Frames is available to Unlimited and Enterprise plan users.
If you don't have it yet, you'll have it soon. In the meantime, search for "Text to Image" to access our legacy Text to Image feature.
Introduction
Frames is our most advanced base model for image generation, offering unprecedented stylistic control and visual fidelity.
This guide covers best practices, example prompt structures, and keyword collections to empower your Frames generations.
Article highlights
- Simple prompting works well, but more complex prompt will yield more stylistic control
- Use full sentences with natural language for more control over elements
- Avoid negative prompting, such as no clouds in the sky, for the best prompt adherence
Related links
- Creating with Frames – Detailed guide on accessing and using Frames and the available settings
Prompting Basics
Frames prompting is designed to support a wide variety of structures, keywords, and styles. You can prompt for the following elements with Frames:
- Subject
- Scene
- Composition
- Lighting
- Color
- Style
- Focus
- Angle
- Text
- Mood
Detailed prompting provides fine-tuned control over different elements in the output image, but simplistic prompts will also yield visually stunning results.
Prompts do not need to follow a specific structure in most cases to receive quality outputs, but we recommend prompting with full sentences for more control over certain elements and appending additional keywords in cases where more variation is welcomed.
Simple | elegant portrait of a woman draped in a flowing sheer tulle veil against a blue background that resembles a sky. | |
Detailed | elegant portrait of a woman draped in a sheer tulle veil against a blue background that resembles a sky. Close-up, ethereal warm orange lighting, soft glowing focus. natural face. The orange-toned tulle veil is draped over her head and flows around her face with multiple flowing layers in a weightless, extravagant baroque painting style. The flowing fabric takes up most of the scene, dramatically swirling throughout the environment. Glowing orange lighting creates a dreamy atmosphere. blend of pastel and vibrant color palettes. rich purples and blues, warm pinkish orange skin tone. avant-garde. elegant artistry, elaborate yet minimalist. a chaotic yet elegant scene. dramatic weightless flowing fabric. glowing, gel lighting, ethereal. electric neon peach accents. |
Best practices for prompting
Prompts should be descriptive, not conversational or command-based
While external LLMs thrive on natural conversation, Runway's models are designed to thrive on visual detail. Including conversational additions to your prompt will not bring value to your results, and could even negatively impact your results in certain cases.
❌ can you please generate an image of a giraffe with a short neck?
✅ cinematic photograph of a giraffe with an extremely short neck.
Prompts should use positive phrasing
Negative prompts, or prompts that describe what shouldn’t appear in the image, are not supported in Frames. Including a negative prompt may result in the opposite happening.
❌ a man with no hair
✅ a bald man
Prompt Keywords
This section provides a collection of different keywords that can be used as inspiration when generating with Frames. These collections may include details about lighting, camera styles and angles, and more.
For the best results, we recommend editing these examples to better align with the image you’re envisioning.
Aesthetic Styles
Style | Keyword collection | Example prompt | Example output |
Glitchcore | Glitch art, glitchcore, grain texture, datamosh, melting pixels, chromatic aberration, CRT static accents. The low-contrast glitched photograph is naturally blended with visual anomalies. | abstract, glitchy cinematic photography of a woman wearing an avant garde outfit with cascading layers of flowing fabric. Glitch art, glitchcore, grain texture, datamosh, melting pixels, chromatic aberration, CRT static accents. The low-contrast glitched photograph is naturally blended with visual anomalies. | |
Dreamy | Dreamlike, soft focus, light leaks, star lens flare at 5% on all light sources, fine grain, soft gaussian blur, ethereal glow, motion blur | 1990s dreamy photography of a man surrounded by fluffy maze walls. the maze walls are made entirely of clouds. Dreamlike, soft focus, light leaks, star lens flare at 5% on all light sources, fine grain, soft gaussian blur, ethereal glow, motion blur | |
Modern | Sharp, clean, minimalistic | photorealistic. a black hand with long blue nails holding the face from the side. The person is bald but has some short hair around their face and head with dark skin, with a minimal, simple, dark blue background, 35mm. sharp, clean, minimalistic. | |
