Text-to-texture prompts that work (with examples)

Rule 1: describe the surface, not the shape

In text-to-image prompts people write things like "a dragon flying over mountains at sunset". For texturing, the dragon is already there and there are no mountains. Everything about pose, background and camera is wasted words, and can even confuse the AI into painting a background onto the model.

Instead, answer three questions: what is it made of, what colour is it, and what condition is it in?

Notice the pattern: object word, then material, then colour, then a wear or finish word. That order is a good default.

Rule 2: name the parts that matter

The AI sees the shape and will guess which area is the hoodie and which is the face. You make that guess much easier by naming each visible part with its colour. Our Person sample uses this prompt:

boy with tan skin, brown eyes, short black hair, blue hoodie and jeans

Five parts, five clear colours. Compare it with "a boy in casual clothes", which lets the AI pick any colours it likes, and may change between the front and the back view.

Keep it to the parts you can actually see. Three to six details is usually enough. Long lists of tiny details tend to get dropped or mixed up.

Rule 3: leave out lighting and camera words

A texture should hold the colour of the surface, not the light falling on it. If the AI paints a strong highlight on the left cheek, that highlight stays on the model forever, even when the light in your game comes from the right. (This is why PBR workflows keep shadows out of the colour map; see PBR maps explained.)

So avoid words like:

• "dramatic lighting", "rim light", "sunset", "golden hour", "studio lighting"
• "cinematic", "depth of field", "bokeh", "8k render"
• "dark background", "in a forest", "on a table"

If anything, ask for the opposite: "flat even lighting" or "evenly lit" can help on very shiny materials.

Rule 4: pick one style and stick to it

Mixed signals produce muddy results. "Realistic cartoon" or "anime photoreal" makes the AI split the difference. Choose one direction.

In the AI 3D Texturing Studio you can keep the prompt about colours and materials and pick the style from a list. The style words are added to your prompt for you:

Because the style is separate, you can paint the same prompt in three styles and compare them, without rewriting anything.

A simple prompt template

If you are stuck, fill in this template and delete what you do not need:

[object] with [main material and colour], [part 2 and colour], [part 3 and colour], [finish or wear]

For example:

• knight with dull steel plate armour, red cloth tabard, brown leather belt, scratched and dented
• fox with orange fur, white chest and tail tip, black legs, soft fluffy texture
• potion bottle with clear green glass, cork stopper, gold label band, slightly dusty

Finish words do a lot of work: "new", "worn", "dusty", "polished", "faded", "chipped paint" all change the result without changing the colours. Try the same prompt with two different finish words to see the difference.

Prompt examples by model type

Characters

• knight in worn steel plate armour, red cloth tabard, brown leather straps
• girl with pale skin, green eyes, long red hair, yellow raincoat, blue boots
• zombie with grey-green skin, torn brown shirt, dirty blue trousers

Creatures and animals

• blue furry bear with black eyes and a red scarf
• orange tabby cat fur, white chest and paws, pink nose
• black dragon with red glowing cracks between the scales

Props and objects

• white gamepad with orange buttons
• old wooden treasure chest, dark oak planks, rusty iron bands
• ceramic coffee mug, matte sage green glaze, unglazed base

Statues and environment pieces

• white marble statue, faint grey veins, slightly worn edges
• bronze statue with green patina in the recesses
• sandstone pillar, warm beige, eroded carvings

How to improve a result without starting over

Your first result will rarely be perfect. Instead of rewriting the whole prompt and painting everything again, fix the specific problem:

• One part is wrong (the hair is brown, you wanted black): press Select region in the "Brush on the model" box, brush over the hair, and write a prompt just for it, such as "short black hair". Only that part changes. See the tutorial repaint part of a 3D model.
• One side looks off: turn the model to face that side and press Paint this view. Lower the strength slider (it goes from 20% to 100%) if you want the new paint to blend gently over the old.
• A seam or blotch shows: the free Heal brush blends it into the colour around it, with no prompt and no credits.
• Grey spots remain: turn to see them, tick "Only fill grey (unpainted) areas", and paint that view.
• It got worse: press Undo (up to 4 steps), or hold the before button to compare with the untextured model.

Then change one thing in the prompt at a time. If you change five words and the result improves, you will not know which word helped.

Common prompt mistakes

• Describing a scene with several objects. "A sword, a shield and a helmet" on one sword mesh confuses the AI. One model, one description.
• Asking for text or logos. Small lettering is unreliable. Paint the base, then add text in an image editor or as a decal.
• Asking for shape changes. "Add wings" or "make the nose longer" cannot happen: texturing paints the surface, it does not move vertices.
• Very long prompts. Past a certain length, extra details are ignored or blended together. Aim for one line.
• Contradictions. "Clean and battle-damaged" or "matte and glossy" fight each other.

Questions