Prompt library
Ready prompts at the right ratios for Instagram, LinkedIn and YouTube, with text areas planned.
Short answer
Two things are mandatory in social prompts: the platform's aspect ratio and empty space reserved for text. An instruction like "generous empty space in the upper third" guarantees the headline area at generation time; cropping later breaks the composition.
In social imagery individual beauty is secondary; what matters is stopping the scroll and keeping the overlaid text readable.
The prompts below serve both needs: each generates at a specific ratio and leaves planned empty space for text. Adapt them by adding your brand colours.
Each prompt explains why it is written that way. Change the subject to suit you and leave the technical part as it is.
flat lay of a ceramic cup and an open notebook on a warm oak table, soft morning window light, muted terracotta and cream palette, generous empty space in the upper third for text, shot on 50mm, shallow depth of field, 4:5 ratio
Works well in these tools: canva, flux, leonardo-ai
Note: 4:5 occupies the most space in an Instagram feed and draws noticeably more attention than a square.
high contrast thumbnail image, a single glowing lightbulb on a deep navy background, dramatic rim light, subject positioned on the right third, large clean empty area on the left for text, saturated colours, bold simple composition, 16:9 ratio
Works well in these tools: ideogram, flux, leonardo-ai
Note: Thumbnails display small; a single subject with high contrast works far better than a complex scene.
vertical abstract background, soft gradient mesh in dusty rose and warm cream, subtle paper grain texture, no objects, no text, empty centre and lower half clean for overlaid content, calm minimal aesthetic, 9:16 ratio
Works well in these tools: canva, leonardo-ai, recraft
Note: Asking for "no objects" in story backgrounds keeps overlaid text and elements readable.
clean professional graphic, isometric illustration of three connected modules, flat colours in muted blue and warm grey, thin consistent outlines, white background, evenly spaced composition, restrained corporate aesthetic, no text, no labels, 1.91:1 ratio
Works well in these tools: recraft, canva, ideogram
Note: "No text, no labels" is mandatory: AI writes unreadable letters into diagrams; you must add labels yourself afterwards.
minimal quote card background, deep olive green field with a single soft light gradient from the top left, very subtle noise texture, no imagery, entire centre kept clean for typography, generous margins, calm editorial feel, 1:1 ratio
Works well in these tools: canva, recraft
Note: The absence of imagery on quote cards is a choice, not a flaw: text reads more strongly when it stands alone.
bold announcement background, diagonal split composition in deep plum and bright coral, one large soft geometric shape in the lower right, flat vector style, large clean empty area in the upper left for headline text, high contrast, modern graphic design, 4:5 ratio
Works well in these tools: recraft, canva, ideogram
Note: Diagonally split compositions separate the text area naturally and look organised without any layout work.
Because the style description changes with each prompt. Turn your brand colours and visual character into a fixed text block appended to every prompt, changing only the subject. A stronger fix is Midjourney's --sref parameter or Leonardo's saved styles.
No. Leave empty space and add the text afterwards in a design tool. That gives error-free typography and means you do not regenerate the image when the copy changes. Rendering into the image is only reasonable for one- or two-word headlines, using Ideogram.
Instagram post 4:5, stories and Reels 9:16, LinkedIn post 1.91:1, YouTube thumbnail 16:9, Pinterest 2:3. Set the ratio at generation time; cropping afterwards can cut away the composition's most important part.