Prompt Engineering for Photo-Realistic Portraits
Craft text prompts and reference cues that deliver flattering, on-brand portraits without endless retouching rounds.
Prompt Engineering for Photo-Realistic Portraits
Successful AI portraits depend on three controllable factors: lighting descriptors, camera language, and identity anchors that keep characters consistent across sessions.
Portrait Setup Checklist
- Specify camera height, focal length, and lens to control facial proportions.
- Describe lighting direction and modifier type (softbox, beauty dish, rim light).
- Add wardrobe and styling cues that match the persona or brand guidelines.
Locking Identity Across Shoots
Upload two to five clean reference portraits, tag them with the subject name, and apply the same seed with subtle prompt variations so expressions evolve without breaking likeness.
Fixing Common Artifacts
If hands or jewelry distort, lower the guidance scale and add negative prompts like "extra fingers" or "warped accessories". For eyes that misalign, rerun with an inpaint mask centered on the gaze.
Teams who standardize portrait prompt templates cut editing time by 42% within the first month of rollout.
— MultiMind Customer Benchmark Study, 2024
References
- [1] Adobe. "Lighting Essentials for Portrait Photography". https://www.adobe.com/creativecloud/photography
- [2] McCormack, J. "Human Preference for Synthetic Portraits". Nature Scientific Reports, 2023.
- [3] OpenAI. "Guidelines for Photorealistic Generation". https://openai.com/policies/generative-guidelines
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