Horror | High contrast, desaturated, unstable movement, dark color palette, horror aesthetic | cinematic photography at night of a woman with a fearful expression. she holds a small candle that gently illuminates her face. a terrifying figure can be seen behind her, barely visible and blending in with the dark black background. High contrast, desaturated, unstable movement, dark color palette, horror aesthetic | |
Lo-Fi | Hand drawn panel, lo-fi 1980s japanese magazine art style, muted tones, pastel color palette, soft grain, nostalgic aesthetic, animated | a hand drawn panel from an old japanese anime about a woman reading a book in a spaceship. Lo-fi 1980s japanese magazine art style, muted tones, pastel color palette, soft grain, nostalgic aesthetic, animated | |
Vaporwave | vaporwave. saturated pink, purple, and blues. Retro aesthetics. Glowing neon elements. 90s design elements | vaporwave. a marble face in cyberspace. saturated pink, purple, and blues. Retro aesthetics. Glowing neon elements. 90s design elements |
Art Styles
Style | Keyword collection | Example prompt | Example output |
Collage | collage style, mixed media approach, printed paper cutouts, torn paper edges |
mixed media collage featuring realistic scenery with a solid color block subject. in a tropical rainforest with a deep, moody green color palette. a human figure made entirely of vibrant, textured red-orange paint stands in the center of the frame. hand-drawn hot pink scribbles accentuate the silhouette. mixed media accents made of duct tape, collage style magazine cutouts with torn paper edges |
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Pastel baroque | elegant baroque artwork. elegant artistry, muted cool pastel color palette with pops of pastel warmth. smooth oil painting with finely blended shading. floral motifs. elaborate. a chaotic yet elegant scene | elegant baroque artwork of a woman holding a birthday cake. elegant artistry, muted cool pastel color palette with pops of pastel warmth. smooth oil painting with finely blended shading. painted floral motifs. elaborate. a chaotic yet elegant scene | |
Illustration | Storybook illustration, thick lines, clean bold shapes, hand-drawn quality, precise ink-like lines, | Storybook illustration of a frog having a picnic on a lily pad, thick lines, clean bold shapes, hand-drawn quality, precise ink-like lines | |
Anime | anime-style illustration. slightly blurry background. flat shading | anime-style illustration of a warrior woman with purple hair. muted color palette. exaggerated features. slightly blurry background. flat shading style common in japanese artwork. | |
Pixel | pixel art. pixelated scene reminiscent of a nostalgic video game. | pixel art of two people resting near a campfire at night in vast ruins. pixelated scene reminiscent of a nostalgic video game. |
Composition Styles
Style | Keyword collection | Example prompt | Example output |
Centered subject | [subject] in center frame. | cinematic portrait of an astronaut in center frame. deep space visible in helmet reflection. shadows, lit by dim light from above. shallow depth of field | |
Rule of thirds | cinematic still. rule of thirds composition. | cinematic still of a giant marble hand statue rising from beneath ocean waves and reaching towards rocky cliffs. partially obscured. rule of thirds composition. moody color palette. | |
Symmetrical | gentle symmetry. symmetrical composition. | cinematic still of a woman waiting at a bus stop. dynamic motion blur conveys colorful vehicles passing in a blur. whimsical muted color palette. gentle symmetry. symmetrical composition. |
Camera & Film Styles
Style | Keyword collection | Example prompt | Example output |
Disposable film | Classic disposable flash photography taken at night. Characteristics and qualities of a disposable flash camera, on film, vignette and slight overexposure. Overall muted color | Classic disposable flash photography taken at night of a man on a skateboard at a skate park. Characteristics and qualities of a disposable flash camera, on film, vignette and slight overexposure. Overall muted color | |
Damaged film | Grainy texture, slightly overexposed, muted colors, visible film scratches, damaged film, light leaks, spontaneous, timeless, soft focus, characteristic Polaroid aesthetic, historical wear and tear. | extremely damaged film photography of a longhorn steer eating hay. The grainy texture, slightly overexposed film, muted colors, visible film scratches and water damage, and light leaks convey a candid scene in a timeless aesthetic. historical wear and tear. Chemical stains, burn marks, emulsion deterioration patterns | |
