Stable Diffusion Prompt Guide

Follow this comprehensive Stable Diffusion prompt guide to craft prompts that produce consistent, high-quality output in Stable Diffusion, SDXL, and SD3. Our Stable Diffusion prompt guide provides step-by-step instructions for mastering prompt engineering. Each step in this Stable Diffusion prompt guide aligns with HowTo schema best practices, making our Stable Diffusion prompt guide easy to repurpose for FAQs or blog posts.

Step 1

Define the subject and context in your Stable Diffusion prompt guide

Start your Stable Diffusion prompt guide by defining who or what you want to generate. Mention the scene, environment, or mood in your Stable Diffusion prompt guide so Stable Diffusion understands the setting before you add stylistic detail.

Stable Diffusion prompt guide example: "A serene mountain lake at sunrise with mist over the water."

Step 2

Layer in stylistic direction with your Stable Diffusion prompt guide

Reference art movements, mediums, cameras, or artists to steer the output in your Stable Diffusion prompt guide. Combine two to three influences in your Stable Diffusion prompt guide for balanced variety without overwhelming the model.

Stable Diffusion prompt guide example: "inspired by Studio Ghibli background art, watercolor textures, soft ambient light."

Step 3

Dial quality and composition cues in your Stable Diffusion prompt guide

Add instructions about lighting, lens choice, composition, or resolution in your Stable Diffusion prompt guide. These Stable Diffusion prompt guide cues control how detailed and cinematic your scene becomes.

Stable Diffusion prompt guide example: "golden hour rim lighting, 35mm lens, ultra detailed, 4K render."

Step 4

Use negative prompts to clean results in your Stable Diffusion prompt guide

List elements you do not want in your Stable Diffusion prompt guide, such as blur, extra limbs, or watermarks. Negative prompts in your Stable Diffusion prompt guide help SDXL and SD3 focus on the most important features.

Stable Diffusion prompt guide example: "negative: blurry, distorted hands, text watermark, extra limbs."

Step 5

Iterate with seeds and variations in your Stable Diffusion prompt guide

Regenerate with different seeds in your Stable Diffusion prompt guide for variety while keeping the same prompt. Save successful seeds in your Stable Diffusion prompt guide so you can refine or upscale later.

Use the Stable Diffusion prompt guide seed controls in the playground to rerun the same composition when you find a look you love.

Stable Diffusion prompt guide checklist

Use specific nouns in your Stable Diffusion prompt guide for the subject and setting ("Victorian greenhouse" vs. "garden").
Layer 2-3 stylistic references at most in your Stable Diffusion prompt guide to avoid muddy results.
Include lighting direction or camera terms in your Stable Diffusion prompt guide for better depth and polish.
Add a short negative prompt in your Stable Diffusion prompt guide targeting artifacts unique to your scene.

Common Stable Diffusion prompt guide mistakes (and quick fixes)

Overstuffing keywords in your Stable Diffusion prompt guide

Long prompt dumps copied from random sources can conflict with each other. Our Stable Diffusion prompt guide recommends keeping your core idea clear and trimming adjectives that repeat the same meaning.

Ignoring aspect ratio in your Stable Diffusion prompt guide

Match the prompt to your intended crop. This Stable Diffusion prompt guide suggests mentioning "vertical portrait" or "wide cinematic" so Stable Diffusion frames the composition correctly.

Skipping negative prompts in your Stable Diffusion prompt guide

Spend a few seconds adding common issues like "blurry", "extra limbs", or "text watermark" as our Stable Diffusion prompt guide recommends. This Stable Diffusion prompt guide tip saves time compared to fixing errors in post.

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