Getting readable text into AI images

Quote the exact words

When you want specific wording inside the image, put the exact text in quotation marks. Black Forest Labs' typography guide is blunt about this: quotes separate the written content from the rest of the scene and give the model a much stronger signal to render the words as text — e.g. "The text 'OPEN' appears in red neon letters above the door".

Say where the text goes

Placement matters as much as wording. Describe where the text sits relative to other elements: "headline at the top", "small credits along the bottom edge", "the quote floats above the character". A poster prompt that names a headline, subtext and where each sits gets a usable layout instead of random lettering.

Describe the type style

Name the letterforms: "elegant serif typography", "bold industrial lettering", "handwritten script", "bold 70s typography in deep red and warm pink tones". The retro poster below is a full worked example — quote, era, palette, background color and doodle style all specified.

Pin brand colors with hex codes

For brand-accurate color, the guide recommends hex codes: "The logo text 'ACME' in color #FF5733". The same trick works on scene objects — nail polish, rings, product shells — not just typography.

The phone-ad example combines all four moves at once: quoted headline and subtext, described placement, a minimalist tech style, and a dark gradient background.

More worked examples

The typography section of the curated gallery collects official pairs where the published image shows the prompt's text rendered cleanly — each card hands the prompt straight to the generator.