AI Character Images are fun, helpful and creative. You can make them for profile pictures, stories, characters, social media, mood boards, and visual inspiration, and a clearer prompt makes a simple description of what you have in mind, which gives you a better chance of the AI producing the characters you envisioned.
What are AI Character Image Prompts?
AI character image prompts are simply the prompts in text form of what you want an image generating tool to make of your character. It could be something simple as a “happy forest explorer” or a more descriptive prompt like “a determined space pilot in a white jacket inside a light up space ship cockpit”.
You can think of prompts as if you are asking an artist to produce something based on a request you make. It needs to be more than just a prompt for it to be a picture. It can’t be random. The computer does not know what you are thinking, you have to write it down.
Why Good Prompts Are a Must
Good prompts can save you time! You don’t need to keep generating new images to get the character looking just right; with a good prompt to start off with, the character’s face, clothing, expression, pose, setting, style, etc., will appear almost exactly how you described it.
Main Components of an Effective Character Prompt
Character Description
Start with the character! Include their general age, position, look, expression, and personality. For example, “a composed adult detective with short black hair and a solemn look” is much more specific than merely “a detective.” Highlight the elements that count most, for instance, hair shade, physique, appearance, and adjectives (like friendly, enigmatic, courageous, worn out, graceful, etc.).
Outfit and Equipment
Wardrobe conveys a lot to the observer. A leather jacket, a royal cape, a chef’s apron, a space outfit, etc., can immediately alter the tale depicted in the image. Props might be helpful too, e.g., eyeglasses, a backpack, a spear, a journal, etc.
Opt for details that complement the character, and don’t include unrelated objects in random order. A forest doctor in a linen robe, an herb bag, and a wooden staff is likely more obvious than a character with a number of unconnected props.
Art Style and Image Type
The very same character can vary wildly in appearance depending on which style is requested. Whether you prefer a realistic portrait, a cartoon character, anime style, fantasy art, 3D model, watercolor effect, or even comic book, each style should be specified.
Here is an example of where phrasing is vital. A text prompt to an unfiltered AI image generator will allow for more artistic expression overall, but for high quality results, you still have to be specific in what style you want your results to be in. A prompt like “Realistic portrait, soft light, intricate facial details” is much better than “Make it cool-looking” as an instruction.
Pose, Mood and Setting
Add something for your character to be doing or some place for them to be. Instead of a warrior, write “A weary warrior, standing in the rain following a battle.” This adds to the story and mood.
The setting can be anything, a bedroom, the city street, a forest road, a classroom, on a spaceship, inside a cafe, or even just the hallways of the castle. Use descriptive words such as peaceful, dramatic, cozy, bright, magical or cinematic.
Tips for Writing an AI Character Prompt
A well-designed prompt typically flows from general to specific:
- character
- look
- clothes
- style
- pose
- background
You can write your prompt in one flowing sentence, or a small paragraph: “A happy adult baker, curly brown hair, wearing a flour-stained apron, carrying a tray of fresh bread, located in a bakery, warm light, morning, cozy realism.” All the descriptors describe the same thing.
Place more critical information early. For example, if the person you want must have silvery hair, a red coat, or a peaceful smile, say that earlier in the prompt.
Here are two examples of basic prompts that you might try: “a fantasy girl” (you may produce something nice, but you’re taking too much of a chance) or “a robot”.
Examples of Simple and Better Prompts
Here are two examples of better prompts: “an adult fantasy heroine with long silver hair, green cloak, kind eyes, holding lantern in magical forest, soft fantasy illustration, detailed” and “a small friendly service robot with round eyes, white metal body, blue lights, holding a cup of tea in modern living room, cute 3d rendered, toy design style”.
For realistic people (and in particular, realistic women), you’re going to want to avoid something like a prompt of realistic AI girl generator. Try adding things like adult age, expression, light, clothing, and environment to make your character more realistic.
Things You Should Never Do
A typical error people make is providing information that’s too general. While words such as “beautiful” or “amazing” help a little, they don’t help anyone visualize the character you’re hoping to create. Be more specific with your descriptions and try to provide actual, visible details about your character.
The second mistake that occurs quite frequently is cramming too many unrelated ideas into a single prompt. If your prompt says the character is a medieval knight, cyberpunk hacker, beach tourist, and royal chef at the same time, the end result might be very confusing. Instead, pick one main path to follow.
Finally, be cautious about how you word your descriptions to ensure they don’t lead to NSFW or otherwise inappropriate content. An AI NSFW image generator or unfiltered or an AI hentai generator prompt might not require such precautions, but you should still be responsible and use your discretion when using these tools.
Never request depictions of young-looking characters in sexual situations, never request depictions of actual people without their consent, and avoid generating content that could be interpreted as exploitative.
Tips for Improving Your Results
Here’s the best practice: make one small change at a time. If the face is good, but the clothing is off, keep the prompt and adjust the clothing. If the pose is wrong, change the pose, but keep everything else the same.
Also, save the prompts you like, so that you have them handy for when you need them. Some of mine include: soft natural light, full-body character design, clean background and warm cinematic mood. You will get better at prompt engineering over time, and start your own collection.
Finally, use simple language. You do not need to understand art jargon in order to use prompts correctly. Just describe what you would want a human artist to draw: who the character is, what their appearance is, where they are, and what style or mood you want.
Things to think about when you want to create AI character images
AI images generated from the same prompt can be different, each time. This might not necessarily mean that the prompt used was incorrect. Sometimes, you just need to try again, tweak a word, or refine the prompt description further.
Think about ethics and originality. Think carefully before creating images using photos of real or fictional people, private figures, celebrities or copyrighted characters. While it’s okay to be influenced by a certain character style or character type, it’s better to come up with your own character.
Be mindful of stereotyping in prompts. If you refer to a culture, physical type, gender, age, or disability group in a prompt, consider the implications and the wording.
Summary
To be more successful with AI images and generate the character image you’re looking for, it helps to be as clear as possible with your prompts. No need to be complicated or technical – you just need to give a detailed description of the character to the AI. Think of it as creating the foundation of the character, the character itself, the clothes, the setting, and the mood or style first.
Next, work from there, refining the details, and the prompts themselves. Through practice, you will soon begin to figure out what prompts work best to give you character images and how to take a basic idea and turn it into an image that is closer to your vision.
