring it appears ultra-realistic with natural lighting interaction; the fabric must show real-world material properties such as visible thread lines, fine weave detail, weight-based draping, soft folds, and subtle imperfections that contour to the body’s natural shape. Shadows and highlights on the dress must respond accurately to the existing outdoor light source, especially around the neck, arms, and waist. The new dress may include traditional embroidery or border design, but it must never look painted or artificial — it must look like it was photographed on a real person. Add a fresh jasmine garland gently tied on the left side of the head, cascading down to waist level with a natural curve and gravity-affected softness; each flower must appear individually detailed, slightly imperfect, with organic spacing and three-dimensional realism. Place a small red bindi at the center of the forehead. The face must not be regenerated, beautified, or enhanced in any way — preserve all original features exactly as they appear in the uploaded image, including skin tone variations, natural asymmetry, eyebrow texture, under-eye details, lip texture, and facial pores. The face must retain a real human presence with no AI-style clarity, smoothening, glow, or digital effects. Retain all other natural skin features across the body, including visible pores, minor blemishes, small moles, and especially the presence of fine body hair — these should remain untouched for authenticity. Every individual hair strand on the head and body must be clearly visible with natural direction and density — no gloss, blur, or cartoon styling. Lighting across the updated areas must exactly match the original environment, simulating real-world DSLR portrait conditions with crisp, directional daylight and soft, realistic shadows. Maintain DSLR-style soft depth of field in the background only if it is already present in the original — never modify, regenerate, or blend the background artificially. The final image must feel completely real, warm, and indistinguishable from a high-quality professional outdoor portrait. Generate two close-up framed variations: one with a different realistic dress color, and another with a slight change in facial expression (such as a soft smile or relaxed gaze), while keeping everything else fully consistent. This image is for Facebook — it must appear fully lifelike, culturally grounded, and must never look AI-generated in any part.❞

Result: AI Image vs Original Comparison

Feature	Original Image	AI-Generated Image
Face	Unchanged	Unchanged
Dress	Simple Design	Rich Traditional Fabric
Lighting	Natural Sunlight	Matches Original
Background	Real Outdoors	Preserved 100%
Hair & Flowers	Natural	Added Jasmine Garland
Skin Texture	Pores + Hairs Visible	Fully Preserved

Why This Works So Well

✅ No face generation = No “AI look”
✅ Same lighting = Realistic shadows and dress texture
✅ Preserved imperfections = Human authenticity
✅ Cultural realism = Jasmine flowers, bindi, traditional drape

This is how you use AI as a tool, not a shortcut.

Bonus: Two Close-Up Variants

We generated two more versions of the image, as per the prompt:

Same photo, different dress color (e.g. violet)
Same everything, slight smile added

Both images looked equally real and usable — perfect for social media, ads, or digital portfolios.

Use Cases for Realistic AI Portraits

Facebook & Instagram Reels
Profile Photo Refresh
Fashion or Saree Brand Marketing
Bridal or Model Portfolios
Poster Creation & Flyers
Magazine Covers or Blog Illustrations

Tools You Can Use

Want to try this prompt? Use these tools:

Tool	Use Case
ChatGPT + DALL·E (Pro)	Upload + Prompt for safe, precise edits
Midjourney v6	High fashion edits with ControlNet
Runway ML	Fine-grain changes for advanced users
Leonardo AI	Visual storytelling and fashion models
Remini + Photoshop AI	Hybrid enhancement with control

Final Thoughts: Can You Spot the AI?

With the right prompt and a careful approach, AI images can look completely real — not artificial, not animated, not painted. It’s all about respecting realism, especially in face, lighting, and texture.