Writing Image Prompts in Merchal Without Getting Blocked
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You want bold, original images. The system wants safe, responsible generation. Both can happen—if you write prompts the right way. Here’s a practical, no-nonsense guide you can hand to your team.
The Point of the Rules (Why Prompts Get Blocked)
The platform enforces guardrails to prevent:
- Direct imitation of recognizable artists or franchises
- Use of real people (public or private individuals)
- Explicit sexual content or graphic violence
- Harmful, abusive, or manipulative content (e.g., misinformation, hate, illegal activity)
This isn’t negotiable. Instead of fighting it, design prompts that describe outcomes, not prohibited references.
Core Principle
Describe the visual qualities and emotions you want. Don’t name protected sources.
“Protected sources” = real people, living artists, famous IP, and other restricted references.
Your job is to translate an influence into aesthetic features.
What Typically Gets Blocked vs. What Works
| Don’t say | Do this instead |
|---|---|
| “in the style of [Artist Name]” | “swirling impasto strokes, high-contrast complementary colors, starry night sky patterns” |
| “[Public Figure] giving a speech” | “charismatic speaker at a podium, formal suit, press backdrop, confident posture” |
| “like [Movie/Show/Franchise]” | “moody cinematic lighting, anamorphic bokeh, desaturated teal/orange palette, epic scale” |
| “[Real brand/logo] billboard” | “generic urban billboard, bold sans-serif typography, high-contrast advertising layout” |
| “graphic gore / explicit acts” | “suggested tension, off-camera conflict, dramatic shadows, shattered glass in foreground” |
Prompt Architecture That Consistently Works
Use this 6-part spine:
- Subject – what’s in frame
- Aesthetic/Style – textures, brushwork, camera traits, rendering approach
- Mood/Theme – emotion, tone, psychological feel
- Color/Light – palette, lighting model
- Composition/Lens – focal length, angle, depth-of-field, framing
- Detail/Constraints – materials, surface quality, scale, background behavior
Example (surreal, colorful, slightly dark):
Surreal twilight landscape with softly warping architecture; swirling textured strokes and subtle impasto feel; mood of quiet unease and limitless space; deep cobalt and glowing amber palette; wide composition with distant vanishing point; fine surface grain and gentle volumetric haze.
Example (cinematic sci-fi street):
Neon city street after rain; reflective puddles, long-exposure light trails; curious, hopeful mood; balanced cyan–magenta palette; low-angle wide lens with shallow depth-of-field; misty air and diffused signage glow.
Turning “Artist References” into Safe Aesthetics
When you catch yourself wanting to name an artist, break the influence into properties:
- Brushwork & Texture: impasto, stippled, glazing, palette-knife ridges, smooth gradients
- Color Logic: complementary clashes, triadic harmony, muted earths, nocturne blues, luminous highlights
- Geometry & Forms: elongated figures, melting structures, recursive spirals, exaggerated perspective, warped horizons
- Rhythm & Energy: turbulent strokes, calm planes, vortex motion, radial flow
- Mood Keywords: melancholic, ecstatic, uncanny, contemplative, tense, serene
Rewrite flow:
“Like X” → Which brushwork? Which palette? Which spatial distortions? Which mood? → Write those instead.
Safe Substitutes for Prohibited Mentions
- Artists → “early 20th-century surrealist motifs,” “expressionist emotional contrast,” “post-impressionist swirling strokes”
- Celebrities → “distinguished figure with statesmanlike presence,” “glamorous red-carpet pose under flashbulbs”
- Franchises → “retro-futurist tech panels, chunky industrial design, dramatic hero lighting”
Precision Prompts for Common Goals
1) “Surreal fantasy, slightly dark, ‘infinite’ idea”
Vast dreamlike world at blue hour; distant horizons dissolving into a vanishing point; softly melting cliffs and archways; saturated yet moody palette (deep blues, ember highlights); gentle motion blur hints; quiet, cosmic awe.
2) Painterly drama without naming artists
Large textured brushwork, visible ridges, bold complementary contrasts; emotionally charged sky with swirling motion; foreground silhouette for scale; tactile, oil-paint surface grain.
3) Cinematic realism
35mm look, shallow depth-of-field, practical key light + soft rim light; realistic skin tones; slight film grain; natural color separation; rule-of-thirds framing with negative space.
4) Concept art speed
Loose painterly blocking, readable silhouette, strong value grouping; atmospheric perspective layers; two accent colors; focus on shape language over micro-detail.
