Photorealism from Krea 1 is mostly a prompting problem, not a model problem. This guide gives you a single formula — subject, camera, lighting, material, film stock, and constraints — then 10 complete prompts you can paste into Krea right now, plus the mistakes that make images look fake. For the full library, start with the best Krea prompts.
Why Krea 1 avoids the AI look
Krea 1 is Krea's flagship image model, and it was built specifically to dodge the plastic "AI look" — the waxy skin, the smeared texture, the flat sourceless light. It renders crisp textures and realistic surface detail with a wide artistic range, and it's especially strong at editorial and stylized photorealism. Prompts are plain natural language: no --ar, no --style, no flags. Aspect ratio and model are UI settings you pick before you generate.
The thing that actually moves quality is concrete visual cues, not longer prompts. A named lens, a light direction, a depth-of-field cue, real materials, and a film stock will beat a wall of adjectives every time. Describe the shot like a photographer briefing a set, and Krea fills in physically plausible detail.
The photorealism formula
Every photoreal Krea prompt is one descriptive paragraph built from six parts. Write it as full sentences — not a comma list — and set the aspect ratio in the interface. Here is the skeleton:
[SUBJECT: who or what, with specific, concrete detail]
[CAMERA / LENS: framing + lens, e.g. tight portrait on 85mm f/1.4, shallow depth of field]
[LIGHTING: a named, real light setup and its direction]
[MATERIAL & SURFACE: the physical textures that read as real — wet stone, fabric weave, skin pores]
[FILM STOCK / COLOR: the photographic look — shot on Kodak Portra 400, subtle film grain]
[CONSTRAINTS: one line — depth cue, mood, and set the aspect ratio in the UI]Run through each part and give Krea something concrete for it:
- Subject. Not "a woman" but "a woman in her 60s with silver hair and laugh lines." Specificity is what separates a real person from a stock composite. Inline example: "a weathered dockworker in his 70s, salt-crusted beard."
- Camera / lens. The lens controls the whole feel. An 85mm f/1.4 gives a flattering portrait with soft background falloff; a 35mm keeps a scene grounded and documentary; a 100mm macro gets extreme close texture. Inline example: "shot on 85mm f/1.4, shallow depth of field."
- Lighting. The single biggest realism lever. Name a real setup and its direction: golden-hour backlight, three-point softbox, soft overcast, chiaroscuro. Inline example: "golden-hour backlight rimming the hair, soft fill from the front."
- Material & surface. Named materials read as physical, not rendered: wet black stone with water droplets, brushed steel, worn leather, condensation on glass. Inline example: "wet cobblestones reflecting the neon."
- Film stock / color. Film language sets the whole register: shot on Kodak Portra 400, subtle film grain, Fujifilm color, muted editorial grade. Inline example: "shot on Portra 400, gentle grain, warm tones."
- Constraints. One closing line for the depth cue and mood — and set the aspect ratio in the Krea UI (there's no flag for it). Inline example: "shallow depth of field, quiet mood; vertical 4:5 in the UI."
Use the table as a cheat card while you build. For the one-page reference, keep the Krea prompt cheat sheet open, and for a deeper set browse the Krea photorealism prompts pack.
| Part | Concrete words that work |
|---|---|
| Subject | "a weathered fisherman in his 70s"; "a matte-black ceramic mug"; "a red 1967 coupe" |
| Camera / lens | 85mm f/1.4 (portrait); 35mm (street/scene); 100mm macro (detail); shallow depth of field |
| Lighting | golden-hour backlight; three-point softbox; soft overcast diffusion; chiaroscuro, hard side key; rim light |
| Material & surface | wet black stone, water droplets; fabric weave and thread; brushed steel; condensation on glass; skin pores, peach fuzz |
| Film stock / color | shot on Kodak Portra 400; Fujifilm color; subtle film grain; muted editorial grade; cross-processed |
10 photorealistic example prompts
Ten complete prompts, one per genre. Each is a full paragraph you can paste as-is; set the aspect ratio in the Krea interface, then swap the specifics for your own subject.
