A Stable Diffusion prompt is a text description that guides the AI image generation model on what type of image to create. It allows you to specify details about the subject, style, composition, and more.
Prompts are a key part of using Stable Diffusion effectively. The quality of your prompts will directly impact the quality of the AI-generated images. With thoughtfully crafted prompts, you can create stunning and unique AI art.
Why are prompts important?
Without a prompt, Stable Diffusion has no direction on what to create. It would generate random, abstract images. Prompts give the AI constraints and guidance to produce meaningful output.
Prompts work by narrowing down the latent space that Stable Diffusion samples from. The more detailed the prompt, the smaller the sampling space, and the more control you have over the output.
Anatomy of a great prompt
While there’s creativity in prompt writing, there are components that make up an effective prompt.
Subject and style
The core of a prompt is specifying a subject, like “a portrait of a girl” or “a landscape with mountains”. You then describe the style, such as “impressionist oil painting” or “digital art”.
Details
Add relevant details about the subject and scene. For a portrait, include hair color, facial features, clothing, accessories. For a landscape, details like time of day, weather, foliage, buildings.
Composition
Describe the camera perspective, angle, lens, framing, orientation, depth of field, lighting, etc. This guides the initial composition.
Undesired elements
Use negative prompts to specify elements you don’t want, like “no extra fingers” or “no text”. This reduces unwanted outputs.
Crafting better prompts
Prompt writing is an iterative process, but here are some tips:
Brainstorm first
Before approaching the AI, brainstorm the key components you want – subject, style, details, composition. Outline those elements first.
Use an inspiration image
Have an example image that encapsulates the look and feel you want. Describe aspects of it in your prompt.
Check keywords
Review keywords that work well with Stable Diffusion, and use those terms in prompts. For example, “intricately detailed”, “cinematic lighting”.
Test and refine
Generate a batch of images and tweak prompts based on results. Refining prompts takes experimentation.
The key is being detailed and specific so Stable Diffusion generates images that match your vision!