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SDXL Prompting Guide

SDXL is a flexible text-to-image model for general creative work: photos, product concepts, realistic portraits, design mockups, cinematic scenes, and broad illustration styles. SDXL usually works best with clear natural language. You do not need a huge pile of quality words. A specific subject, clear composition, and believable lighting usually matter more than repeating masterpiece or ultra high quality.
Want anime, cartoon, furry, or tag-heavy character prompts? Use the Pony Diffusion Prompting Guide.

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Prompt Formula

Use this structure:
Example:
For best control, make the first words identify the main subject. Then add the frame, lighting, and visual style.

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Prompt Building Blocks

Subject
  • Who or what is in the image.
  • Add material, clothing, age range, product type, or defining traits.
  • Keep one main subject unless you need a complex composition.
Action or pose
  • Describe what the subject is doing.
  • For portraits, use pose and expression: looking at camera, relaxed smile, three-quarter view.
  • For products, use placement: resting on marble, floating above a matte pedestal.
Scene
  • Name the location and background.
  • Include important foreground or background objects only when they matter.
Composition
  • Use camera and framing terms: close-up, wide shot, centered composition, rule of thirds, negative space.
  • For photography, lens cues help: 35mm, 50mm, 85mm, macro lens.
Lighting
  • Use practical light descriptions: softbox, golden hour, neon rim light, overcast daylight, hard side light.
  • Lighting often improves the image more than generic quality tags.
Medium and style
  • Examples: product photography, cinematic still, editorial illustration, fantasy concept art, watercolor, 3D render.
  • Avoid conflicting styles like photorealistic anime watercolor 3D render unless you want a hybrid.

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Negative Prompts

Keep negatives short at first:
For portraits, add:
Avoid massive negative prompts unless you know what each token is doing. Large negatives can remove useful detail and make images look generic.

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Starter Recipes

Product photo
Cinematic portrait
Fantasy concept art
Editorial illustration

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Troubleshooting

The image ignores the subject
  • Put the subject first.
  • Remove conflicting style words.
  • Make the scene simpler.
  • Describe the subject with concrete visual traits.
The image looks plastic or oversharpened
  • Remove stacked quality tokens.
  • Use natural lighting terms instead of only high detail.
The composition is messy
  • Use one clear shot type.
  • Reduce the number of subjects and props.
  • Add framing language like centered, close-up, wide establishing shot, or clean negative space.
Text in the image looks wrong
  • Avoid asking SDXL to render long exact text.
  • Use simple labels only when needed.
  • Add exact typography later with an editor when accuracy matters.

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Final Checklist

  • Put the subject first.
  • Add composition and lighting before generic quality words.
  • Use a short negative prompt, then add only the fixes you need.
  • Remove conflicting style words before adding more detail.

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References