The Ultimate Guide to Negative Prompts for Realistic Images: 150+ Proven Prompts That Actually Work [2025]

Last Updated: 2026-01-29 13:42:21

Why Your AI Images Still Look "Fake" (And How to Fix It)

You've spent hours crafting the perfect prompt. The composition is right. The lighting description is spot on. But something's off the skin looks plastic, the hands have six fingers, and there's that unmistakable "AI look" that screams artificial.

The problem isn't your positive prompt. It's your negative prompt.

After testing over 500 negative prompt combinations across Stable Diffusion, SDXL, Midjourney, and Leonardo AI, I've compiled the best negative prompts for realistic images that consistently deliver photorealistic results.

Whether you're creating realistic portraits, product photography, or cinematic scenes, this guide gives you copy paste prompts that work plus the understanding to customize them for your specific needs.

Table of Contents

1. Universal Negative Prompts for Realism
2. Negative Prompts for Realistic Human Portraits
3. Fixing Hands, Eyes, and Anatomy
4. Negative Prompts for Realistic Skin Texture
5. Background and Environment Prompts
6. Platform Specific Optimizations
7. Common Mistakes to Avoid
8. Copy Paste Prompt Templates
9. FAQ

1. Universal Negative Prompts for Photorealistic Images

These foundational negative prompts work across most AI image generators and should be your starting point for any realistic image generation.

🎯 The Essential Realism Negative Prompt (Copy This First)

(worst quality, low quality:1.4), (low resolution, blurry, blur:1.2), 
jpeg artifacts, compression artifacts, poorly drawn, bad anatomy, 
wrong anatomy, deformed, mutated, disfigured, ugly, disgusting, 
text, watermark, signature, logo, username, artist name, 
(cartoon, anime, illustration, painting, drawing, sketch:1.3), 
3d render, cgi, digital art, unrealistic, artificial

Why These Work

💡 Pro Tip: Weight Matters

Notice the :1.4 and :1.3 syntax? This applies emphasis weights. For realistic images, I recommend:

• Quality terms: 1.3~1.5 weight
• Style exclusions: 1.2~1.4 weight
• Anatomy fixes: 1.1~1.3 weight

Don't over weight everything it can cause unexpected artifacts.

1. Negative Prompts for Realistic Human Portraits

Human faces are where AI struggles most and where good negative prompts make the biggest difference.

🎯 Photorealistic Portrait Negative Prompt

(deformed face, distorted face:1.3), asymmetrical face, crooked face,
(bad teeth, yellow teeth, crooked teeth:1.2), unnatural smile, creepy smile,
(dead eyes, lifeless eyes, doll eyes:1.3), crossed eyes, wall eyed,
(plastic skin, waxy skin, smooth skin:1.2), poreless skin, airbrushed,
(unnatural hair, plastic hair, helmet hair:1.1), bad hairline,
facial asymmetry, misaligned features, uncanny valley,
(overexposed, underexposed:1.2), harsh shadows on face,
double chin (unless intended), neck too long, neck too short,
(earrings mismatched, jewelry errors), floating accessories

Breaking Down Portrait Specific Terms

For Natural Expressions:

forced smile, fake smile, grimace, awkward expression, 
stiff pose, mannequin like, robotic expression
For Realistic Facial Features:

asymmetrical eyes, mismatched eyes, different sized eyes,
nose too small, nose too large, nostril asymmetry,
lips too smooth, overliplined, unnatural lip color,
eyebrows floating, disconnected eyebrows, no eyebrows
For Natural Skin Appearance:

(overly smooth skin, porcelain skin:1.2), plastic texture,
(no pores, no skin texture:1.3), airbrushed appearance,
skin too shiny, skin too matte, unnatural skin tone,
visible skin seams, patchy skin color

Before vs After: Portrait Prompts in Action

1. Fixing Hands, Eyes, and Body Anatomy

Let's address the elephant in the room: AI generated hands are often nightmares. Here's how to fix them.