Heavy grain film | Heavy film grain, visible noise, visible dust particles | black and white fisheye lens photo with heavy film grain captures a man peering directly into the camera. the fisheye lens distorts the subject and background. visible dust particles. visible noise. | |
VHS | Shot on VHS. VHS artifacts, tracking lines, worn film texture, analog color bleeding, grainy quality | VHS footage of the silhouettes of two characters in a dark room with a bright window. the window light creates a stark contrast behind the two subjects. Aesthetic includes extremely noticeable VHS film artifacts, tracking lines, worn film texture, analog color bleeding, grainy quality |
General Styles
Style | Keyword collection | Example prompt | Example output |
Cinematic | Cinematic photograph, movie still, theatrical, anamorphic lens, 35mm, professional composition | cinematic photograph of a contemplative elven woman reading a book in ancient ruins. the pages of the book emit a faint blue glow. medium close-up portrait with a shallow depth of field to focus on the queen. muted cinematic color palette with slight film grain. art directed, professional composition. movie still. theatrical, anamorphic lens, 35mm | |
Portrait photography | Portrait, diffused lighting, editorial portrait, fashion portrait | portrait photography of a siberian cat wearing star-shaped sunglasses and a bowtie. The cat's mouth is open, as if meowing. The diffused lighting evenly illuminates the subject while creating a sharp contrast with the solid blue background. | |
Product photography | product photography. minimalist, clean, bright lighting | modern product photography of perfume in a unique bottle. minimalist, clean. sage green color palette. thoughtfully arranged floral and wood elements. bright lighting accentuates the perfume bottle. |
Subject poses
Style | Keyword collection | Example prompt | Example output |
Relaxed | relaxed pose, elegant | cinematic photography of a person encased completely in thin translucent plastic. colorful flowers in natural colors can be seen wrapped underneath the shiny translucent plastic. the figure sits in a relaxed pose, completely covered in the wrinkled white plastic. soft natural warm lighting. the plastic is wrapped around the figure and wildflowers. black background. surreal. ethereal | ![]() |
In motion | natural motion blur emphasizes the subject's movement against the still environment. | dancer in a calm field of flowers. natural motion blur emphasizes the subject's movement against the still environment. Subject appears partially obscured, creating mysterious narrative. background in focus | |
Surreal anatomy | the [subject] curves and bends impossibly. distorted, warped, squished, and extremely deformed and exaggerated. surreal anatomy. cinematic, avant garde | the man curves and bends impossibly. distorted, warped, squished, and extremely deformed and exaggerated. surreal anatomy. cinematic, avant garde. solid white background |
Text Styles
Style | Keyword collection | Example prompt | Example output |
Theater marquee | theater with a large marquee sign that boldly spells [word] | cinematic still of a theater with a large neon sign that reads RUNWAY. the marquee boldly spells the word FRAMES. symmetrical | |
Neon sign | neon sign that spells [word] | 1950s neon sign for a drive-thru that spells RUNWAY and Frames with a large arrow and stars | |
Balloon | balloons forming the word [word] | balloons forming the word RUNWAY float in the sky above a city. |
Texture Styles
Style | Keyword collection | Example prompt | Example output |
Scanner | black and white scanned image. vintage photocopy scan stretch effect. grain texture. gritty. | distorted black and white scanned image of a flower. vintage photocopy scan stretch effect. grain texture. gritty. | |
Static hologram | static hologram in the shape of [subject], crt static, soft natural glow | cinematic, ethereal mysterious. professional action shot of character made entirely of glowing and glitching CRT static. dynamic and expressive dance pose caught mid-motion. moody and dark cinematic scene captured on portra film. night time. a surreal action scene in a vast field. | |
Chrome | liquid chrome. reflective, shiny, iridescent sheen | facing a classic ornate building fully encased in liquid chrome. the shiny, reflective building starkly contrasts the white stone building around it. liquid chrome with a soft iridescent sheen | |
Piñata | piñata [subject]. thin tissue paper in assorted colors. | piñata bird on a telephone wire. thin tissue paper in assorted colors. |