If your AI images keep coming out with cropped heads, awkward empty space or random text in the corner, the problem is rarely the subject. It is usually the frame. Every prompt in our image collection sets the aspect ratio first, before anything else.
The second fix is a short, focused negative prompt: a list of things you don’t want in the image. Together they solve most composition problems, and both are easy to turn into template variables.
Choose the frame before the subject
The same prompt composed for a square and for a wide banner produces very different images. Decide where the image will be used, then pick the aspect ratio:
- 1:1: social feeds, avatars, product thumbnails.
- 4:5: portrait posts that take up more of a phone screen.
- 16:9: blog headers, video thumbnails, slides.
- 9:16: stories, reels and other full-screen vertical formats.
- 21:9: wide hero banners and cinematic scenes.
In Midjourney the ratio is a parameter, for example --ar 16:9. Other tools have a size or ratio setting next to the prompt field.
Negative prompts: short and specific
A negative prompt lists what to keep out. The common mistake is making it a giant list of every possible flaw. Long lists dilute the effect. Five to eight specific items work better:
Prompt: minimal workspace, laptop and notebook on a light oak desk,
soft morning window light, top-down view
Negative: text, watermark, logo, extra fingers, clutter, harsh shadows
In Midjourney the equivalent is --no text, watermark, logo. Stable Diffusion interfaces have a separate negative prompt field.
Describe what you want, not only what you don’t
A negative prompt can’t fix a vague positive prompt. “No clutter” works far better when the main prompt already says “minimal workspace with three objects”.
Composition problems are framing problems wearing a disguise.
Art director, product team
Make both a variable
In a reusable image prompt, put the aspect ratio and negative prompt into their own fields. Whoever uses the template picks the format they need, and the main description stays untouched. That’s how the image prompts in the library are built. Open one and try switching the ratio in the fill form.