1. Portrait
A candid close-up portrait of a woman in her early 60s with silver hair and soft laugh lines, glancing just off-camera with a faint smile. Tight head-and-shoulders framing on an 85mm f/1.4 lens with a shallow depth of field, background falling into gentle bokeh. Soft window light from the left with a subtle rim light separating her from a dark backdrop. Visible skin pores, fine peach fuzz and flyaway hairs catching the light. Editorial portrait, shot on Kodak Portra 400 with subtle grain, natural color.Why it works: The 85mm lens, one named light direction, pore-level texture, and Portra grain are exactly the cues that kill the plastic look. Settings: Krea 1, aspect ratio 4:5.
2. Street
A candid street scene of a man in a wool overcoat crossing a rain-slicked Tokyo alley at night, mid-stride, umbrella tilted against the drizzle. Shot on a 35mm lens at a slight angle, capturing the full scene. Low-key lighting from mixed neon and a single overhead lamp, high contrast with deep shadows. Wet black asphalt reflecting the neon signs, rain streaks visible in the light, texture in the coat's weave. Gritty street-documentary style, shot on film with fine grain.Why it works: The 35mm framing, mixed practical light, and wet-asphalt reflections give it the grounded, unstaged feel real street photography has. Settings: Krea 1, aspect ratio 3:2.
3. Food
An overhead shot of a rustic sourdough loaf torn open to show an open, airy crumb, on a floured dark walnut board. Scattered flour, a linen napkin, and a small dish of butter beside it. Shot on a 50mm lens, slight top-down angle. Soft overcast window light from the left with gentle falloff, no harsh highlights. Crisp blistered crust texture, visible flour dust, a faint sheen on the butter. Natural food-photography style, warm neutral grade.Why it works: Soft overcast diffusion is the flattering light real food shooters use, and the crust-and-flour material cues make it look edible rather than rendered. Settings: Krea 1, aspect ratio 1:1.
4. Product
A matte-black ceramic coffee mug centered on a smooth concrete surface, three-quarter angle, a thin curl of steam rising from it. Studio product shot on a 100mm lens with a moderately shallow depth of field. Clean three-point softbox lighting with a soft gradient falloff on the seamless background and a crisp specular highlight down one edge of the mug. Fine matte-ceramic surface texture, a faint reflection on the polished concrete. Premium e-commerce product-photography style.Why it works: Controlled softbox light plus a single specular highlight is how catalog shots read as premium; the named ceramic and concrete surfaces do the rest. Settings: Krea 1, aspect ratio 4:3.
5. Interior
A bright Scandinavian living room with a linen sofa, pale oak floors, and a single large potted olive tree by tall windows. Wide interior shot on a 24mm lens, straight-on and level to keep the vertical lines true. Soft morning daylight pouring through sheer curtains, gentle diffusion and long soft shadows across the floor. Visible fabric weave on the sofa, grain in the oak, dust motes drifting in the light beam. Architectural-digest interior style, clean natural color.Why it works: A wide level lens keeps walls from bowing, and diffused daylight with dust in the beam is the signature of real interior photography. Settings: Krea 1, aspect ratio 16:9.
6. Landscape
A foggy pine ridge at dawn, layered mountains fading into pale mist behind it, a single hawk soaring in the distance. Wide landscape shot on a 35mm lens, deep depth of field so the whole scene is sharp. Golden-hour backlight breaking over the ridge with long shadows and warm rim light on the treetops, cool blue shadow in the valley. Crisp needle detail on the nearest pines, soft atmospheric haze in the distance. Fine-art landscape style, shot on film.Why it works: Golden-hour backlight plus atmospheric haze gives the depth and warmth that flat, evenly-lit AI landscapes miss. Settings: Krea 1, aspect ratio 21:9.
7. Macro
An extreme close-up of a single water droplet clinging to the edge of a green leaf, the veins of the leaf refracted inside the drop. Macro shot on a 100mm macro lens with an extremely shallow depth of field, background dissolving into smooth green bokeh. Soft diffused side lighting picking out the droplet's rim and the tiny hairs on the leaf surface. Razor-sharp focus on the droplet, visible surface tension, dew and fine leaf texture. Natural macro-photography style.Why it works: A 100mm macro with a paper-thin plane of focus is exactly how real macro looks — one sharp point and everything else melting away. Settings: Krea 1, aspect ratio 3:2.
