Tools
Claude + your image generator
Price
Depends on the image tool
Time
10 min
Level
Beginner

You type "a nice photo of my handmade soap" and the AI returns a clean but bland image, the same one everybody gets. What is missing are the words a photographer would say to an assistant: where the light comes from, how close the frame is, what surface the object sits on. The official guides from Google and OpenAI both say it: describe the scene in detail and name the lighting, angle, lens and style.

The list below is our own. You can drop the terms as they are into any prompt.

Light

  • golden hour: warm, low light at the start or end of the day.
  • blue hour: cool, soft light just after sunset.
  • soft diffused light: gentle light, faint shadows, ideal for products.
  • hard direct light: plain sun, sharp graphic shadows.
  • backlit: light behind the subject, glowing edges.
  • rim light: thin line of light that separates the subject from the background.
  • Rembrandt lighting: portrait lit from the side, small triangle of light on the cheek.
  • high-key: very bright image, white background, almost no shadow.
  • low-key: dark image where only the subject stands out.
  • chiaroscuro: strong contrast between light and shadow.

Framing

  • extreme close-up: very tight shot on one detail.
  • medium shot: waist-up shot, natural for a portrait.
  • wide shot: shows the whole place.
  • flat lay: objects laid flat, shot from above.
  • low angle: camera below the subject, which looks imposing.
  • Dutch angle: tilted frame, a sense of tension.
  • rule of thirds: subject on a third of the frame, not in the center.
  • negative space: large empty area, handy for adding text.
  • shallow depth of field: sharp subject, blurred background.
  • 85mm lens: portrait lens look, no face distortion.

Material

  • matte: flat surface, no reflection.
  • glossy: shiny surface that bounces light.
  • brushed aluminum: metal with fine parallel lines.
  • frosted glass: translucent, soft-looking glass.
  • raw linen: natural, textured fabric.
  • terrazzo: floor speckled with colored stone chips.
  • glazed ceramic: ceramic with a light shine.
  • kraft paper: brown wrapping paper, handmade feel.
  • film grain: analog grain, a less polished image.
  • polished concrete: smooth grey mineral surface.

Style

  • editorial photography: polished, magazine-style photo.
  • packshot on seamless backdrop: product alone on a plain background with no horizon line.
  • flat illustration: illustration in solid colors, no depth.
  • isometric: 3D view without perspective, like a technical plan.
  • line art: outlines only, no fill.
  • risograph print: bright print colors, slightly misaligned.
  • Swiss style: clean graphic design, strict grid, bold type.
  • Bauhaus: simple geometric shapes and primary colors.
  • clay 3D render: 3D render that looks like modeling clay.
  • paper collage: layered cut-paper composition.

Mood

  • muted palette: softened, low-saturation colors.
  • monochromatic: one color in several shades.
  • pastel tones: light, gentle tints.
  • earth tones: ochre, terracotta, brown, olive green.
  • high contrast: deep blacks and clean whites.
  • cinematic: wide image, color-graded like a film.
  • moody: dark, heavy atmosphere.
  • airy: bright, open image with lots of white.
  • hazy: light mist, softened edges.
  • nostalgic: old-photo look, faded colors.

The prompt: from your brief to a precise image

Instead of learning the list by heart, hand it to Claude with your need. It picks the terms and gives you three versions to test.

Prompt
You are an art director. I need an image for: [use, e.g. an Instagram post for my handmade soap].
My brand: [3 words, e.g. natural, warm, premium]. Colors: [your colors].

Write 3 different image prompts, each in 3 to 5 full sentences describing a scene (not a keyword list).
In each prompt, pick at most one term per family from this list:
- Light: golden hour, soft diffused light, backlit, rim light, high-key, low-key, chiaroscuro
- Framing: extreme close-up, medium shot, flat lay, low angle, negative space, shallow depth of field, 85mm lens
- Material: matte, glossy, frosted glass, raw linen, terrazzo, kraft paper, film grain
- Style: editorial photography, packshot on seamless backdrop, flat illustration, isometric, clay 3D render
- Mood: muted palette, earth tones, pastel tones, high contrast, airy, moody

Under each prompt, explain in one sentence why these choices fit my brand.
No text in the image, no logo, no artist names.

How to use it

  1. Fill in the bracketsThree brand words are enough. The more precise the use (website banner, square post, product page), the better the suggested framing.
  2. Test the three promptsPaste them into your image generator (ChatGPT, Gemini or another). Keep the one closest to what you had in mind.
  3. Change one word at a timeSwap golden hour for soft diffused light, for example, and compare. That is what the official guides advise: start from a simple base and adjust in small steps.
  4. Keep your recipesWrite down the combinations that work. After a few tries you will have your own house style, reusable for every post.

Good to know

  • Stacking ten terms muddies the result. Three to five well-chosen ones are enough, one per family at most.
  • Each model reads words its own way: the same prompt gives a different image from one tool to another.
  • For text inside the image, Google's guide recommends staying under 25 characters. Better to add your text afterwards in Canva or Figma.
  • The price depends on the image tool: some free plans cap the number of images per day.

Be careful. A generated image must not make a customer believe they will get something other than the real product. For a product page, keep real photos and use AI for mood shots and social posts. Also avoid logos and brand or artist names in your prompts.

Sources

Want your brand visuals produced every week without spending your evenings on them? That is the kind of automation I set up.