Prompt Crafting Guide
Prompt Structure
Layer 1: Subject & Action
Start with the main subject and what it's doing. Cross-attention focuses first on early tokens.
"A glass astronaut sipping espresso"
Layer 2: Composition & Camera
Define the view and framing. Shapes global layout in early denoising steps.
"full-body, three-quarter view, shot on 35mm"
Layer 3: Lighting & Mood
Set the atmosphere. Affects mid-steps when refining shading.
"soft rim light, moody twilight"
Layer 4: Style & Medium
Define the artistic style. Guides texture in later denoising passes.
"in the style of Syd Mead, digital painting"
Advanced Techniques
Use parentheses and colon syntax to boost or reduce the influence of specific elements:
(sci-fi cockpit:1.3) - boosts by 30%
[cat] - reduces influence
((detailed)) - doubles the emphasis
Example Templates
<product>, centered on plain backdrop, studio strobe with softbox key, 50mm DSLR, f/2.8 bokeh, photorealistic, high-detail texture, --neg busy background, logo
(ancient megastructure city:1.2), vast scale, tiny explorer in foreground, dynamic low-angle view, cinematic dusk, volumetric light shafts, painted in the style of John Harris and Ian McQue, brushy strokes, 4K, --neg text, watermark
Troubleshooting
Issue: Repeating Motifs
Cause: CFG too high
Fix: Drop scale 2-3 points
Issue: Washed-out Colors
Cause: Style tokens misplaced early
Fix: Move style adjectives later
Issue: Garbled Details
Cause: Token conflict or overloaded prompt
Fix: Add targeted negative prompt
Issue: Ignored Layout
Cause: Subject buried mid-prompt
Fix: Move key nouns to start, add weight
Next: Explore our Examples to see these techniques in action.