You ask ChatGPT for an image, it gives you something correct but flat, and you don’t
know what to write to make it come out right. The problem is almost never the
model: it is that you are describing what you want to see, but not
how you want to see it.
That second part has a vocabulary of its own, and it is the same one photography and
cinema have used for a century. When you write /goldenhour you are not
triggering a secret command: you are naming a specific lighting condition the model has
seen in millions of tagged photographs. That is why it works, and why it works so well.
Below are 99 of those words, sorted by what they control. There is nothing to memorise.
Keep the list to hand, pick three or four per image, and the difference from what you were
doing before is enormous.
How to use them
You write them alongside your description, in the same sentence. The slash is not
required — the model understands “golden hour” as readily as /goldenhour —
but it helps you: at a glance it separates the description from the settings.
An example. This is what most people write:
A cup of coffee on a wooden table
And this is the same thing with four commands:
A cup of coffee on a wooden table
/cinematic
/goldenhour/shallowdepth/8k
The first gives you a catalogue photo. The second gives you a scene: warm mid-afternoon
light coming in from the side, the background out of focus, the steam picked out against
the light. Same object, incomparable result.
The practical rule: three or four commands per image. One for framing,
one for light, one for style and, at most, one for finish. Beyond five they start getting
in each other’s way.
The 99 commands, by what they control
Resolution and camera (1–11)
The first decision in any image: how much detail you want, and where the scene is viewed from.
| Command | What it does |
|---|---|
/4k |
detailed, high-quality 4K image |
/8k |
ultra-detailed image at very high resolution |
/hdreal |
enhanced photorealistic HD visual |
/ultrarealistic |
extremely realistic visual result |
/cinematic |
cinematic lighting, composition and mood |
/droneview |
aerial drone-style perspective |
/aerialview |
view from high above |
/topdown |
camera angle straight down from overhead |
/lowangle |
dramatic angle looking up from below |
/highangle |
camera looking down at the subject |
/sideview |
side-profile perspective |
Framing and perspective (12–22)
How much enters the frame, and from what distance. It is what separates a passport photo from an image with intent.
| Command | What it does |
|---|---|
/closeup |
tight framing on the subject |
/extremecloseup |
extreme, highly detailed close-up |
/wideangle |
wide field of view showing more of the surroundings |
/fisheye |
ultra-wide, distorted fisheye perspective |
/pov |
first-person scene (point of view) |
/overtheshoulder |
perspective over the character’s shoulder |
/birdseyeview |
scene seen directly from above |
/wormseyeview |
extreme perspective looking upward |
/fog |
atmospheric fog wrapping the scene |
/mist |
light, soft haze |
/rainynight |
rainy night-time atmosphere |
Weather and atmosphere (23–33)
The weather and the time of day. It changes the mood of an image more than anything else.
| Command | What it does |
|---|---|
/rain |
rain and wet atmospheric effects |
/storm |
dramatic storm weather |
/snow |
falling snow and winter atmosphere |
/sunset |
warm sunset lighting |
/sunrise |
soft dawn light |
/goldenhour |
warm, cinematic golden light |
/bluehour |
blue-toned twilight atmosphere |
/moonlight |
scene lit by the moon |
/neonlights |
vibrant neon light effects |
/cyberpunk |
futuristic cyberpunk aesthetic with neon |
/darkmoody |
sombre, dramatic, dark atmosphere |
Light and lighting (34–44)
The block that returns the most per word written. If you only learn one section, make it this one.
| Command | What it does |
|---|---|
/softlighting |
soft, diffused lighting |
/dramaticlighting |
strong, high-contrast cinematic light |
/rimlight |
bright outline of light around the subject |
/backlight |
backlit subject |
/volumetriclight |
visible rays of light in the atmosphere |
/godrays |
dramatic shafts of light |
/studio |
professional studio photography setup |
/filmgrain |
analogue cinematic film texture |
/anamorphic |
wide anamorphic cinema lens look |
/bokeh |
blurred background with soft points of light |
/shallowdepth |
sharp subject, blurred background |
Motion and style (45–55)
How movement is frozen or dragged, and the visual code the scene is told in.
