Writing Prompts That Get Good Images
The single biggest difference between a disappointing AI image and a great one is the prompt. A prompt is just the description you type. The good news is that Nano Banana understands everyday language, so you do not need secret codes or technical syntax. You mostly need to be clear, specific, and organized. This lesson gives you a simple recipe you can reuse for almost any image.
What You'll Learn
- The five parts of a strong image prompt
- How to be specific without writing an essay
- How to control style, mood, and framing with plain words
- A reusable prompt template
- How to ask for text inside an image
Why Vague Prompts Fail
If you type "a dog," Nano Banana has to guess everything: breed, setting, lighting, style, mood, angle. It will pick for you, and you might not like the pick. Every detail you leave out is a decision handed to the model. The fix is not to write more words for the sake of it, but to add the details that matter to you.
The Five-Part Prompt Recipe
A reliable prompt answers five questions. You do not need all five every time, but keeping them in mind makes your images far more predictable.
- SubjectWhat is it?
- DetailsWhat does it look like?
- SettingWhere is it?
- StyleWhat look?
- FramingHow is it shot?
- Subject: the main thing. "A golden retriever puppy."
- Details: what it looks like. "Fluffy, wearing a red bandana, tongue out."
- Setting: where it is. "Sitting on green grass in a sunny park."
- Style: the overall look. "Bright, cheerful photo" or "flat cartoon illustration" or "watercolor painting."
- Framing: the shot. "Close-up," "wide shot," "from above," "eye level."
Put together: "A close-up bright photo of a fluffy golden retriever puppy wearing a red bandana, tongue out, sitting on green grass in a sunny park." That prompt will land close to what you pictured, because you made the decisions instead of leaving them to chance.
Be Specific, Not Long
Specific beats long. Compare these:
- Weak: "a nice office."
- Wordy but vague: "a really beautiful amazing wonderful modern office that looks great and professional and clean."
- Strong: "a modern office with a white desk, a laptop, a small green plant, and a large window with soft morning light."
The strong version is shorter than the wordy one but tells the model exactly what to put in the picture. Adjectives like "amazing" and "beautiful" do almost nothing because they are opinions, not visual facts. Name the objects, colors, and light instead.
Control Style and Mood With Plain Words
You do not need art terms. Everyday descriptions work:
- Style: "photo," "cartoon," "watercolor," "pencil sketch," "3D render," "flat icon," "vintage poster."
- Mood: "cozy," "dramatic," "cheerful," "calm," "moody," "energetic."
- Color: "warm colors," "pastel palette," "black and white," "bright neon."
- Lighting: "soft morning light," "golden sunset," "studio lighting," "dark and moody."
Mix and match. "A cozy watercolor illustration of a coffee cup on a wooden table, warm colors, soft light" is a complete, controllable prompt built entirely from plain words.
A Template You Can Reuse
Keep this template handy and fill in the blanks:
A {style} of {subject}, {details}, in {setting}, {lighting}, {framing}.
Example filled in: "A flat cartoon illustration of a smiling student holding a laptop, wearing a yellow hoodie, in a bright library, soft light, wide shot."
Notice the braces above are just placeholders to swap out; you type the real words, not the braces.
Asking for Text Inside an Image
Nano Banana is better than many older tools at putting readable text into a picture, which is handy for social posts and thumbnails. Be explicit and keep the text short:
- "A bold poster with the words 'Study Group Friday' in large white letters at the top, on a dark blue background with simple book icons."
Short, clearly quoted text works best. Long paragraphs inside an image still tend to come out garbled with any tool, so keep on-image words to a title or a few key phrases.
Key Takeaways
- A strong prompt answers five questions: subject, details, setting, style, and framing.
- Specific beats long; name objects, colors, and lighting instead of piling on opinion words like "beautiful."
- You can control style and mood with plain everyday words, no art jargon required.
- Reuse the template: a {style} of {subject}, {details}, in {setting}, {lighting}, {framing}.
- For text in an image, quote it, keep it short, and place it clearly.