Build your AI image prompt
like a photographer builds a shot
Most AI photos look fake because the prompt says what is in the frame but never how it was shot. Pick a camera, a focal length, an aperture and a lighting setup, and this builds the prompt for you. Every choice explains what it does to the image, so you learn the craft while you use it.
Why this exists
The problem is the missing half
A prompt that says "a coffee mug on a table" gives the model no photographic direction, so it invents an average of everything it has seen. That average is what reads as AI.
Photographers specify the shot
85mm at f/1.8 under loop lighting is a specific, repeatable image. Naming those things pulls the output toward real photographs instead of generic renders.
And you learn it as you go
Every option here explains what it changes. After a few prompts you will know why 24mm ruins a portrait and why f/11 is right for a listing photo.
Camera
Canon EOS R5Sets the overall rendering: colour science, dynamic range and how digital or filmic it looks.
Canon EOS R5: Warm, forgiving colour, especially on skin. The safe default when you want the photo to look pleasant rather than clinical.
Focal length
85mmThe single biggest control over how a face or product is shaped. It changes proportions, not just how close you are.
85mm: Slightly compresses features, which narrows the nose and flatters most faces. This is the portrait default for a reason.
Aperture
f/1.8Controls how much stays sharp behind your subject.
f/1.8: Strong background separation while keeping the whole face sharp. The safer version of f/1.4.
Framing
Medium shotHow much of the subject and scene is in the frame.
Medium shot: Subject plus a little breathing room. The default that rarely goes wrong.
Texture
Natural skin textureOptional. These are the details that stop an image reading as AI.
Natural skin texture: The single most useful fix for faces. AI defaults to plastic, poreless skin, and this is what pulls it back.
Lighting
LoopThe setup that decides the mood. Named patterns have their own guide, linked below.
Loop: The everyday portrait default. Flattering on almost any face and far more forgiving than Rembrandt or split. Full guide
Your prompt
Opens with your prompt already filled in. Free, no signup.
How it works
Say what you are shooting
One line is enough: a product, a person, a scene.
Pick the camera and glass
Focal length and aperture do most of the work. The tool tells you what each one changes.
Choose a lighting setup
Loop for a safe portrait, Rembrandt for drama, f/11 and overcast for a clean product shot.
Copy it, or generate it
Copy the prompt into any AI model you like, or hit Create and it opens pre-filled.
Lighting setups, explained
The named lighting patterns, and how to actually set each one up
These are the patterns portrait photographers work from. Each guide covers where the light goes, how to recognise it, what it suits, and the prompt that recreates it.
Rembrandt lighting
Dramatic and painterly. Leaves most of one side of the face in shadow with a small triangle of light under the eye.
Read the guideButterfly lighting
Glamour lighting. Symmetrical and flattering, it emphasises cheekbones and slims the face.
Read the guideLoop lighting
The everyday portrait default. Flattering on almost any face and far more forgiving than Rembrandt or split.
Read the guideSplit lighting
Maximum drama. Splits the face down the middle into light and shadow, with a hard edge between them.
Read the guideThree-point lighting
The interview and video standard. Well lit, clearly separated from the background, and hard to get wrong.
Read the guideClamshell lighting
Beauty lighting. Nearly shadowless and very flattering, with a distinctive double catchlight in the eyes.
Read the guideFAQ
Questions people actually ask
Why do my AI photos still look fake?
Almost always because the prompt describes what is in the shot but not how it was taken. Image models have seen millions of captioned photographs, so naming a focal length, an aperture and a lighting pattern pulls the output toward real photography. The other common cause is skin: models default to poreless, retouched faces, so asking for natural skin texture with visible pores fixes more images than any other single change.
Does naming a specific camera body actually change anything?
Yes, but less than people assume, and not because the model simulates the sensor. Camera names appear in the captions of the training images, so naming one nudges the output toward the kind of photo usually taken on it. A Hasselblad pulls toward polished editorial, an iPhone pulls toward casual and imperfect. Focal length and lighting change the image far more.
Which focal length should I use for a face?
85mm is the safe answer. It compresses features slightly, which narrows the nose and flatters most faces, and it is what portrait photographers reach for by default. Avoid 24mm for faces: wide lenses exaggerate whatever is closest to the camera, which usually means the nose.
Which aperture should I use for a product?
f/11 for anything that has to be fully legible, such as a marketplace listing image. Shallow depth of field looks striking on portraits, but on a product it blurs the details the customer is trying to see, and on Amazon or Etsy that reads as a defective photo rather than an artistic choice.
What is the difference between loop, Rembrandt and split lighting?
They are the same single light moved further around the subject. Loop is roughly 30 to 45 degrees to the side and just above eye level, giving a small nose shadow on the cheek. Push the light further round and higher and the nose shadow joins the cheek shadow to form Rembrandt's triangle. Push it all the way to 90 degrees and you get split lighting, with half the face fully in shadow.
Is this tool free?
Yes. The builder runs entirely in your browser, there is no signup, no account and no limit on how many prompts you build. If you want to generate the image from the prompt, the Create button opens an AI image generator with your prompt already filled in.
Can I use the prompts with any AI image model?
Yes. The output is plain descriptive text with no model-specific syntax, no weights and no parameter flags, so it works in any AI model you like. Copy it wherever you already generate images.
Build the prompt, then make the shot
Free to use, nothing to install, and it works with any AI model you like.