When I first started using Stable Diffusion, I didn’t pay much attention to punctuation in my prompts. I figured as long as I listed the keywords and concepts I wanted, the AI would interpret my intent correctly. However, I soon realized punctuation significantly impacts how Stable Diffusion processes prompts. Placing commas, parentheses, brackets, and other punctuation marks strategically gives you more control over the AI’s focus and the final generated image.
After experimenting extensively with prompt punctuation, I’ve learned some best practices to share. Follow these tips to take your Stable Diffusion images to the next level!
Use Commas to Separate Concepts
Commas act as soft separators between different concepts in a Stable Diffusion prompt. For example:
woman, green eyes, smiling, floral dress The commas tell Stable Diffusion’s tokenizer that “woman”, “green eyes”, “smiling”, and “floral dress” are four distinct concepts to include in the image. Without commas, the AI may blend these ideas together unintentionally.
Commas reduce ambiguity so Stable Diffusion renders concepts accurately. Make a habit of comma separation, especially for long or complex prompts.
Parentheses Boost, Brackets Reduce Weight
Wrap keywords in parentheses ( ) to boost their weight and signal importance to Stable Diffusion. For example:
(woman), green eyes, (smiling), floral dressThe concepts “woman” and “smiling” now carry more weight compared to “green eyes” and “floral dress”. The AI focuses attention on the parenthesized elements.
Conversely, square brackets [] reduce the weight of keywords. For example:
[[woman]], green eyes, smiling, floral dressHere, the concept “woman” receives less emphasis. Use parentheses to highlight must-have elements and brackets to deprioritize nice-to-have elements.
Mind Your Punctuation Placement
Pay attention to your punctuation placement, as misplaced commas or brackets can confuse Stable Diffusion. For example:
woman, (green eyes), smiling, floral dressThis suggests the concept is “(green eyes)” rather than simply “green eyes”. Take care to punctuation keywords individually, not entire phrases.
With practice punctuating prompts becomes second nature. Keep these principles in mind as you experiment!
Useful Websites for Stable Diffusion Prompts
Here are some useful websites to find Stable Diffusion prompts and learn prompt engineering:
- PromptMania – Prompt search engine and community sharing platform
- Lexica – Searchable prompt database with example images
- PromptHero – Prompt generator with guides and tutorials
- Nightcafe Creator – Free online Stable Diffusion web interface
Additional Tips for Prompt Punctuation
Here are some additional prompt punctuation tips I’ve picked up.
Use Colons to Separate Subject and Style
A colon can separate your subject concept from an artistic style. For example:
woman with green eyes: impressionist oil paintingThis structures the prompt into the subject (“woman with green eyes”) and style (“impressionist oil painting”). The colon signals the stylistic shift.
Colons clarify exactly which elements receive stylistic tweaks. Without it, styles may bleed across the entire prompt unintentionally.
Avoid Stylistic Commas
When applying styles, avoid comma separation. For example:
impressionist, oil painting, woman with green eyes This structure applies “impressionist” and “oil painting” as independent concepts rather than a unified style. The result won’t have the cohesive style you intended.
Use Semicolons for List Separation
Semicolons provide separation while indicating a strong relationship between concepts. Use them when listing related elements.
woman with green eyes; smiling; floral dressThis groups “green eyes”, “smiling”, and “floral dress” as connected concepts describing “woman”. The AI recognizes their close association.
Semicolons are great for keeping stylistic elements or related descriptors together. Play around with them as an alternative to commas or colons.
I hope these prompt punctuation tips help you create amazing Stable Diffusion images! Let me know if you have any other questions.