A movie poster maker turns an ordinary photo into something that looks like it belongs in a theater lobby: your face as the lead, a big title, a one-line tagline and a strip of tiny credits at the bottom. In Toybox AI, the photo route is Smart Editor: you upload one picture and type what the poster should say. For a poster with no photo, such as a movie night announcement, Flyer Maker or Image Generator do the job. Every title in the prompts below is invented, so swap in your own names and inside jokes rather than a real film's.
What you can make with an AI movie poster maker
An AI movie poster maker can cast you, your family or your pet as the lead in a birthday sequel, a pet comedy or an anniversary rom-com. Smart Editor redraws your photo as poster art, working from the people in it. These are the jobs it suits, with the photo to start from and the words that make the joke land.
| Poster | Photo to start from | Text that makes it work |
|---|---|---|
| Birthday "sequel" | The birthday person, head and shoulders | "Dana: The Sequel", tagline "Forty years in the making" |
| Family movie night at home | Everyone on the couch | A made-up title and "Tonight only, living room, 7 PM" |
| Student or fan film | A still from the film you shot | Your film's own title, the crew names in the credits |
| Class project | The student holding the book the class read | "Starring" the student, with the book's title in the credits |
| Pet as the star | The pet looking at the camera | "The Dog Who Ate Thanksgiving", tagline "He regrets nothing" |
| Anniversary rom-com | The two of you, faces clear | "Two Coffees, One Table", the date you met as the release date |
| Retirement or farewell | A photo at their desk | "Last Day at the Office", credits naming the whole team |
| Halloween horror | The family in costume | "The Hendersons' Basement", tagline "Nobody goes down there after nine" |
A Western theme works better as a reward poster than a movie poster; the wanted poster maker page covers that look. For a poster that announces an event rather than starring someone, the AI poster maker guide is the better fit.
What goes on a movie poster
A homemade movie poster reads as the real thing when it has these five parts. Write the words down before you open any tool, because every one of them becomes part of the picture.
- Title. The biggest type on the poster, one to four words: "Dana: The Sequel".
- Tagline. One short line that sets up the joke or the stakes: "Forty years in the making."
- The star. One face or one group, large and near the top, with the title below or across it.
- Credit block. The tight lines of small names along the bottom edge. On a homemade poster, keep it to three to six names so you can check every letter.
- Release line. "Coming this Friday", or the party's day, time and address when the poster doubles as an invitation.
Movie poster AI prompts by genre
These movie poster AI prompts are written for Smart Editor's "What should change?" box and assume you uploaded a photo. Each one names the genre look, gives every word in quotes, and ends with what must stay the same. Swap the names and titles for your own.
Action movie
Make this photo into an action movie poster. Put the title "ROSA'S LAST SHIFT" in huge metallic letters across the bottom third, with the tagline "One waiter. One shift. No tips." above it. Behind her, add a city skyline at sunset with sparks in the air and orange and teal lighting. Add one line of small credits under the title and "COMING THIS FRIDAY" at the very bottom. Her face, hair and expression must not change.Romantic comedy
Use this photo of the two of us for a romantic comedy poster. Use a bright white background with soft pastel pink and blue, and keep us standing back to back, smiling. Add the title "TWO COFFEES, ONE TABLE" in large rounded letters at the top and the tagline "She ordered his drink. He kept the receipt." underneath. Add "IN THEATERS JUNE 14" at the bottom. Do not change our faces, hairstyles or clothes.Horror for Halloween
Restyle this family photo as a horror movie poster. Make the scene dark and foggy with a single porch light behind us and a slightly open basement door. Add the title "THE HENDERSONS' BASEMENT" in tall, cracked white letters at the top and the tagline "Nobody goes down there after nine." at the bottom. Add a thin line of small credits under the title. Keep everyone's faces, costumes and positions exactly the same.Space adventure
Make my son the hero of a space adventure movie poster. Put him in a white and orange astronaut suit with the helmet under his arm, standing on a rocky alien planet with two moons in a purple sky. Add the title "CAPTAIN MILO AND THE TWO MOONS" in bold silver letters at the bottom and the tagline "The universe needed a hero. It got a second grader." above it. Leave his face, hair and gap-toothed smile exactly as they are.Pet comedy
Build a comedy movie poster around my dog in this photo. Put a roast turkey platter with a bite taken out of it next to him on a kitchen floor, in bright, warm lighting. Add the title "THE DOG WHO ATE THANKSGIVING" in big playful letters at the top and the tagline "He regrets nothing." at the bottom. Keep his fur color, markings, ears and eyes exactly the same.Painted 1980s adventure
Redo this photo as a hand-painted 1980s adventure movie poster with visible brush strokes. Put her on a snowy mountain pass with a stone watchtower behind her and a red sunset sky. Add the title "IRIS AND THE HIGH PASS" in chunky gold letters with a painted shadow, and the tagline "Some roads only go up." at the top. Add a block of small credits along the bottom edge. Keep her face and hair recognizable and the same.Birthday sequel
Make this photo into a movie poster for a 40th birthday party. Make it a dramatic sequel poster with a dark blue background, spotlights and gold confetti. Add the title "DANA: THE SEQUEL" in large gold letters, the tagline "Forty years in the making." above it, and at the bottom "Starring Dana, with Sam, Priya and the Ortega family" and "Saturday, November 14, 7 PM, 22 Elm Court". Her face, hairstyle and smile must stay unchanged.Black-and-white drama
Restyle this photo as a black-and-white drama movie poster with film grain and soft window light. Keep the bakery counter behind him. Add the title "FORTY YEARS AT THE OVEN" in thin, wide-spaced white letters across the top and the tagline "Every morning. Every loaf." near the bottom, with a row of small credits under it. Keep his face, glasses, apron and expression exactly the same.Tips for better movie posters from a photo
- Start from a sharp photo with a large face. Crop away empty space before you upload, so the person you want on the poster fills more of the frame. Smart Editor accepts one JPG or PNG no larger than 10 MB.
