Negative Prompt Cheat Sheet for Stable Diffusion / SDXL (Free)

Q: What is a negative prompt in Stable Diffusion?

A negative prompt is the list of things you do not want in the picture. Stable Diffusion and SDXL read it and steer away from every word. It is the fastest way to clean up bad hands, blur, watermarks and the plastic AI look.

A negative prompt is the list of things you do not want in the picture. Stable Diffusion and SDXL read it and steer away from every word. It is the fastest way to kill bad hands, blur, watermarks and that plastic AI look. Copy the terms you need from the groups below, or paste a ready-made preset.

Negative terms, grouped by problem

Bad anatomy and hands

bad anatomy, bad hands, extra fingers, missing fingers, fused fingers, too many fingers, mutated hands, poorly drawn hands, extra digit, fewer digits, extra limbs, extra arms, extra legs, missing limbs, malformed limbs, deformed, disfigured, mutation, mutated, long neck

Low quality and artifacts

lowres, low quality, worst quality, normal quality, blurry, out of focus, jpeg artifacts, compression artifacts, grainy, noise, pixelated, low resolution, oversaturated, underexposed, bad quality

Watermarks, text and framing

watermark, signature, text, words, letters, logo, username, artist name, copyright, stamp, frame, border, cropped, out of frame, cut off, ui, jpeg

Faces, eyes and skin

deformed face, poorly drawn face, ugly, asymmetric eyes, cross-eyed, extra eyes, deformed pupils, bad teeth, plastic skin, waxy skin, over-smooth skin, airbrushed, doll

Duplicates and composition

duplicate, cloned face, extra people, tiling, error, body out of frame, blurry background, disfigured, poorly drawn, morbid, mutilated, close up

Style cleanups

cartoon, anime, 3d render, cgi, painting, illustration, sketch, drawing. Drop these when you want a photo. Swap in photo, realistic, photorealistic instead when you want art, not a photo.

Ready-to-paste presets

Universal negative prompt (your everyday default)

lowres, bad anatomy, bad hands, text, error, missing fingers, extra digit, fewer digits, cropped, worst quality, low quality, jpeg artifacts, signature, watermark, username, blurry, extra fingers, fused fingers, deformed, disfigured, mutation, mutated, extra limbs, missing limbs, ugly, out of frame

Portrait negative (faces and people)

deformed face, poorly drawn face, asymmetric eyes, cross-eyed, deformed pupils, extra eyes, bad teeth, long neck, plastic skin, waxy skin, airbrushed, doll, bad hands, extra fingers, fused fingers, mutated, blurry, low quality, worst quality, jpeg artifacts, watermark, signature, text

Realistic negative (kills the AI look)

cartoon, anime, 3d render, cgi, painting, illustration, sketch, drawing, plastic skin, over-smooth skin, airbrushed, waxy, doll, oversaturated, deep fried, blurry, out of focus, low quality, jpeg artifacts, watermark, signature, text, logo, bad hands, extra fingers, deformed

SDXL tip: keep it short. SDXL often does best with just lowres, bad anatomy, bad hands, watermark, text, blurry, low quality and nothing more. Add a term only when you actually see the problem it fixes.

Three rules that matter

List what you do NOT wantThe negative prompt is the mirror of your prompt. Put the problems here (bad hands, blur, watermark) and the model steers away from them.

Never negate what you wantIf you want a red dress, do not put "dress" in the negative. Only list flaws and unwanted objects, never your actual subject.

Short for SDXL, longer for SD 1.5SD 1.5 tolerates a big wall of terms. SDXL usually reads a short list better. Start small and grow it only when needed.

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Questions

What is a negative prompt in Stable Diffusion?

It is the list of things you do not want in the image. Stable Diffusion and SDXL read it and steer away from every word, which is the fastest way to clean up bad hands, blur, watermarks and the plastic AI look.

Does SDXL need a negative prompt?

SDXL works with a much shorter negative than SD 1.5. A handful of quality and anatomy terms is usually plenty, and a giant wall of words can even hurt it. Start short and add a term only when you see the problem it fixes.

Can I paste the same negative every time?

Yes. Keep the universal negative as your default, then add the portrait or realistic terms when the image needs them. Just never negate something you actually want in the picture.