Once you understand the basics, it's time to take the reins. Advanced prompting is about moving from "hoping for a good result" to "engineering a specific outcome." Here are seven techniques to give you total control.
1. The Power of Negation
Negative Prompts tell the AI what to exclude. This is crucial for quality control. Always include a standard negative prompt list like: "blurry, low quality, distorted, extra limbs, text, watermark."
2. Prompt Weighting
Not all words are equal. You can assign importance to specific terms using syntax (depending on the model).
Example: "A forest with (blue mushrooms:1.5)." This commands the AI to prioritize the mushrooms significantly more than the forest.
3. Style Blending
Create new aesthetics by forcing the AI to merge two distinct styles.
Prompt: "A portrait of Batman in the style of Wes Anderson." This combines the subject of comics with the symmetry and color palette of the director.
4. Seed Control
The "Seed" is the static noise pattern the image starts from. Using the same prompt with the same seed will produce the same image. This is vital for A/B testing—change one word in your prompt but keep the seed fixed to see exactly how that one word alters the result.
5. Image-to-Image (Img2Img)
Don't start with text. Start with a sketch or a photo to define the composition, then use text to define the texture and details. This creates a "scaffold" for the AI.
6. Camera Syntax
Use technical photography terms. "f/1.8" creates a blurred background. "16mm" creates a wide, distorted angle. "ISO 100" implies a clean, noise-free image.
7. The "High Quality" Boilerplate
Append a string of quality boosters to the end of your prompts.
Suffix: "...unreal engine 5, octane render, 8k, ultra-detailed, sharp focus, cinematic lighting."
Master these, and you stop being a user and become a power user. Try these techniques now.
