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Hi, how can we help you today?
A prompt is the primary tool for instructing an AI model to generate what you envision. Writing effective prompts is key to getting the results you want. It's important to understand that prompting custom-trained models differs significantly from prompting base models (such as SDXL, Flux, Midjourney, Imagen or other foundation models).
The quality of your prompt directly shapes the results, making it an essential skill to master. This guide walks you through actionable steps and practical tips to help you create prompts that bring your vision to life with precision and efficiency.
Example of a fairly long prompt with a base model (Flux 1.1 Pro Ultra)
You'll find the prompt box (field) in the left inference panel of the generation interface. This same field appears across various Scenario tools, including Image Generation but also Textures, Skyboxes, Canvas (Retouch), Expand (outpainting), Restyle, or even Enhance (upscale).
While this section focuses primarily on writing prompts for image generation (https://app.scenario.com/images/new), similar principles apply to other tools in Scenario.
Discovering optimal prompt structure, length, and detail level for any model requires an iterative approach. Scenario's interface is specifically designed to facilitate this process, allowing you to:
Test different prompts systematically, one at a time
Compare results side by side in the generation panel (right)
Identify which prompts produce the best results for your specific needs
Begin with simple prompts, analyze the generated results, and refine based on what you observe. A methodical process helps you develop an understanding of what works best for particular models and projects.
Base models offer great versatility in prompt handling. They can process both brief descriptions and detailed paragraphs, with longer prompts generally producing more detailed images, as shown below with Flux Dev (https://app.scenario.com/images/new?modelId=flux.1-dev)
However, these base models present significant challenges for production work:
Detailed prompts become increasingly difficult to “control“ for consistency across multiple consecutive generations
Finding and reproducing a specific, existing art style (or a unique character) using only text prompts can be nearly impossible, requiring extensive experimentation, time and compute.
These limitations make base models well-suited for exploration and concept work, but they might not be the tool of choice for generating consistent production assets due to too much randomness.
Custom AI models dramatically improve consistency by learning specific styles or elements, offering significant advantages over base models. With a custom model, the AI is pre-trained to reproduce particular visual characteristics. This means you no longer need to struggle with complex prompts trying to describe every stylistic nuance or character feature.
This results in significantly more predictable outputs while requiring far less prompt engineering. The time saved by not having to endlessly refine prompts to achieve a consistent style can speed up production workflows, enabling rapid iteration and asset creation.
Here are some core principles when working with custom models:
Length
You'll typically use shorter, more streamlined prompts that focus primarily on the content you want to generate (scene, subjects), less on the style.
Order
The order of the words is important as the model tends to prioritize elements mentioned earlier in the prompt.
Structure
For optimal results, structure your prompts similarly to the captions used during the model's training process, as this provides familiar patterns for the AI to work with. Scenario’s “Prompt Spark” feature helps with this (see below)
Begin by using Prompt Spark to generate a series of initial prompts
Gradually add more details to the prompts (about characters, scenes, or style)
Stop expanding when prompts become too complex or difficult to control
Experiment with both complete sentences and comma-separated terms (testing is key)
Unlike base models, custom models will maintain the style more consistently, so the length of the prompt won't have as much influence as with base models. However, there comes a point when the prompt becomes too long and its influence will "take over" the influence of the custom model:
In the example above, when the prompt becomes overly long (4th example, to the right), the proportions of the generated character may no longer be consistent with the style of the custom model (as shown below):
Prompt Spark is a unique Scenario tool to help you write good prompts (at least as a starting point), seamlessly and quickly. You'll find four main features in Prompt Spark:
(i) Generate a New Prompt: Creates a new prompt from scratch, influenced by captions and pinned images (if any pinned images on the model).
(ii) Rewrite Your Prompt: Just type a few words, and Rewrite will expand them into a more comprehensive prompt matching the recommended structure
(iii) Translate: The "Translate" feature is convenient if you prefer writing prompts in a language other than English. Simply write your ideas in your preferred language, then use "Translate" to instantly convert them to English. You can further refine the translated prompt using the "Rewrite" function.
(iv) Image-to-Prompt: You can import or drag and drop an image into the prompt box, and Prompt Spark will automatically generate a descriptive, ready-to-use prompt based on the uploaded image. You can then edit and refine these suggestions as needed.
Adapt your approach depending on the model's purpose:
For a style-based model (trained on a consistent art style), you might focus more on describing what you want to see (a scene, an object for ex), while the style should automatically be carried / applied by the model
For a character-based model (trained on a specific subject), you might focus on describing poses, expressions, outfit or other settings, while the overall character's appearance is maintained
Proceed step by step, introducing elements within the prompt, or completing details at the end. You can build your prompt progressively, adding details as needed. Include specific colors, mood indicators, and key elements to improve consistency.
For example: "A serene beach at sunset" can become "A serene beach at sunset with golden sand, turquoise waves crashing gently, and palm trees swaying in the foreground"
With some custom models, you may occasionally notice the AI defaulting to another style than the one you aimed for (typically toward realism). This happens when your prompt includes subjects that have strong associations with realistic images in the base model's training data.
For example, if you prompt "A view of the Eiffel Tower," the model might generate some realistic outputs, given the base model was likely trained with tens of thousands of realistic Eiffel Tower images. This strong association can occasionally “override“ your custom style. The same issue can happen with famous landmarks, celebrities, or well-known characters.
When this happens, you can fix it by reinforcing the style in your prompt. Simply add style descriptors either at the beginning or end of your prompt. You might add a brief reinforcement like "stylized" or "cartoon style" at the beginning, or include a more detailed style description at the end such as "in a vibrant cartoon style with bold outlines and simplified forms." These style tokens remind the model to maintain your custom style even when generating subjects with strong realistic associations.
The same approach works with characters – essentially, reinforce some or all of the key character features in your prompts.
You can also use the prompt embedding of your trained model to automatically add the style to your generation. Go to your model’s details tab to find the prompt embedding setting and cllick on Describe style button. This description will automatically applied to all your prompts, helping maintain style consistency without manual prompt engineering. Especially valuable for difficult-to-train styles or for balancing prompts that might pull toward different aesthetics. See our dedicated article here.
Prompt embeddings automatically add consistent tokens to your prompts without manual entry:
Set up prompt embeddings in your model settings ("Details" page)
For details on configuring this feature, see "Manage Your Custom Models in Scenario"
If you're unsure which prompt embedding to add, you can auto-generate a recommended prompt embedding directly in the model page
Prompt Spark: Scenario API Documentation - POST /generate/prompt
Translate Prompt: Scenario API Documentation - POST /generate/translate
Describe Model Style: Scenario API Documentation - POST /generate/describe-style
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Quentin