Crafting high-quality prompts is essential for generating impressive AI art with Stable Diffusion. This guide will provide meaningful insights into prompt engineering to help you showcase expertise in maximizing Stable Diffusion’s creative potential.
What Makes a Good Prompt?
A good prompt clearly communicates the desired image to Stable Diffusion. It should describe the subject, style, composition, and other details. Good prompts are specific, detailed, and imaginative.
Here are the key elements of effective Stable Diffusion prompts:
- Subject Description: Thoroughly depict the main subject, including attributes like age, gender, clothing, etc.
- Style Specification: Reference artistic styles or specific artists to emulate.
- Setting Details: Describe the surroundings and context for the subject.
- Composition Instructions: Provide compositional directives, like framing, perspective, lighting.
- Emotion/Mood: Convey the intended tone, feeling, or mood of the image.
Crafting Detailed Subject Descriptions
The cornerstone of a good prompt is a detailed subject description. Use visual and emotive details to help Stable Diffusion render the main subject accurately.
Describing People
For portraits or images with people, describe attributes like:
- Age, gender, ethnicity
- Hair color/style, facial features
- Body type, clothing style
- Emotional expression, pose
Example:
A candid photo of a 20-year-old Caucasian woman with long wavy blonde hair, bright green eyes, and a slender graceful figure. She’s wearing a flowing bohemian dress and smiling gently while dancing barefoot on the beach at sunset.
Depicting Places or Objects
For landscapes, still lifes, or other subjects, describe:
- Type of place or object(s)
- Colors, textures, materials
- Distinguishing features
- Surrounding environment
Example:
An ornate gothic castle made of gray stone, covered in lush green ivy vines, overlooking a dark misty medieval village with stone cottages and dirt paths at the base of a mountain range at sunset.
Directing Focus
Use descriptive phrases that direct focus onto specific visual details:
- “Portrait photo focused on…”
- “Drawing attention to the…”
- “With emphasis on the…”
Specifying Artistic Style
Referencing art styles guides Stable Diffusion’s image generation process. Some options:
Art Movements
Mention movements like cubism, Art Deco, impressionism, etc.
Example:
A surrealist oil painting depicting a vast starry galaxy inside an hourglass held by human hands emerging from clouds.
Individual Artists
Name specific artists like Picasso, Frida Kahlo, or van Gogh.
Example:
A figure drawing reminiscent of Edgar Degas depicting a petite ballerina in a black leotard stretching her arms overhead, rendered in pastel chalk on textured paper.
Photographic Styles
Reference photographic techniques like cinematic, aerial, macro, etc.
Example:
A cinematic wide landscape photo of a modern city’s towering skyscrapers at the blue hour, with light trails from traffic.
Other Styles
Get creative with fantasy, anime, cartoons, origami, embroidery, etc!
Setting the Scene
The setting forms crucial context for the main subject. Describe the surroundings in detail:
Physical Locations
Thoroughly depict physical locations like a forest, city street, Mars, etc.
Example:
An astronaut floating weightlessly inside the International Space Station orbiting Earth, with modules and science equipment visible in clear detail.
Time Periods
Anchor the image in history by specifying eras like ancient Egypt, medieval Europe, 1950s America etc.
Example:
A royal Egyptian queen adorned with golden jewelry and headdress, seated on a ornate throne in a ancient temple with hieroglyphics on the stone walls.
Imaginary Worlds
Craft fantastical settings like fairy tale kingdoms, alien planets, dreamscapes etc.
Example:
A mystical elven princess with long ears and flowing emerald dress standing in an enchanted forest glen bathed in radiant golden light.
Directing Composition
Guide how Stable Diffusion arranges visual elements in the frame. Useful techniques:
Framing
Depict camera perspective with terms like close-up, aerial, panoramic etc. Specify orientation with portrait/landscape.
Example:
A portrait close-up of a tabby kitten’s adorably sleepy face as it naps in a woven basket filled with blankets.
Lighting
Describe lighting tone and direction – side-lit, backlit, Rembrandt, chiaroscuro, etc.
Example:
A astronaut repairing a satellite backlit by sunlight in orbit around Earth, creating a rim lighting effect around the edges of their spacesuit.
Leading Lines
Use compositional lines to direct the viewer’s eye.
Example:
A symmetrical composition focusing on a cherry blossom tree in bloom, with a river winding from background to foreground.
Conveying Emotion and Mood
Evoke sensations and feelings to enrich the image’s emotive impact:
Emotional Expressions
Describe facial expressions and body language that convey emotion.
Example:
A heartwarming candid photo of a young couple embracing while laughing joyfully on their wedding day.
Psychological States
Depict metaphysical concepts like peace, hope, sorrow, courage etc.
Example:
A lone man standing pensively at dawn underneath a vibrant aurora, contemplating the vastness of the universe.
Atmospheric Qualities
Use visual motifs that induce particular moods like tension, chaos, tranquility.
Example:
An eerie digital illustration of an abandoned carnival at night, with a sinister carousel and concession stands casting shadows under the moonlight.
Helpful Prompt Writing Tips
Follow these best practices when crafting prompts:
- Be Original: Craft unique prompts instead of copying others.
- Iterate and Improve: Progressively refine prompts through trial and error.
- Limit Prompt Length: Stick to key details to focus the image.
- Specify Number of Subjects: Indicate whether you want one or multiple subjects.
- Use Active Voice: Opt for “a woman playing guitar” over “a woman plays guitar.”
Prompt Templates
These templates provide helpful starting points:
Portrait Prompt Formula
A [framing] photo of a [age] [gender] person with [hair description], [facial features], wearing [clothing description], [emotional description], [background description], [lighting], [artistic style]
Example:
A close-up portrait photo of a 20 year old woman with long curly red hair, bright green eyes, freckles, wearing a yellow sundress, laughing cheerfully, with a beach sunset background, golden hour lighting, impressionist style.
Landscape Prompt Formula
[Artistic style] landscape painting of [place] featuring [key elements], [lighting/weather conditions], [composition], [mood/emotion]
Example:
An oil landscape painting of a vast canyon in the American Southwest featuring red rock cliffs, a winding river, dramatic evening lighting, an elevated panoramic viewpoint overlooking the entire scene, a feeling of awe and wonderment.
Useful Resources
These sites offer prompt inspiration and examples:
Conclusion
Crafting excellent prompts is an art that unlocks Stable Diffusion’s creative potential. This guide provided key advice for writing effective prompts by thoroughly depicting subjects, specifying artistic styles, setting detailed scenes, directing emotive compositions, and iterating through refinement. With practice, you can learn to write prompts that produce jaw-dropping AI-generated art.