Prompt guide

How to write prompts for Flux 3

A prompt is how you tell Flux 3 what to make — the subject, its look, the mood, and the style. This guide covers the fundamentals, from plain-language descriptions to reference images.

What is prompting

Describe what you want to see

A prompt is a text description that communicates your intent: what the subject is, how it looks, the mood, and the visual style. The clearer the description, the closer the result.

You don’t need special syntax. Well-formed sentences work best — Flux 3 reads them the way you’d read them.

A chromatic 3D rendition of a cursor on a black background

A starting structure

The prompt formula

If you’re not sure where to begin, this ordering is a useful scaffold. Treat it as a starting point, not a strict rule — drop the parts you don’t need.

template
[SUBJECT], [LOCATION], [STYLE], [CAMERA SETTINGS], [LIGHTING], [COLORS], [EFFECT], [ADDITIONAL ELEMENTS]
A sentient tree rooted underwater off a tumultuous ocean shore at high noon

Use natural language

Write plain, descriptive sentences

Full sentences beat keyword lists. Describe the scene the way you’d describe it to a person, and let detail carry the mood.

example prompt
At high noon on a blustery day, capture the surreal presence of a sentient tree, seemingly rooted underwater just off a tumultuous ocean shore.

Text in images

Put words in quotation marks

To render specific words in the image, wrap them in quotation marks. That signals Flux 3 to draw the text visually rather than treat it as a description of the scene.

example prompt
A photorealistic still life of matchsticks arranged on a beige paper background, spelling out the word “FLUX”.
A photorealistic still life of matchsticks arranged to spell a word

Refine as you go

Iterate one element at a time

The fastest path to a great image is a loop, not a single perfect prompt. Start simple, look at the result, and change one thing.

Step 01

Start simple

Begin with the core subject in a single plain sentence. Don’t over-specify on the first pass.

Step 02

Evaluate

Look at what came back. Decide the one thing that would move the result closest to your intent.

Step 03

Adjust one element

Add or change a single detail — location, lighting, a prop, or a style — then generate again.

Start

A tall sharp-featured man in an oversized charcoal wool coat

After several passes

The same subject with added street setting, lighting, props, and vintage cars
A flamenco dancer mid-movement in a swirling red dress

Multilingual prompting

Prompt in many languages

Flux 3 understands prompts in many languages. English tends to give the most precise results because of how the model was trained, but other languages work well — and can help capture culturally specific detail.

example prompt (español)
Una bailaora de flamenco en pleno movimiento, vestido rojo girando, escenario en penumbra.

Image input

Prompt with reference images

Alongside your text, you can supply up to ten reference images. That unlocks editing, style transfer, character consistency, and compositing. Describe the change you want, and Flux 3 applies it.

example prompt
The butterfly is now made of shiny silver

Input

A butterfly reference image

Result

The same butterfly rendered in shiny silver

Put it into practice

See what’s possible

Browse eighteen real-world use cases — each with an example prompt you can adapt for your own work.

Explore use cases

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