Your Style Keyword Reference

The right style keywords transform AI-generated images from generic to spectacular. This reference guide provides comprehensive keyword lists organized by category, giving you the vocabulary to achieve any visual style. Bookmark this page—you'll return to it often.

These keywords work across platforms including Midjourney, Stable Diffusion, DALL-E, and Leonardo AI, though effectiveness may vary. Experiment to find what works best for your preferred tool.

Photography Styles

Portrait Photography:
studio portrait, headshot, environmental portrait, candid portrait, fashion portrait, editorial portrait, beauty shot, glamour photography, natural light portrait, dramatic portrait, lifestyle portrait, corporate headshot

Landscape Photography:
landscape photography, nature photography, scenic view, panoramic, wide angle landscape, aerial photography, drone shot, golden hour photography, blue hour, long exposure landscape, seascape, mountain photography

Street Photography:
street photography, urban photography, documentary style, candid street, decisive moment, urban landscape, city life, photojournalism, reportage style

Product Photography:
product photography, commercial photography, catalog shot, packshot, hero shot, lifestyle product shot, flat lay, still life photography, e-commerce photography, studio product shot

Technical Photography Terms:
shallow depth of field, bokeh, wide aperture, f/1.4, f/2.8, 85mm lens, 35mm lens, telephoto, macro photography, tilt-shift, lens flare, motion blur, HDR, high key, low key

Painting and Traditional Art Styles

Classical Painting:
oil painting, Renaissance painting, Baroque, chiaroscuro, sfumato, impasto, glazing technique, classical realism, academic art, Old Master painting, Flemish painting

Impressionism and Post-Impressionism:
impressionist, impressionism, post-impressionist, pointillism, divisionism, en plein air, loose brushwork, visible brushstrokes, light and color, Monet style, Van Gogh style

Modern Art Movements:
expressionism, abstract expressionism, fauvism, cubism, surrealism, dadaism, art deco, art nouveau, pop art, minimalism, color field painting

Watercolor and Other Media:
watercolor painting, watercolor illustration, gouache, acrylic painting, pastel drawing, charcoal drawing, pencil sketch, ink drawing, pen and ink, mixed media

Digital Art Styles

Digital Illustration:
digital art, digital illustration, digital painting, vector art, vector illustration, flat design, 2D illustration, graphic art, editorial illustration

Concept Art:
concept art, concept design, environment concept, character concept, prop design, visual development, production art, keyframe art, matte painting

Fantasy and Sci-Fi Art:
fantasy art, fantasy illustration, epic fantasy, dark fantasy, high fantasy, sci-fi art, science fiction illustration, space art, cyberpunk art, steampunk art, dieselpunk

3D and Render Styles

3D Rendering:
3D render, 3D art, CGI, computer graphics, photorealistic render, hyperrealistic 3D, octane render, unreal engine, unity render, blender render, cinema 4D

3D Styles:
low poly, isometric, voxel art, stylized 3D, cartoon 3D, realistic 3D, architectural visualization, product visualization, character render

Lighting and Technical:
ray tracing, global illumination, ambient occlusion, subsurface scattering, volumetric lighting, caustics, HDRI lighting, studio lighting, rim lighting

Anime and Manga Styles

General Anime:
anime style, anime art, manga style, manga illustration, Japanese animation, cel shaded, cel animation, 2D anime, anime aesthetic

Anime Sub-styles:
shoujo style, shounen style, seinen, slice of life anime, moe style, chibi, super deformed, mecha style, isekai aesthetic

Studio Styles:
Studio Ghibli style, Makoto Shinkai style, Kyoto Animation style, Trigger style, Ufotable style, Mappa style

Visual Novel and Game:
visual novel art, gacha art style, JRPG art style, anime game art, light novel illustration

Aesthetic and Era Styles

Vintage and Retro:
vintage, retro, nostalgic, 1950s aesthetic, 1960s style, 1970s aesthetic, 1980s style, 1990s aesthetic, old Hollywood, golden age

Modern Aesthetics:
vaporwave, synthwave, retrowave, cyberpunk aesthetic, neon aesthetic, dark academia, cottagecore, light academia, goblincore, solarpunk

Cultural Styles:
Japanese art style, ukiyo-e, Chinese painting, ink wash painting, Korean art style, Art Brut, folk art, naive art, tribal art, indigenous art

Lighting and Atmosphere Keywords

Natural Lighting:
natural light, sunlight, daylight, golden hour, magic hour, blue hour, sunset lighting, sunrise light, overcast light, window light, dappled light

Studio and Artificial:
studio lighting, rim light, back light, fill light, key light, soft box, beauty dish lighting, ring light, neon lighting, LED lighting

Dramatic Lighting:
dramatic lighting, cinematic lighting, moody lighting, film noir lighting, Rembrandt lighting, split lighting, butterfly lighting, loop lighting

Atmospheric:
volumetric lighting, god rays, light rays, atmospheric, foggy, misty, hazy, smoky atmosphere, dust particles, light beams

Color and Mood Keywords

Color Palettes:
vibrant colors, muted colors, pastel colors, earth tones, warm colors, cool colors, monochromatic, duotone, complementary colors, analogous colors, high contrast, low contrast

Mood Descriptors:
ethereal, dreamy, mystical, serene, peaceful, dramatic, intense, melancholic, whimsical, dark, brooding, cheerful, romantic, nostalgic

Specific Color Emphasis:
deep blue, crimson red, emerald green, golden yellow, coral pink, navy blue, burnt orange, sage green, dusty rose, midnight blue

Composition and Perspective Keywords

Camera Angles:
low angle, high angle, bird's eye view, worm's eye view, Dutch angle, straight on, profile view, three-quarter view, over the shoulder

Framing:
close-up, extreme close-up, medium shot, full shot, wide shot, establishing shot, portrait framing, landscape framing, centered composition, rule of thirds

Perspective:
one-point perspective, two-point perspective, isometric view, orthographic, fisheye, telephoto compression, forced perspective

Quality and Detail Keywords

Resolution and Detail:
highly detailed, intricate details, fine details, ultra detailed, hyper detailed, 8K, 4K, high resolution, crisp, sharp focus

Quality Descriptors:
masterpiece, best quality, professional, award-winning, gallery quality, museum quality, publication quality, trending on artstation

Finish and Texture:
smooth, polished, rough, textured, gritty, clean, pristine, weathered, aged, patina

Combining Keywords Effectively

Keywords work best in combination. Here are effective combination strategies:

Style + Medium + Quality:
"fantasy art, digital painting, highly detailed, 4K"

Subject + Style + Lighting + Mood:
"portrait of a woman, oil painting style, Rembrandt lighting, dramatic mood"

Genre + Era + Technical:
"science fiction, 1980s aesthetic, neon lighting, cinematic composition"

Art Movement + Medium + Atmosphere:
"impressionist style, oil painting, golden hour lighting, dreamy atmosphere"

Conclusion

This reference guide provides a foundation, but the best way to learn is through experimentation. Test different keyword combinations, note what works for your preferred AI tools, and build your personal vocabulary of effective terms.

Remember that keywords interact—"photorealistic" combined with "oil painting" creates a different result than either alone. Part of the art of prompt engineering is discovering these productive combinations.

Bookmark this guide for reference, but don't be limited by it. As AI art tools evolve, new keywords emerge and old ones may change in effectiveness. Stay curious and keep exploring!