Quality Levers (Small Words, Big Impact)
- Lighting: rim-lit, subsurface scattering, volumetric rays, overcast softbox, chiaroscuro
- Composition: leading lines, central symmetry, Dutch tilt, deep vanishing point, layered depth planes
- Materiality: brushed metal, frosted glass, velvet, weathered stone, cracked glaze
- Scale cues: tiny figures, birds-eye view, fog layers, repeated modules shrinking with distance
- Post feel: gentle bloom, vignette, filmic contrast, restrained sharpening
Use 3–5 of these levers per prompt—tight and intentional beats scattershot verbosity.
Red Team Your Prompt (30-Second Checklist)
- Any real person named? → Replace with role/traits.
- Any artist/movie/brand named? → Replace with aesthetic properties.
- Any explicit/graphic ask? → Reframe to implication, mood, or off-camera.
- Is the outcome testable? (If the image missed, can you say what to adjust?)
- Did you overstuff buzzwords? (Trim to the 6-part spine above.)
Iteration Without Violating Rules
- If the result is too generic: tighten composition and material terms.
- If the mood is off: swap 2–3 mood words and 1 lighting cue.
- If style feels wrong: change brushwork/texture vocab, not sources.
- If detail is mushy: ask for “crisper micro-contrast” or “defined edge control,” not a specific tool or brand.
Copy-Paste Templates
Template A — Painterly Surreal
[Subject] in a dreamlike setting, large textured brushwork with swirling motion, gently warped architecture, deep cool palette with warm accents, wide composition toward a distant vanishing point, calm yet uncanny mood.
Template B — Cinematic Realism
[Subject] with natural skin tones, shallow depth-of-field, practical key light and soft rim, subtle film grain, balanced teal–amber separation, composed with leading lines and negative space.
Template C — Design/Fashion Editorial
[Subject] on a minimal set, soft gradient backdrop, crisp studio lighting, clean color blocking, refined materials (silk, brushed metal), confident posture, high-end editorial feel.
Final Advice
Don’t try to “argue” with the system. You’ll lose time and still get blocked.
Win by controlling aesthetics—texture, light, composition, mood, color, material—without naming restricted sources. That’s how you get distinctive results and stay within the rules.
If you want, tell me your next target look (e.g., “surreal infinite dusk, gentle dread, painterly texture”), and I’ll turn it into three tight prompts you can ship immediately.
You want bold, original images. The system wants safe, responsible generation. Both can happen—if you write prompts the right way. Here’s a practical, no-nonsense guide you can hand to your team.
The Point of the Rules (Why Prompts Get Blocked)
The platform enforces guardrails to prevent:
- Direct imitation of recognizable artists or franchises
- Use of real people (public or private individuals)
- Explicit sexual content or graphic violence
- Harmful, abusive, or manipulative content (e.g., misinformation, hate, illegal activity)
This isn’t negotiable. Instead of fighting it, design prompts that describe outcomes, not prohibited references.
Core Principle
Describe the visual qualities and emotions you want. Don’t name protected sources.
“Protected sources” = real people, living artists, famous IP, and other restricted references.
Your job is to translate an influence into aesthetic features.
What Typically Gets Blocked vs. What Works
| Don’t say | Do this instead |
|---|---|
| “in the style of [Artist Name]” | “swirling impasto strokes, high-contrast complementary colors, starry night sky patterns” |
| “[Public Figure] giving a speech” | “charismatic speaker at a podium, formal suit, press backdrop, confident posture” |
| “like [Movie/Show/Franchise]” | “moody cinematic lighting, anamorphic bokeh, desaturated teal/orange palette, epic scale” |
| “[Real brand/logo] billboard” | “generic urban billboard, bold sans-serif typography, high-contrast advertising layout” |
| “graphic gore / explicit acts” | “suggested tension, off-camera conflict, dramatic shadows, shattered glass in foreground” |
Prompt Architecture That Consistently Works
Use this 6-part spine:
- Subject – what’s in frame
- Aesthetic/Style – textures, brushwork, camera traits, rendering approach
- Mood/Theme – emotion, tone, psychological feel
- Color/Light – palette, lighting model
- Composition/Lens – focal length, angle, depth-of-field, framing
- Detail/Constraints – materials, surface quality, scale, background behavior
Example (surreal, colorful, slightly dark):
Surreal twilight landscape with softly warping architecture; swirling textured strokes and subtle impasto feel; mood of quiet unease and limitless space; deep cobalt and glowing amber palette; wide composition with distant vanishing point; fine surface grain and gentle volumetric haze.