🎯 The Ultimate Hand Fixing Negative Prompt

(bad hands, poorly drawn hands, malformed hands:1.4),
(wrong number of fingers, too many fingers, missing fingers:1.4),
(fused fingers, merged fingers, webbed fingers:1.3),
(extra fingers, fewer fingers, four fingers, six fingers:1.4),
(deformed fingers, twisted fingers, bent fingers:1.2),
(short fingers, long fingers, stubby fingers:1.1),
(missing thumb, extra thumb, thumb wrong position:1.3),
(fingernails wrong, no fingernails, long fingernails:1.1),
(hands too small, hands too large, baby hands:1.2),
floating hands, disembodied hands, hands in pockets poorly drawn

🎯 Eye Perfection Negative Prompt

(asymmetrical eyes, uneven eyes, different sized eyes:1.3),
(crossed eyes, lazy eye, wall eyed, strabismus:1.3),
(dead eyes, empty eyes, soulless eyes, doll eyes:1.4),
(no eye reflection, missing catchlight:1.2),
(wrong eye color, mismatched eye colors:1.1),
(iris bleeding, pupil wrong shape, square pupils:1.2),
(double iris, multiple pupils:1.4),
(eyelashes wrong, no eyelashes, too many eyelashes:1.1),
(bloodshot eyes, yellow sclera:1.1) unless intended,
glowing eyes, laser eyes, anime eyes

🎯 Full Body Anatomy Negative Prompt

(bad anatomy, wrong anatomy, anatomical errors:1.3),
(extra limbs, missing limbs, floating limbs:1.4),
(extra arms, missing arms, three arms:1.4),
(extra legs, missing legs, three legs:1.4),
(body too long, torso too short, proportions wrong:1.2),
(neck too long, giraffe neck, no neck:1.2),
(shoulders uneven, shoulders too wide, shoulders too narrow:1.1),
(waist distorted, hips wrong:1.1),
(joints wrong, elbows backwards, knees backwards:1.3),
contorted body, impossible pose, broken spine,
body horror, mutation, extra body parts

Anatomy Quick Reference Table

1. Negative Prompts for Realistic Skin Texture

The difference between "AI generated" and "could be a photograph" often comes down to skin rendering.

🎯 Natural Skin Texture Negative Prompt

(plastic skin, waxy skin, silicon skin:1.3),
(poreless skin, airbrushed skin, smooth skin:1.3),
(skin too perfect, flawless skin:1.2),
(unnatural skin tone, wrong skin color:1.2),
(shiny skin, oily skin:1.1) unless intended,
(matte skin, powdery skin:1.1),
visible skin seams, texture repetition, skin patches,
(overprocessed, over retouched, instagram filter:1.2),
beauty filter, snapchat filter, facetune,
mannequin skin, doll skin, rubber skin

For Different Skin Types

Younger Subjects:

wrinkles (if unwanted), age spots, sagging skin,
but KEEP: natural pores, slight imperfections, realistic texture
Mature Subjects:

overly smooth skin, no wrinkles, no expression lines,
plastic surgery look, uncanny smoothness,
but KEEP: natural aging, character lines, realistic texture
Close Up Skin Detail:

(blurry skin texture, smudged details:1.3),
(repeating patterns, tiled texture:1.2),
(visible brush strokes, painted look:1.2),
no subsurface scattering, flat lighting on skin

1. Background and Environment Negative Prompts

Realistic subjects need realistic environments. Here's how to keep backgrounds photographic.

