Seedream 5.0 Lite API

Introduction

Seedream 5.0 Lite Image to Image takes one to ten reference images plus an instruction and returns a single frame at the preset you name. That combination is what makes it useful for series work: the same character, restyled, always delivered in the same frame shape.

Choose a Seedream 5.0 Lite mode by starting material

Key features

Layout-aware design exploration

Start with the intended placement and message, then judge the result for readability before adding decorative complexity.

Create from a brief or revise a source on purpose

Text-to-image begins with an original composition. Image editing begins with supplied material; use it when the task is a targeted visual change rather than another attempt to describe the source from memory.

Request parameters

Pricing

Prices are in credits, the same credits you use on the website (1 credit = $0.01). The hold is taken when the task is accepted and settled to the actual charge when it finishes; failed tasks are refunded.

Each task is rounded up to whole credits, so one run at the lowest tier costs 6 credits per image ($0.06).

For an exact number before you run, send the same body to POST /jobs/quote.

Use cases

Refine a supplied visual

Use this mode when one to ten existing images should carry the subject, costume or style into the result. List them in image_urls in the order your prompt names them, say what each contributes and what must stay, and pick the preset that matches the source's shape.

Ten-reference restyling

Send a character sheet, two costume references and a background plate to the editing endpoint, name what each contributes, and get one frame back at the size you asked for. Useful for keeping a recurring character consistent across a series.

Print comps and layout mocks

Send an approved layout frame and change one element — the background, the costume, the palette — while the composition stays. Set size to the comp's preset, 2304*1728 or 1728*2304, so the frame is not reshaped.

Prompt guide & pro tips

Pick the size the placement actually needs

Choose from the eight presets before writing, because the composition is built for that frame.

Poll the task and keep the brief

There is no seed field, so keep the references and the instruction with any frame you want to extend into a series.

Adapt the included example

Start with the published example using output_format: png, size: 2048*2048. Replace the subject and creative direction while keeping the input contract for this mode intact.

A two-reference costume swap that names the line weight and shading to preserve, delivered square as png. You supply both the character sheet and the costume reference.

Check the result before iterating

One to ten references, each needing a role assigned in the prompt; unnamed sources get blended. size still applies here, so a reference of a different shape is reframed to the preset you choose — set it deliberately when the source's proportions matter. Long edit chains drift, so go back to the original frame rather than re-editing an edit.

API quick start

Call the Seedream 5.0 Lite API in three steps

1. Create an API key. Sign in to PopNow and create a key in the API console. Keys start with sk-popnow- and use the same credits as the website.
2. Send the request. POST /jobs/createTask with model bytedance/seedream-5.0-lite/edit and an input object that follows the parameter table. The response returns a task ID straight away.
3. Get the result. Poll GET /jobs/recordInfo with the task ID, or pass a callBackUrl and we post the result to it. Download the output links when the task succeeds.

# 1. Create the task. Keep the Idempotency-Key if you retry after a network error.
export IDEMPOTENCY_KEY="$(uuidgen)"
curl -X POST https://api.popnow.ai/api/v1/jobs/createTask \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $POPNOW_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "Idempotency-Key: $IDEMPOTENCY_KEY" \
  -d '{
  "model": "bytedance/seedream-5.0-lite/edit",
  "input": {
    "prompt": "A ceramic teapot on a linen cloth, soft window light, muted palette",
    "image_urls": [
      "https://media.popnow.ai/influencer/examples/marco.webp"
    ],
    "size": "2048*2048",
    "output_format": "jpeg"
  }
}'

# 2. Copy data.taskId from the response, then poll until state is succeeded, failed, canceled or expired.
TASK_ID="TASK_ID_FROM_RESPONSE"
curl "https://api.popnow.ai/api/v1/jobs/recordInfo?taskId=$TASK_ID" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $POPNOW_API_KEY"

Replace the prompt and any links with your own. The API tab has the response, polling and callback reference.

Seedream 5.0 Lite API questions

All Seedream models

Seedream 5.0 Pro frames with any of fifteen aspect ratios at 1K or 2K and spends more on material detail. Lite is the one when a fixed preset size is part of the brief.

• Seedream 5.0 Pro APIHigh-detail images and edits from up to ten referencesFrom 6 credits per image
• Seedream 5.0 Flash APIQuick Seedream images, edits and layer splits up to 2KFrom 4 credits per image
• Seedream 5.0 Lite APIFixed-size 2K frames that keep a series consistentFrom 6 credits per image
• Seedream 4.0 APIExact sizes up to 4096×2304 and ten-reference editsFrom 5 credits per image

Other image APIs

• Nano Banana 2.1 APIGoogle's newest Nano Banana, sharp text and 4K outputFrom 8 credits per image
• Nano Banana Pro APIPlans the layout first: dense text, diagrams and 4K editsFrom 17 credits per image
• GPT Image 2.5 Sunburst APIOpenAI's quality-first model, up to 4K with clean textFrom 1 credit per image
• FLUX.2 Max APITop-tier FLUX: photoreal light and exact brand colorsFrom 11 credits per image
• Qwen Image 2.1 Pro APIUp to six detailed 2K images from one promptFrom 6 credits per image
• Qwen Image 2.1 Turbo APIFast 8-step renders, up to six per promptFrom 3 credits per image

More about Seedream 5.0 Lite

Try it

Seedream 5.0 Lite AI Image Generator onlineCreate images with Seedream 5.0 Lite in PopNow

Docs

Seedream 5.0 Lite model ID and input schema in the API docsPopNow API quickstart: your first request in five minutesImage generation guide for the PopNow APIWebhooks: get Seedream 5.0 Lite results without polling