How to write AI image prompts that don't fall apart: six jobs, five real examples

Most AI images look generic for one reason: the prompt left the decisions to the model. So the model picked the most average option for everything it wasn't told. Here are the six jobs a prompt has to cover, and five real prompts that cover them well, each shown with the image it made.

A weak prompt is rarely wrong. It is just quiet about the things that matter.

Leave out the light and you get flat, even light. Leave out the framing and the subject lands dead centre. Leave out the background and you get something vaguely pleasant and forgettable.

The fix is not a longer prompt. It is a prompt where every phrase has a job.

On top of all six sits a seventh question: which model are you writing for? More on that near the end.

All five come from Promptclay, a place where AI creators share prompts, remix each other's with the credit kept on, and keep the good ones in collections. Disclosure: it's my project. These five were collected into the library by its library accounts, and each page credits them.

Each prompt is quoted exactly. Words in {curly braces} are the parts meant to be swapped.

Prompt page: https://promptclay.com/prompts/studio-fashion-portrait-with-high-contrast-4vyxbn | Made with Nano Banana Pro in Gemini | Credited to @library.social

Studio fashion portrait of a woman in a structured black suit, white shirt, and black tie against a matte red backdrop. Hands in pockets, relaxed posture, direct gaze. Single direct flash from camera-left creating sharp shadows and strong contrast. Clean commercial fashion style with crisp detail. 85mm portrait lens. Aspect ratio 4:5. Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode

Result from the prompt page: Studio Fashion Portrait with High Contrast on Promptclay (credit @library.social)

Prompt page: https://promptclay.com/prompts/golden-hour-slatted-shadow-portrait-0nmnqc | Made with Nano Banana Pro in Gemini | Credited to @library.social

A close-up cinematic portrait of a young woman with natural beauty, {eye_color} eyes, and slightly parted lips. Her wavy, {hair_color} hair is loosely tied back with soft, messy tendrils framing her face. She is wearing a {clothing}. Golden hour sunlight streams through a window, casting sharp, dramatic slatted shadow patterns diagonally across her face and neck. High-contrast chiaroscuro lighting, warm golden tones with deep shadows, visible skin texture and subtle freckles, shot on 85mm f/1.4 lens, shallow depth of field, soft muted background, moody editorial photography. Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode

Result from the prompt page: Golden Hour Slatted Shadow Portrait on Promptclay (credit @library.social)

Prompt page: https://promptclay.com/prompts/simple-hand-drawn-koala-mascot-s6d01t | Made with GPT Image 2 in ChatGPT | Credited to @library.game.art

Create a simple centered children's-book illustration of a cute full-body koala character on a plain white background. The koala has soft {fur_color} textured fur with a rough crayon or felt-tip marker fill, thick irregular black hand-drawn outlines, a large rounded head, two oversized round ears, and a small upright oval body. Use exactly two ears, each with one solid black inner ear patch; no pink inner-ear lines.

The face has exactly two round white eyes with black circular pupils, one large vertical oval black nose in the center, and one small curved smiling mouth below it. The arms hang down at the sides with rounded mitten-like paws, and the short legs end in small three-toed feet. Keep the style naive, flat, slightly wobbly, and hand-drawn, like a child-friendly mascot sticker; no shadows, no scenery, no text, no accessories, no extra characters.

Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode

Result from the prompt page: Simple Hand-Drawn Koala Mascot on Promptclay (credit @library.game.art)

Prompt page: https://promptclay.com/prompts/3d-isometric-floating-home-office-illustration-h6keby | Made with Nano Banana Pro in Gemini | Credited to @library.product

A 3D isometric pastel home office scene where objects appear gently lifted, featuring a modern desk with a laptop slightly hovering, plants slowly floating upward, shelves detached from the wall, and a coffee cup resting in mid-air without spills. Smooth rounded surfaces, soft matte materials, {color_palette} palette, minimal and clean details, subtle depth, soft ambient lighting, gentle shadows that hint at weightlessness, peaceful futuristic mood, illustration-style render, modern UI-friendly composition. Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode

Result from the prompt page: 3D Isometric Floating Home Office Illustration on Promptclay (credit @library.product)

Prompt page: https://promptclay.com/prompts/cinematic-spring-cherry-blossom-portrait-1zf7kd | Made with GPT Image 2 in ChatGPT | Credited to @library.avatars

Use the uploaded portrait only to preserve the person’s facial identity, hairstyle, hairline, skin tone, and natural presence. Create a realistic cinematic portrait under a {tree_type} at {time_of_day}, warm golden backlight, soft silhouette, falling {petals}, the person gently holding a red rose near the face, quiet romantic atmosphere, shallow depth of field, natural skin texture, realistic body proportions, soft spring outfit, elegant composition, 3:4 vertical photo, high-quality DSLR look, no text, no watermark Negative Prompt: anime, cartoon, plastic skin, over-smoothed face, fake beauty filter, distorted face, wrong identity, bad hands, extra fingers, unnatural body, harsh lighting, low resolution, overexposed, messy background, logo, watermark, text Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode

Result from the prompt page: Cinematic Spring Cherry Blossom Portrait on Promptclay (credit @library.avatars)

Same words, different results. These notes come from Promptclay's model pages for Gemini and ChatGPT image:

Pick a prompt above, change only the lighting line, and run it again. Then change only the lens. One swap at a time is how you find out which words a model listens to.

If your version turns out well, you can post it on Promptclay as a remix. The original creator's name stays on it automatically, and you can keep your favourites in a collection. Copying any prompt is free, no account needed.

Prompts are better shared. Post what your swap taught you, so the next person starts where you stopped.