Stable Diffusion Prompts and Image Generation Tips

Stable Diffusion is an AI art generator that creates original visuals based on detailed text descriptions. With a well-written art prompt, you can craft images tailor-made to your needs, whether you’re posting realistic TikTok swipe slideshows or cyberpunk-inspired Instagram Stories. 

Captions’ integration with Stable Diffusion makes generating and adding pictures to your content even easier. Read on to learn how to write effective Stable Diffusion prompts and bring your ideas to life with Captions.

What’s a Stable Diffusion Prompt?

Stable Diffusion prompts are specific text descriptions that tell the AI what images to generate. This text typically includes the art style, characters, and location. Some creators use Stable Diffusion prompt generators to create well-structured descriptions, but this isn’t necessary, as they’re easy to write once you know what to include.

AI generators try to produce exactly what you describe, so it’s best to use precise language. For example, adding the text “aerial view” ensures you get the right angle. While some digital art generators struggle with camera directions like this, Stable Diffusion excels at making photorealistic content that accurately matches your requests.

Stable Diffusion Prompt Guide: 5 Elements To Include

While every prompt will be unique, five key elements help you find the right keywords to produce high-quality AI images. Here’s how to structure a text prompt and what to include.

1. Art Style

Define your image’s aesthetic, such as realistic photography, illustration, or CG cartoons. Get detailed and describe specific artistic directions — for example, you can create different digital paintings using keywords like “Impressionism” or “watercolors.”

Next, mention your image’s subject, such as people, animals, and objects. Directly after the subject, describe its actions and appearance — for instance, a person running down a beach or a car drifting through a futuristic city. You can also add details like hairstyles, outfits, or predominant colors.

3. Framing

Explain your desired framing. This is where you specify if the image is close-up or far away, or if the subject is centered or asymmetrical. An example is a sleek cyberpunk woman in the center of the screen or a wide-angle shot of a dog playing in a park.

Framing dictates the image’s zoom level and angle, not size. In Captions, you select the aspect ratio before generating each AI image. The platform lets you choose between the most popular social media picture sizes, including 9:16, 1:1, and 16:9.

4. Techniques and Angles

Describe camera angles to get the right point of view. Use terms like “aerial view,” “low-angle shot,” and “shoulder-level shot” to achieve the ideal cinematic scene. Explaining your desired camera techniques helps you capture the right mood — ground-level shots are more dynamic and intense, while high-angled crane shots feel open and light.

5. Color and Lighting

Mention the lighting and shadows to highlight vibrant colors, convey warmth, or set a moody scene. Use terminology like “backlight” or “soft, diffused lighting” to showcase your subjects in the ideal conditions. Try experimenting with contrasts, like marbled shadows and neon glows, for a more dramatic effect.

This is also a good time to mention color palettes. Specific terms like “pastel tones” or “sunset hues” guide the AI toward a more polished, consistent aesthetic.

15 Best Stable Diffusion Examples: Prompts for Content Creators

With the right art prompts, Stable Diffusion can generate eye-catching AI images for your content, whether you’re creating YouTube thumbnails or enhancing your Instagram Stories. Check out these detailed examples based on four broad styles.

Realistic Photography

1. Old Man

A realistic portrait of an old man centered in front of a brown backdrop. He has a receding, wispy hairline and a short beard. His expression is a slight smile. Soft lighting comes in from the left side of the screen and gently illuminates the warm, earthen tones of the scene.

2. Jogger on the Beach

Crane shot: A photorealistic wide-angle shot of a beach at sunrise. A woman jogs across the sand on the right side of the screen. The sea is sparkling and calm, subtly reflecting the morning sun. The area is bathed in rich golden light.

3. Scenic Waterfall

A ground-level shot looks upward at a massive, realistic waterfall crashing against wet rocks. On either side of the waterfall is lush, tropical flora. Small water droplets fly through the air, showing dynamic movement. It’s a bright, sunlit scene.

4. Cyberpunk Woman

A photorealistic cyberpunk woman standing on a rooftop looking down at a futuristic city filled with skyscrapers and cars. She wears a sleek black jumpsuit, metallic boots, and goggles with blue lenses. The scene is dark and moody, with a subtle neon glow.

Illustrations and Paintings

5. Bowl of Fruit

An Impressionist-style painting of fruit in a wooden bowl using close-up framing. The bowl contains bananas, apples, and peaches and sits atop an old-fashioned wooden table. Soft golden sunlight comes in through the window, leaving marbled shadows across the tabletop. 

6. Field of Flowers

Watercolor painting: A field of purple flowers and tall grass bending in the wind. The sky is cloudy, and the scene is bathed in cool, gray lighting. The image is framed at a wide, low angle to make the field feel expansive.

7. Vintage Girl

A 1950s-style illustration of a young girl in a floral dress with pigtails. She’s standing outside a retro, one-story home and holding a melting ice cream cone. The right side of her face is illuminated, and her shadow stretches out to the left, implying a setting sun just out of frame.

8. Old Castle

A run-down old castle in a Baroque painting style. It sits atop a hill in the distance, covered by grayish-green mist. A small pond is in the foreground near a lonely tree dropping a few green leaves. The image is angled slightly upward, showcasing the stormy sky above the distant castle.

Stylized and Bright

9. Cartoon Dog

A happy cartoon dog in a rounded, CG art style. Its mouth is open and panting, and its ears are perked up as if excited. The image is close-up and downward-angled, and the dog’s face is centered, showcasing its large, bright eyes. Vibrantly green grass is visible in the background.

10. Couple on a Cobbled Street

Cute CG art style: A couple holding hands as they walk along a cobbled path. The city around them has old-world charm, with shops with charming awnings and hanging floral baskets. The couple is illuminated by backlighting from the iron street lights behind them. 

11. Pixel Art Skyline

An image of a New York skyline in a 1980s pixel art style. The buildings are dark, apart from a few windows glowing from within. The perspective is far away, as if viewing the skyline from across a large river. The sky behind the buildings is a gradient of vibrant colors, including purple and orange, to show a stylized sunset. 

12. Comic-Style Man

A Pop Art style man wearing a black suit. His facial expression shows surprise, including wide eyes and a rounded mouth, and he’s angled to the right, looking off-screen. The background is bright yellow, and there are visible white frames around the image, making it resemble a comic book.

Mixed Media Collage

13. Scrapbook

A mixed media image showcasing a scrapbook collage. There are a variety of crafty elements glued on a canvas, including green and pink crepe paper and feathers. The center of the canvas contains the words “Anything is possible” written in maroon paint. A paintbrush lies nearby, stained with the same maroon paint.

14. Abstract Woman

An abstract image of a woman assembled out of flower petals. Her face is shown in profile against an off-white canvas, and she has a calm facial expression with a subtle smile. The flower petals have a color palette of fuchsia, pink, and scarlet.

15. Newspaper Cat

A mixed media collage image of a cat made from newspaper clippings. It stands up tall, with its tail sweeping out to the side. The image is monochrome and minimalist, and the cat stands in the direct center. 

Create Attention-Grabbing AI Art With Captions

When you learn to describe your artistic vision, Stable Diffusion can create realistic photos and stunning paintings that liven up your content. Simplify the process with Captions — craft AI-generated art with models like Stable Diffusion and DALL-E 3 and add them to your video projects in a few clicks.

Using Captions’ integration with Stable Diffusion couldn’t be easier. Write a specific prompt, choose an aspect ratio, and instantly generate the ideal image. Add it to your video and continue editing until you’re satisfied.

Create one-of-a-kind AI content with Captions.