| Command | What it does |
|---|---|
/motionblur |
dynamic motion blur |
/longexposure |
long-exposure photography effect |
/freezeaction |
sharp capture of high-speed action |
/vintage |
classic vintage visual aesthetic |
/retro |
nostalgic retro style |
/oldmoney |
elegant, timeless luxury aesthetic |
/luxury |
premium, sophisticated visual style |
/minimalist |
clean, simple composition |
/editorial |
professional magazine editorial photography |
/fashion |
high-fashion photography style |
/streetstyle |
modern urban fashion aesthetic |
Formats and settings (56–66)
Imitating a specific medium — a Polaroid, a cover, a roll of 35 mm — or placing the scene somewhere.
| Command | What it does |
|---|---|
/magazinecover |
professional magazine cover composition |
/polaroid |
Polaroid instant photo aesthetic |
/disposablecamera |
raw disposable camera look |
/35mmfilm |
classic 35 mm film photography aesthetic |
/instantphoto |
instant camera photo look |
/underwater |
underwater environment and perspective |
/space |
space or cosmic environment |
/desert |
desert landscape |
/forest |
natural forest setting |
/mountains |
dramatic mountain landscape |
/beach |
coastal or beach environment |
Worlds and eras (67–77)
For when the image needs to belong to a time or a universe, not only to a place.
| Command | What it does |
|---|---|
/cityscape |
urban city view |
/nightcity |
city at night |
/futuristic |
advanced futuristic visual design |
/postapocalyptic |
ruined dystopian world aesthetic |
/fantasy |
magical, imaginative fantasy world |
/scifi |
science fiction visual style |
/medieval |
historical medieval aesthetic |
/samurai |
cinematic samurai-inspired scene |
/noir |
dark, high-contrast film noir style |
/detective |
atmosphere of mystery and investigation |
/superhero |
epic superhero visual |
Illustration and render (78–88)
For stepping outside photography: drawing, painting, 3D, models.
| Command | What it does |
|---|---|
/anime |
Japanese anime-inspired style |
/comicbook |
illustrated comic book aesthetic |
/oilpainting |
traditional oil painting style |
/watercolor |
soft watercolour effect |
/sketch |
hand-drawn sketch look |
/claystyle |
stylised claymation appearance |
/3drender |
high-quality 3D render |
/isometric |
three-dimensional isometric perspective |
/miniature |
miniature world and diorama effect |
/tiltshift |
tilt-shift photo effect, like a scale model |
/papercraft |
handcrafted paper cut-out style |
Materials and effects (89–99)
The finish. These go at the end, and they are what give an image that professional air.
| Command | What it does |
|---|---|
/glassart |
transparent glass art aesthetic |
/chrome |
chrome finish and metallic reflection |
/holographic |
futuristic holographic material effect |
/doubleexposure |
two images blended into one composition |
/silhouette |
dark silhouette against the light |
/reflection |
reflective surface or mirrored composition |
/mirror |
creative visual composition using mirrors |
/fire |
dramatic fire and flame effects |
/smoke |
atmospheric smoke effects |
/glitch |
digital glitch and distortion aesthetic |
/dreamcore |
surreal, dreamlike and slightly unsettling |
Five combinations that always work
If you don’t want to think about it, copy these and change only the description.
- Product shot for a store:
/studio
/softlighting/minimalist/8k - Professional portrait for LinkedIn:
/closeup
/rimlight/editorial/shallowdepth - Cover with a magazine feel:
/magazinecover
/dramaticlighting/luxury/anamorphic - Urban scene with real force:
/nightcity
/neonlights/cinematic/lowangle - An image that looks like a real photo, not a render:
/35mmfilm/filmgrain/softlighting
/bokeh
Three mistakes that ruin the result
Piling up commands. Putting /cinematic,
/vintage, /cyberpunk and /minimalist in the same
image does not make it four times better: it leaves it with no identity. Each one pulls in
a different direction and the model ends up averaging them out.
Asking for two incompatible things. /wideangle and
/extremecloseup contradict each other. So do /darkmoody and
/goldenhour. When the result comes out strange, there is almost always a
fighting pair inside the prompt.
Forgetting the important part. Commands adjust; they do not describe.
If you don’t say what you want to see, in full detail, no command is going to fix it.
Scene first, settings after.
This list was also published as a carousel on Instagram:
see the
original post on @wanderoca.
What now
Save this page. You will open it more often than you think, and there is nothing to
memorise: you just choose.
If you are interested in taking this beyond images — automating repetitive tasks,
producing content at scale, putting AI into the marketing and sales side of your business —
that is exactly what I work on with companies every day. Write to me and we’ll look at it.
Spanish version: 99 comandos de imagen para ChatGPT: la lista completa en español
