What is a Negative Prompt?

Ilustration for What is a negative prompt? in 2025

A negative prompt is an instructive input used in creative fields, particularly in AI-generated art, text modeling, and other generative tasks. Unlike a positive prompt that guides the model towards desired outcomes, a negative prompt explicitly indicates elements or themes that should be avoided. Understanding negative prompts is crucial for achieving the desired results in AI-assisted creativity.

The Purpose of Negative Prompts

Negative prompts serve several key purposes:

Examples of Negative Prompts

To illustrate how negative prompts work, here are some examples:

1. Artistic Generation

If an artist wants to create a serene landscape, a positive prompt might be "a peaceful mountain scene at sunset". A corresponding negative prompt could be:

"Avoid high contrast colors and urban elements."

2. Text Generation

When generating characters for a story, if the positive prompt is "a brave knight", the negative prompt might be:

"Do not include cowardly traits or modern references."

3. Design and Branding

For a logo design where the objective is elegance, the positive prompt could be "a sleek and modern logo for a tech company", while the negative prompt could be:

"Exclude bright colors and playful fonts."

Conclusion

In summary, negative prompts are invaluable tools for anyone utilizing AI in creative tasks. They empower users to define not only what they want but also what they wish to avoid, thus enhancing the effectiveness of AI outputs. Understanding both positive and negative prompts allows for greater creativity and precision in the generative process.

← Back to Blog