🎯 Photorealistic Background Negative Prompt

(blurry background when sharp needed, sharp background when bokeh needed:1.2),
(painted background, illustrated background:1.3),
(simple background, plain background, studio background:1.1) unless intended,
(busy background, cluttered background, distracting background:1.2),
impossible architecture, wrong perspective, warped buildings,
floating objects, gravity defying elements,
(repeated patterns, tiled textures, obvious repetition:1.3),
visible seams, edge artifacts, cutout look,
green screen artifacts, composite errors,
(low detail background, flat background:1.2)

For Specific Environments

Indoor/Architectural:

impossible geometry, M.C. Escher, non euclidean,
doors wrong size, windows floating, stairs to nowhere,
furniture wrong scale, perspective errors,
lighting inconsistencies, multiple light sources conflicting
Outdoor/Nature:

fake looking sky, obvious sky replacement,
trees wrong scale, floating vegetation,
water not reflecting properly, impossible reflections,
horizon line wrong, multiple horizons
Studio/Product Photography:

uneven lighting, harsh shadows, multiple shadows,
reflection errors, surface inconsistencies,
product floating, wrong perspective, scale errors

1. Platform Specific Negative Prompt Optimizations

Different AI models respond differently to negative prompts. Here's how to optimize for each.

Stable Diffusion 1.5

(worst quality, low quality:1.4), (low resolution:1.2),
bad anatomy, bad hands, text, error, missing fingers,
extra digit, fewer digits, cropped, worst quality,
low quality, normal quality, jpeg artifacts, signature,
watermark, username, blurry, artist name,
(cartoon, anime, illustration:1.3), painting, drawing
SD 1.5 Tips:

• Responds well to weighted terms
• Benefits from explicit anatomy fixes
• "Embedding" negative prompts (like EasyNegative) work great

SDXL / Stable Diffusion XL

(low quality, worst quality:1.2), bad anatomy, bad hands,
cropped, poorly drawn face, mutation, deformed,
blurry, dehydrated, extra limbs, disfigured,
gross proportions, malformed limbs, missing arms,
missing legs, extra arms, extra legs, fused fingers,
too many fingers, long neck, image compression,
watermark, text, logo, signature
SDXL Tips:

• Requires less aggressive weighting than SD 1.5
• Better baseline quality = simpler negative prompts
• Focus more on style exclusion than quality fixes

Midjourney

Midjourney handles negative prompts differently using   no parameter:

  no cartoon, illustration, anime, drawing, painting, 
sketch, 3d render, cgi, plastic, artificial, fake,
blurry, grainy, low quality, watermark, text
Midjourney Tips:

• Use style raw for more photorealistic results
• no has limited slots prioritize key terms
• Combine with v 6 for best realism

Leonardo AI

cartoon, anime, illustration, painting, drawing, sketch,
3d render, cgi, digital art, low quality, blurry,
deformed, ugly, bad anatomy, bad proportions,
extra limbs, mutated hands, poorly drawn hands,
poorly drawn face, mutation, deformed, disfigured,
watermark, text, logo, oversaturated
Leonardo Tips:

• PhotoReal mode reduces need for extensive negatives
• Alchemy feature improves baseline realism
• Focus negatives on style rather than quality

ComfyUI

ComfyUI uses the same prompts as SD/SDXL but allows more control:

Recommended workflow:
1. Use CLIP text encode for negative prompt
2. Apply to both first and second pass (if using)
3. Consider negative prompt scheduling for complex generations

1. Common Negative Prompt Mistakes (And How to Avoid Them)

❌ Mistake #1: Over Weighting Everything

Bad:

(bad quality:2.0), (blurry:2.0), (ugly:2.0), (deformed:2.0)
Why it fails: Extreme weights can cause artifacts and unexpected results.
Better:

(bad quality:1.4), (blurry:1.2), ugly, (deformed:1.3)

❌ Mistake #2: Contradicting Your Positive Prompt

Example Problem:

• Positive: "soft, dreamy portrait"
• Negative: "blurry, soft focus, hazy"

Fix: Ensure negative prompts don't cancel out desired effects.

❌ Mistake #3: Using Too Many Terms

Bad: 500+ word negative prompt with every possible term

Why it fails: Dilutes the impact of important terms; may cause conflicts.