- Name the spot for every line of text. "Title across the bottom third, tagline above it" keeps the words off the faces. Leave the top of the photo or the bottom third for type.
- Keep the title to one to four words, in quotes. OpenAI's image prompting guide advises quotation marks around exact text, and writing an odd surname out one letter at a time, for example "O-R-T-E-G-A".
- Describe a genre, not a film. Give a lighting color, one background and one prop: teal and orange light with sparks for action, pastels on a white background for a romantic comedy, fog and one porch light for horror.
- Say what stays the same. Each Smart Editor edit rebuilds the entire image, so close every instruction by listing the faces, hair and outfits that must not change, then check them against your photo.
- Fix one thing per edit. With "Latest result" selected under "Editing", type only the change, such as "change the tagline to He regrets everything". Pick "Original photo" instead when you want a fresh look.
Movie poster sizes and which shape to pick
Theaters hang the one-sheet, a 27 x 40 inch poster sized for the frames in their lobbies. Print shops sell other sizes: Vistaprint's range includes 11 x 17, 16 x 20, 18 x 24, 24 x 36 and 28 x 40 inches. Smart Editor has no 2:3 shape, so pick a paper size that matches a shape it does make. Sharpness on paper is the pixel width of the file divided by the print width in inches.
| Poster size | Shape | Smart Editor setting at 4K | Pixels per inch |
|---|---|---|---|
| 16 x 20 in | 4:5 | Social (4:5), 2560 x 3200 px | 160 |
| 18 x 24 in | 3:4 | "Original" with a vertical phone photo, about 2480 x 3312 px | About 138 |
| 24 x 36 in | 2:3 | No matching shape; a Social file printed 24 in wide fills 24 x 30 in | About 107 |
| 27 x 40 in one-sheet | Close to 2:3 | No matching shape; a Social file printed 27 in wide leaves about 6 in bare | About 95 |
| Phone lock screen or a Story | 9:16 | Story (9:16), 2160 x 3840 px | Screen only |
Vistaprint wants at least 150 dpi at the size you print, and 300 dpi for its sharpest results. Only 16 x 20 clears that bar; 18 x 24 falls just short, and a full one-sheet looks soft up close. For a real 27 x 40 one-sheet, 4OVER4 recommends building the file at full size with 0.125 inch of bleed on every edge. Smart Editor files are PNGs with no bleed, so ask the print shop how it handles edges before ordering. The guide to print resolution and pixels per inch has the full math.
Movie posters without a photo
When nobody needs to be on the poster, skip Smart Editor. Flyer Maker designs a text-first poster from your description on the Free plan, and its Tall size (3:4) matches an 18 x 24 print. For a backyard movie night, the description would name the event, give the headline in quotes ("Popcorn and a Premiere"), and list Friday, October 23, 7 PM, 14 Juniper Court, "bring a blanket" and "text 555-0144 to RSVP". More briefs built that way are in the flyer and poster prompts.
For an original poster concept, such as key art for a short film you haven't shot yet, Image Generator makes one image from a description. Choose the Portrait (3:4) size, labeled "Poster", and turn on "Enhanced quality" in More options for sharper lettering (45 credits extra). As a movie poster AI generator it is open to Free-plan accounts and currently costs 50 credits a poster, or 95 with Enhanced quality.
Limits to know
- Smart Editor is Pro plan only. Free-plan users can give Image Generator the photo as a reference instead, but that route doesn't come with a likeness promise, and a face may look like someone else.
- Faces can shift. Nothing in Smart Editor locks a region in place, since there's no brush or mask. If someone looks off next to your original, run the edit again from "Original photo". The page on a photo editor that keeps faces has instructions that protect a likeness.
- One photo per run. A group shot works. For people photographed separately, see how to merge two photos into one picture.
- Small credits text may come out garbled. Keep the credits to a few names, read every letter, and fix a misspelling with one short follow-up edit. A real credit block with dozens of names is a job for a design app with editable text.
How to make a movie poster in Smart Editor
- In Smart Editor, put the photo in "Your image" (one JPG or PNG no larger than 10 MB), cropped so the faces fill most of the frame.
- Write the poster brief in "What should change?" Cover the genre look, the background, the quoted title and tagline with their positions, and a closing line naming every face that must not change.
- Under "More options", pick Quality and Shape. 4K is the one for paper. "Original" follows your photo's proportions, Social (4:5) fits 16 x 20, and Story (9:16) is for phone screens.
- Select "Apply edit" and give it roughly 30 seconds.
- Check every face and every word. Correct one detail per edit on "Latest result", or go back to "Original photo" to restart the look. A failed edit restores your last result and refunds the credits.
- Download the PNG for printing, and save a copy to your gallery if you'll want it later, because unsaved results stay available for 24 hours.
Smart Editor runs on OpenAI's GPT Image 2.5. Each HD edit is currently 85 credits and each 4K edit 110, with a Pro plan or above; Pro currently costs $9.99 a month for 1,000 credits (see current prices).