The props master on a period film
The story is set on a Breton island in 1954. The props master prints several copies of the yellowed paper, crumples two of them and leaves the third folded on the bar of the harbour café.
Make a fake newspaper prop for film with AI
Two front pages of invented newspapers for your sets, a 1954 local paper and a modern daily, with your scene's headline written letter for letter. Workflow visible here, no account needed.
Real workflow: the yellowed front page of "L'ÉCHO DE KERREC" for Tuesday 12 January 1954, a lighthouse lashed by waves under the headline, then "LE COURRIER DE PONTCARRÉ" from 2026 with a lit night train on a viaduct and a police officer on a station platform. Both papers are invented.
At a glance
- You provide
- a text or a brief
- What the workflow produces
- 2 images in 3:4
- Canvas structure
- 5 nodes wired by 2 connections
- Models wired in
- GPT Image 2.5 Sunburst
- Cost of one full run
- about 6 credits, roughly $0.07
- Account
- The demo is visible without an account; generating requires a free account, trial credits included
Scripts love a newspaper beat: a character unfolds the paper at the café, it lies on a desk at the police station, the camera picks it up in an insert to set up the story. The props department has to make it, and it can't lift the masthead of a real paper. This workflow gives you two fictional front pages: a yellowed 1954 regional paper and a present-day daily with a red masthead.
The hard part is the text. Three lines must be exact, the rest has to read as text without being text, and nothing can recall an existing title. The prompt quotes the masthead, the date and the headline, then asks for small unreadable filler. Sunburst writes those three lines letter for letter for three credits a page.
For the letter your character finds next, see the old letter prop; for the rest of the table, the props board. Both front pages cost six credits.
Actual renders from the demo
These are the files of the workflow above, exactly as the models produced them, unretouched. The starting point is shown when there is one.
Render
Who it is for
Props masters, production designers, short film and series directors, AI filmmakers.
Which files to provide
The fictional paper's name, the story date, the scene's headline and the front page photo you want, plus the period.
How it works
- 1
Invent the masthead
A name that sounds real and isn't: "The Echo" or "The Courier" plus the town in your story. A quick search confirms no paper already uses it.
- 2
Match the date to the story
The weekday has to be right: 12 January 1954 really was a Tuesday. Your script supervisor will check, and so will a sharp-eyed viewer.
- 3
Write the scene's headline
Short, in capitals, the one the character reads on screen. It's the only sentence the camera will actually show.
- 4
Print for set
For a wide shot the printed image is enough. For a tight insert, run it through the Enhance node or rebuild the headline and photo in your layout software.
Variations and use cases
The same canvas, tuned for different needs: each variation is two or three lines of prompt away.
The short film with no budget for press
Studio Fenêtre is shooting "Le Dernier Train" with a small crew. The Pontcarré front page announces the missing train in the opening scene, with no graphic designer and no rights to clear.
The production designer on a series
For "LIGNE DE NUIT", the production designer fills a newsstand and a bar table with copies of the same fictional paper. Each episode gets its own headline, and the paper becomes a landmark viewers recognise.
The AI filmmaker
He needs an exposition shot: a paper on a table with a readable headline. He sends the front page into a video node for a slow push-in instead of hoping a video model will spell it right.
The director and the teaser
Before the shoot, the director posts the fake front page on social media to announce the film. The headline sets up the mystery, and the date places the story in its era at a glance.
The retro music video
A band wants a fifties film noir video. The yellowed paper comes back in three shots, with a headline taken from the lyrics and a masthead named after the town in the song.
Common mistakes
Borrowing a real masthead
A well-known daily's logo on an invented front page is a rights problem and breaks the illusion. Invent the title and check that it doesn't exist.
Too much readable text
Every readable line is one more chance for a mistake. Keep three exact lines and leave the rest as unreadable filler.
An impossible date
"Monday 12 January 1954" gets spotted quickly. Check the weekday on a calendar for the story's year before you render.
Printing small for an insert
An image 1536 pixels tall printed at real newspaper size goes soft. For a close shot, upscale it first or rebuild the page around it.
Recommended models
GPT Image 2.5 Sunburst
Nano Banana 2.1
Recraft V4.1Frequently asked questions
Is the text spelled right?
In the demo, yes for the three readable lines on both pages: the mastheads, the dates and the headlines. The column text is pseudo words on purpose; only the second 2026 photo shows two extra words, POLICE and Pontcarré.
Can I use the name of a real newspaper?
No. Newspaper titles are usually registered trademarks, and the prompt rules out any real paper's name. Make one up, and read the usage rules.
Does it hold up in close-up?
In a medium shot and an insert, yes: both pages have sharp filler made of letters and pseudo words, with subheadings on the 2026 one. Right up close you can tell the words mean nothing, just like a props department newspaper.
How much do the two front pages cost?
Six credits, three per page on GPT Image 2.5 Sunburst at medium quality. One more headline for another day in the story costs three more.
Why GPT Image 2.5 Sunburst?
Because it spells correctly on a light background, accented capitals included, and it's the cheapest model in the catalogue. For a prop you redo every episode, that adds up.
What size for printing?
The 1954 page comes out at 2:3, 1024 x 1536 pixels. The 2026 page came out almost square, 1199 x 1312. For tabloid size or larger, see upscaling for print.
Can I get the inside pages too?
Yes: duplicate the node and ask for an inside page with one readable heading, or none. On screen you rarely see more than the front and the back.
Can I age the paper more?
Yes: add "heavy folds, coffee stains, torn edges" to the prompt. For the physical prop, the props team then ages the printed paper with tea or coffee.
Make a fake newspaper prop for film with AI
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