Better: Focused 50 150 word negative prompt targeting specific issues.

❌ Mistake #4: Ignoring Model Differences

Problem: Using SD 1.5 optimized prompts on SDXL without modification.

Fix: Adjust weights and terms based on model capabilities.

❌ Mistake #5: Set It and Forget It

Problem: Using same negative prompt for all image types.

Fix: Customize negatives for:

• Portraits vs landscapes
• Close ups vs full body
• Indoor vs outdoor
• Different art directions

1. Ready to Use Negative Prompt Templates

Copy these templates directly into your AI image generator.

📋 Template 1: General Photorealistic Image

(worst quality, low quality:1.4), (blurry:1.2), jpeg artifacts,
(cartoon, anime, illustration, painting, drawing:1.3),
3d render, cgi, digital art, unrealistic, artificial,
bad anatomy, deformed, ugly, disfigured,
text, watermark, signature, logo, username,
(bad hands, malformed hands, wrong fingers:1.3),
extra limbs, missing limbs, floating limbs,
low resolution, pixelated, grainy, noise

📋 Template 2: Photorealistic Portrait (Head/Shoulders)

(worst quality, low quality:1.4), (blurry:1.2),
(deformed face, distorted face, bad anatomy:1.3),
(asymmetrical eyes, dead eyes, crossed eyes:1.3),
(plastic skin, waxy skin, poreless skin:1.3),
(bad teeth, unnatural smile:1.2),
(cartoon, anime, illustration, painting:1.4),
3d render, cgi, doll, mannequin, uncanny valley,
text, watermark, signature, over processed,
(airbrushed, beauty filter, instagram filter:1.2),
harsh lighting, unflattering shadows

📋 Template 3: Full Body Realistic Portrait

(worst quality, low quality:1.4), (blurry:1.2),
(bad anatomy, wrong anatomy:1.3),
(bad hands, malformed hands, wrong number of fingers:1.4),
(extra limbs, missing limbs, floating limbs:1.4),
(deformed body, disproportionate:1.3),
(bad face, deformed face, ugly face:1.3),
(cartoon, anime, illustration:1.3), 3d render, cgi,
impossible pose, contorted, twisted body,
text, watermark, logo, signature,
clothing errors, fabric glitches, warped patterns

📋 Template 4: Realistic Product Photography

(low quality, blurry, out of focus:1.3),
(cartoon, illustration, drawing, painting:1.4),
3d render unless intended, cgi, fake looking,
wrong perspective, floating product, impossible shadows,
multiple light sources conflicting, harsh shadows,
reflection errors, wrong scale, distorted shape,
background distracting, cluttered, busy,
text, watermark, logo (unless part of product),
color inaccuracy, oversaturated, undersaturated

📋 Template 5: Realistic Landscape/Environment

(low quality, worst quality:1.3), (blurry, out of focus:1.2),
(painting, illustration, drawing, cartoon:1.4),
3d render, cgi, video game, digital art,
impossible geometry, wrong perspective,
fake sky, obvious compositing, green screen,
repeating patterns, tiled textures, visible seams,
oversaturated, HDR overdone, unrealistic colors,
floating objects, gravity errors,
text, watermark, signature, logo

📋 Template 6: Realistic Close Up (Macro/Detail)

(blurry, out of focus, soft:1.3) unless intended bokeh,
(low quality, low resolution, pixelated:1.4),
(painting, illustration, digital art:1.3),
noise, grain, jpeg artifacts, compression,
wrong depth of field, everything in focus,
(texture repetition, pattern tiling:1.2),
color banding, posterization,
dust spots, sensor spots (unless realistic),
chromatic aberration (unless realistic),
watermark, text, logo

1. Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Do negative prompts slow down image generation?

A: Minimally. The processing time difference is negligible compared to the quality improvement. A well crafted negative prompt typically adds less than 1 second to generation time.

