Best Practices for AI Image Prompts

Created in Leonardo.ai.

Welcome to this world of AI-created images, the world that for most of you will be full of fascination, yet for a few will also be frustrating at times.

Whether you are a complete newbie or have spent most of your time working with prompts, there is always a scope of improvement.

The tool we’ll be using will be Leonardo AI.

In fact, Leonardo AI is my secret sauce for all these awesome tricks and tips.

Now here is the kicker. All of these tips aren’t just for Leonardo AI, they can actually be used on just about any AI app generator.

Let’s get started.

Disclaimer: This post has affiliate links at no cost to you. I may earn a small commission for the products recommended in this post, though.

Clarity is Key

It’s pretty hard to communicate with someone. You probably already know this from firsthand experience trying to get through to someone who just doesn’t get it.

And now, consider the case of explaining to a machine what you want. The more these AI tools “understand” your words, the less likely they are to give you a response that makes you want to pull your hair out.

This would take us to the most important part of creating prompts — clarity.

So, if your prompt is quite vague or unclear, be ready to get a result that is also unclear.

The AI has to know what exactly you want, and this all begins with how you write your prompt.

Starting with the Main Subject

Begin the prompt with a very clear identification of what the main subject is that you want the AI to respond to.

This is simple and obvious enough.

I think by now everybody knows what a subject is. But then, it gets a little tricky with what sort of descriptions you want.

Not only that but in what particular order should you put your descriptions or adjectives?

Does it really matter in what order you have your prompt?

Does it matter if your subject is in the front or does it matter if your adjectives or descriptions are in the front or the back, and vice versa?

The simple answer to that is yes.

Order of Words in Prompts

Here’s the thing: AI tends to put more weight on the words that come first in your prompt.

So if we want to generate a knight on a horse galloping across a stormy beach, but we also want the thunderstorm to play a prominent role and dominate above the knight himself.

In each example, you’ll get a slightly different focus. But in the first one, where the storm is front and center, you’ll get the most dramatic emphasis on the weather because that’s where the AI’s attention goes first.

Example Prompts

1. A stormy night with lashing rain backdrops a knight frantically riding a horse down the dark beach.

2. A knight frantically rides a horse down the dark beach with a stormy sky and lashing rain backdrop.

3. Stormy backdrop with rain, knight riding horse, dark beach, nighttime.

Leonardo AI explains that words at the start of the prompt are weighted more heavily than those at the end.

Here is another simple example:

• Prompt: A Viking Warrior riding a horse on the beach.

Created in Leonardo.ai.

Now, let’s change the order:

• Prompt: Beach, a horse with a Viking Warrior sitting on it.

Created in Leonardo.ai.

This time, we get a different result where the beach is more dominant. Now let’s add more details:

• Prompt: A Viking Warrior riding a white horse on a beautiful sunny beach.

Created in Leonardo.ai.

See the difference? The second prompt doesn’t just tell the AI what you want, it creates a clear picture.

The Viking Warrior isn’t just any Viking, he’s a dude on a white horse, enjoying a sunny day at the beach. Suddenly, you’ve gone from meh to magnificent.

Testing Different Emphases

Now, if you’re like me, you probably enjoy a bit of experimentation. Try rearranging your prompts to see how different words shift the emphasis of the generated image.

Want the Viking to steal the spotlight? Put him at the start.

Prefer the storm to be the star? Lead with that.

It’s all about playing around until you get the image that matches what’s in your head.

By rearranging the priority of the words from front, middle, and end, we get different images:

• Prompt: A Viking Warrior riding a white horse on a beautiful sunny beach.
• Prompt: A Viking Warrior at night riding a horse down a dark beach with a thunderstorm and heavy rain backdrop.
• Prompt: A violent thunderstorm with rain, a Viking Warrior riding a horse.

Using Leonardo AI’s Improved Prompt Tool

If you’re too lazy to do all the hard work, this one is like some kind of cheat code.

All it demands from you is a simpler prompt, and it will generate an improved, perhaps more complex one likely to produce better results.

Leonardo AI’s “improve prompt” tool can take a simple prompt and enhance it:

• Simple Prompt: Viking Warrior riding a horse on the beach.
• Improved Prompt: A fierce Viking Warrior adorned in fur and leather, riding a horse on a beautiful sunny beach with waves crashing on the shore.

Created in Leonardo.ai.

It’s especially useful when feeling lazy or uninspired and needing a bit of a jolt.

Getting More Detail

Users will get more detail out of the more they put in.

For example:

• Basic Prompt: Man sitting on the chair playing the violin.
• Detailed Prompt: Old man sitting on the chair playing violin by mountains.

A more descriptive prompt will give you more of what you’re looking for.

Creating Style Through References

Now, this is where it gets cool. Leonardo AI can duplicate styles by viewing renowned works, artists, or even movies.

Want your image to resemble what was painted by Van Gogh? Just ask for that.

Prefer something that resembles it belonged from a science-fiction movie? Feel free to say.

Testing with Specific Artists and Film Directors

Example by specifying a popular artist or film director in the prompt:

• Prompt: A man in his 40s sitting on the ledge of a skyscraper at dusk, in Hong Kong.
• Generated Image: The AI correctly assumes the man is of Asian descent based on the location.

Changing the ethnicity in the prompt will give a different result:

• Prompt: Young man in his 20s of Latin descent sitting on the ledge of a skyscraper at dusk, in Hong Kong.

The AI generates an image of a younger man of Latin descent.

Try Leonardo AI for free with this link!

Conclusion

At the end of the day, making a good prompt is an art. It will be to strike the right balance between clarity and creativity, and the surface meaning and intention.

Starting with a clear main topic, consider word order, add details, and do not shy away from using the tools that will help you on your way, for example, “Improve Prompt” from Leonardo AI.

Now, remember that the more you test, the better you will become at being able to elicit from these AI tools what you want.

So go ahead, give this a try, and see just how far you can get with what’s possible.

Thanks for reading. Happy experimenting!