Restaurant AI photo policy template
A free, copy-paste internal policy your restaurant can adopt for using AI on menu and delivery photos. It defines what enhancement is allowed, what edits are off-limits, and a one-line approval test that keeps every published image honest. Fill in the bracketed fields and it is ready to use.
Last updated: 2026-06-05
General guidance for operators, not legal advice.
Copy-paste policy
Select all of the text below, paste it into your own document, and replace the [BRACKETED] fields.
[RESTAURANT NAME] — AI Food Photo Policy
Effective date: [DATE] | Owner: [ROLE / NAME]
1. PURPOSE
We use AI photo tools to make our real dishes look their best in photos,
not to misrepresent the food we serve. Every published image must show a
dish a customer can actually order and will actually receive.
2. SCOPE
This policy applies to all menu photos, delivery-platform listings (e.g.
Uber Eats, DoorDash, Grubhub), website images, social posts, and ads.
3. WHAT WE ALLOW (ENHANCEMENT)
We may use AI to improve how a real dish photo is captured:
- Relight the dish so it reads clearly and looks appetizing
- Clean up or replace a cluttered, distracting background
- Sharpen, color-correct toward a true-to-life look, reduce glare/noise
- Crop and resize to a platform's required dimensions
4. WHAT WE DO NOT ALLOW (MISREPRESENTATION)
We never use AI to change what the food is:
- No adding ingredients, toppings, or garnish that were not on the plate
- No increasing the apparent portion size or fill level
- No swapping the dish for a different or better-looking one
- No inventing steam, sauce, drips, or sides that do not exist
- No fully AI-generated / synthetic dishes that were never cooked
5. THE APPROVAL TEST
Before any photo is published, the approver places the original photo next
to the edited photo and confirms: same dish, same ingredients, same portion.
If the food itself changed, the image is rejected.
6. PLATFORM TERMS
Before publishing, we confirm the image meets the CURRENT image and content
terms of each platform we post to. Policies change; we re-check periodically.
7. RECORD-KEEPING
We keep the original (unedited) source photo for every published image so we
can demonstrate the dish was real.
8. ACCOUNTABILITY
Questions or exceptions are escalated to [ROLE / NAME]. Violations are
corrected immediately and the image is taken down or replaced.How to roll this out
- Fill in restaurant name, effective date, and the owner role responsible for sign-off.
- Share it with everyone who shoots, edits, or approves food photos.
- Make the section-5 approval test part of your publishing checklist.
- Keep every original source photo so you can prove the dish was real.
- Re-check platform image terms periodically, since they change.
Frequently asked questions
Can I adopt this AI photo policy as-is?
Yes. Copy the template, fill in the bracketed fields (restaurant name, date, owner), and circulate it to whoever creates and approves your menu and delivery photos. It is written to be plain-English and immediately usable. It is general guidance, not legal advice — adapt it to your own situation.
What is the most important rule in the policy?
The approval test in section 5: place the original photo next to the edited photo and confirm it is the same dish, same ingredients, and same portion. That single check prevents almost every misrepresentation problem.
Why does the policy tell me to keep original photos?
Keeping the unedited source photo lets you show that the dish in the listing is real. It protects you if a customer or platform ever questions whether an image was misleading.
Does FoodPhoto.ai follow these same rules?
Yes. FoodPhoto.ai is built as an enhancement tool, not a generator. It improves how your real dish is captured while keeping the actual ingredients and portion intact, which maps directly to the “allowed” section of this policy.
A tool that matches your policy
FoodPhoto.ai enhances real dishes without changing them. Plans from $4.99/mo (20 credits).
Questions? [email protected]