Q: Should I use negative prompt embeddings like "EasyNegative"?

A: For Stable Diffusion 1.5, embeddings like EasyNegative, BadDream, and UnrealisticDream can be excellent shortcuts. However:

• They're "black boxes" you don't know exactly what's included
• They may conflict with your specific needs
• For maximum control, use explicit negative prompts

Recommended approach: Start with an embedding + add specific terms for your use case.

Q: What's the ideal negative prompt length?

A:

• Minimum effective: 30~50 words
• Sweet spot: 75~150 words
• Maximum useful: ~200 words

Beyond 200 words, you typically see diminishing returns and potential conflicts.

Q: Do the same negative prompts work for all realistic styles?

A: No. Different realistic styles need adjustments:

Q: Why do my images still have issues despite using negative prompts?

A: Common reasons:

1. Positive prompt conflict: Your positive prompt may override negatives
2. Model limitations: Some issues are model inherent
3. Wrong weights: Adjust weight values up or down
4. Missing specific terms: Add targeted terms for your specific issue
5. Too many terms: Simplify and prioritize

Q: How do negative prompts interact with LoRAs and checkpoints?

A:

• Checkpoints: Different models need different negative prompts a photorealistic checkpoint needs less "anti cartoon" terms
• LoRAs: May require adjusted negatives; character LoRAs especially may need anatomy terms reduced to avoid conflicts

Quick Reference: Copy Paste Cheat Sheet

The "Nuclear Option"   Maximum Realism

(worst quality, low quality, low resolution:1.4), (blurry, blur, out of focus:1.2), jpeg artifacts, compression artifacts, noise, grain, pixelated, (cartoon, anime, illustration, painting, drawing, sketch, artwork, comic:1.4), (3d render, 3d, cgi, octane render, unreal engine, unity:1.3), digital art, concept art, (artificial, fake, synthetic, plastic:1.3), (bad anatomy, wrong anatomy, anatomical errors:1.3), (bad hands, malformed hands, wrong number of fingers, extra fingers, missing fingers, fused fingers:1.4), (bad face, deformed face, distorted face, disfigured:1.3), (asymmetrical, uneven features:1.2), (dead eyes, lifeless eyes, doll eyes:1.3), (plastic skin, waxy skin, poreless skin, airbrushed:1.3), uncanny valley, mannequin, doll, (extra limbs, missing limbs, floating limbs:1.4), mutation, mutated, deformed, ugly, disgusting, (text, watermark, signature, logo, username, artist name:1.3), frame, border, (oversaturated, undersaturated:1.1), (overexposed, underexposed:1.2)

The "Balanced" Option   Quality + Speed

(low quality, worst quality:1.3), blurry, jpeg artifacts, 
(cartoon, anime, illustration:1.3), 3d render, cgi, 
bad anatomy, bad hands, wrong fingers, extra limbs, 
deformed, disfigured, ugly, plastic skin, 
text, watermark, signature, unrealistic

The "Minimal" Option   Light Touch

low quality, blurry, cartoon, anime, illustration, 
bad anatomy, deformed, watermark, text

Conclusion: Your Path to Photorealistic AI Images

The difference between amateur and professional AI generated images often comes down to mastering negative prompts. With the templates and strategies in this guide, you now have everything needed to consistently create realistic images that could pass for photographs.

Remember these key principles:

1. ✅ Start with a solid foundation (universal negatives)
2. ✅ Add specific terms for your subject (portraits, products, etc.)
3. ✅ Adjust weights thoughtfully (1.1~1.5 range)
4. ✅ Customize for your platform (SD, SDXL, Midjourney, etc.)
5. ✅ Iterate and refine based on results

Your next step: Copy the template that best matches your use case, generate a test image, and adjust from there. The best negative prompt is the one refined through your own experimentation.

Found this guide helpful? Bookmark it for reference I update it regularly with new findings and community contributions.