Example (cinematic sci-fi street):
Neon city street after rain; reflective puddles, long-exposure light trails; curious, hopeful mood; balanced cyan–magenta palette; low-angle wide lens with shallow depth-of-field; misty air and diffused signage glow.
Turning “Artist References” into Safe Aesthetics
When you catch yourself wanting to name an artist, break the influence into properties:
- Brushwork & Texture: impasto, stippled, glazing, palette-knife ridges, smooth gradients
- Color Logic: complementary clashes, triadic harmony, muted earths, nocturne blues, luminous highlights
- Geometry & Forms: elongated figures, melting structures, recursive spirals, exaggerated perspective, warped horizons
- Rhythm & Energy: turbulent strokes, calm planes, vortex motion, radial flow
- Mood Keywords: melancholic, ecstatic, uncanny, contemplative, tense, serene
Rewrite flow:
“Like X” → Which brushwork? Which palette? Which spatial distortions? Which mood? → Write those instead.
Safe Substitutes for Prohibited Mentions
- Artists → “early 20th-century surrealist motifs,” “expressionist emotional contrast,” “post-impressionist swirling strokes”
- Celebrities → “distinguished figure with statesmanlike presence,” “glamorous red-carpet pose under flashbulbs”
- Franchises → “retro-futurist tech panels, chunky industrial design, dramatic hero lighting”
Precision Prompts for Common Goals
1) “Surreal fantasy, slightly dark, ‘infinite’ idea”
Vast dreamlike world at blue hour; distant horizons dissolving into a vanishing point; softly melting cliffs and archways; saturated yet moody palette (deep blues, ember highlights); gentle motion blur hints; quiet, cosmic awe.
2) Painterly drama without naming artists
Large textured brushwork, visible ridges, bold complementary contrasts; emotionally charged sky with swirling motion; foreground silhouette for scale; tactile, oil-paint surface grain.
3) Cinematic realism
35mm look, shallow depth-of-field, practical key light + soft rim light; realistic skin tones; slight film grain; natural color separation; rule-of-thirds framing with negative space.
4) Concept art speed
Loose painterly blocking, readable silhouette, strong value grouping; atmospheric perspective layers; two accent colors; focus on shape language over micro-detail.
Quality Levers (Small Words, Big Impact)
- Lighting: rim-lit, subsurface scattering, volumetric rays, overcast softbox, chiaroscuro
- Composition: leading lines, central symmetry, Dutch tilt, deep vanishing point, layered depth planes
- Materiality: brushed metal, frosted glass, velvet, weathered stone, cracked glaze
- Scale cues: tiny figures, birds-eye view, fog layers, repeated modules shrinking with distance
- Post feel: gentle bloom, vignette, filmic contrast, restrained sharpening
Use 3–5 of these levers per prompt—tight and intentional beats scattershot verbosity.
Red Team Your Prompt (30-Second Checklist)
- Any real person named? → Replace with role/traits.
- Any artist/movie/brand named? → Replace with aesthetic properties.
- Any explicit/graphic ask? → Reframe to implication, mood, or off-camera.
- Is the outcome testable? (If the image missed, can you say what to adjust?)
- Did you overstuff buzzwords? (Trim to the 6-part spine above.)
Iteration Without Violating Rules
- If the result is too generic: tighten composition and material terms.
- If the mood is off: swap 2–3 mood words and 1 lighting cue.
- If style feels wrong: change brushwork/texture vocab, not sources.
- If detail is mushy: ask for “crisper micro-contrast” or “defined edge control,” not a specific tool or brand.
Copy-Paste Templates
Template A — Painterly Surreal
[Subject] in a dreamlike setting, large textured brushwork with swirling motion, gently warped architecture, deep cool palette with warm accents, wide composition toward a distant vanishing point, calm yet uncanny mood.
Template B — Cinematic Realism
[Subject] with natural skin tones, shallow depth-of-field, practical key light and soft rim, subtle film grain, balanced teal–amber separation, composed with leading lines and negative space.
Template C — Design/Fashion Editorial
[Subject] on a minimal set, soft gradient backdrop, crisp studio lighting, clean color blocking, refined materials (silk, brushed metal), confident posture, high-end editorial feel.
Final Advice
Don’t try to “argue” with the system. You’ll lose time and still get blocked.
Win by controlling aesthetics—texture, light, composition, mood, color, material—without naming restricted sources. That’s how you get distinctive results and stay within the rules.
If you want, tell me your next target look (e.g., “surreal infinite dusk, gentle dread, painterly texture”), and I’ll turn it into three tight prompts you can ship immediately.