8. Editorial fashion
A high-fashion editorial shot of a model in a structured crimson wool coat, standing against a raw concrete wall, chin lifted, one hand in her pocket. Full-length framing on an 85mm lens, shallow depth of field. Dramatic chiaroscuro lighting, a single hard key from the side carving deep shadows and harsh high contrast. Rich fabric weave and structure in the coat, sharp skin and fabric texture. Vogue-style editorial fashion, shot on medium-format film with deliberate grain.Why it works: Chiaroscuro's hard single key and deep shadow is a real studio technique, and it reads as intentional editorial — exactly where Krea 1 shines. Settings: Krea 1, aspect ratio 4:5.
9. Automotive
A glossy red 1967 coupe parked on a coastal road at dusk, three-quarter front angle, the ocean and a fading orange sky behind it. Cinematic automotive shot on a 50mm lens, low camera position looking slightly up at the car. Golden-hour backlight rimming the roofline with warm reflections streaking down the paint, cool ambient fill on the shadow side. Deep reflective paint with visible highlights, chrome catching the sky, fine wet-road texture. Cinematic car-commercial style, subtle film grain.Why it works: Cars live or die on reflections; golden-hour rim light streaking down the paint is what makes the surface read as real glossy metal. Settings: Krea 1, aspect ratio 16:9.
10. Candid documentary
A candid documentary frame of a grandfather and his young granddaughter baking together in a warm kitchen, both mid-laugh, flour on their hands and the countertop. Medium shot on a 35mm lens, natural eye-level angle, shallow depth of field. Soft window daylight from the right with a warm ambient bounce, gentle contrast. Real skin texture, flour dust hanging in the light, worn wooden countertop and fabric detail. Photojournalistic documentary style, shot on Kodak Portra 400.Why it works: Two subjects caught mid-action in soft natural light is the anatomy of an honest candid photo — nobody is posing at the camera. Settings: Krea 1, aspect ratio 3:2.
Mistakes to avoid
Most fake-looking Krea output traces back to one of these habits. Fix them before you touch anything else.
- Tag-soup instead of sentences. "woman, cafe, 85mm, bokeh, golden hour, moody" throws away every relationship in the scene. Write it as a paragraph a photographer could read.
- Over-long prompts. Length doesn't buy realism — concrete cues do. A rambling wall of text dilutes the lens, light, and material that actually matter. Add specifics, then stop.
- No lens or no light. Skip the lens and you lose the depth-of-field falloff that reads as a real camera; skip the light and you get flat, sourceless illumination — the most common AI tell. Name both, every time.
- Asking for "realistic" without specifics. The word "realistic" does nothing on its own. Replace it with the details that create realism: a lens, a light direction, a named material, a film stock.
- Plastic skin. Waxy, over-smoothed faces come from missing texture. Add "visible skin pores, fine peach fuzz, natural imperfections, subtle film grain" and name a real light setup — that alone fixes most portraits.
- Quality-word spam. "8k ultra realistic hyperdetailed masterpiece" pushes toward the generic AI aesthetic, not away from it. Cut it and let the real detail come from your description.
Style Reference, LoRAs & the Enhancer
Krea has three features that carry a look further than a single prompt can. Reach for the right one depending on what you need to hold constant.
- Style Reference. Upload a reference image and Krea transfers its look — color grade, lighting mood, grain, overall aesthetic — onto your new prompt. Use it when you have a frame whose vibe you want to match across a set, or when words can't pin down the exact editorial feel. It handles the style; your text still drives the subject.
- Train (LoRA). To keep a specific face, product, or style consistent shot to shot, fine-tune a custom LoRA on a handful of images with Krea's Train feature, then call it in future generations. This is the reliable route for a recognizable identity or object across a whole series.
- Enhancer. Once you've picked the frame you like, run it through the Enhancer to add resolution and sharpen fine detail without changing the composition — the last step for a clean, print-ready file.
Nail the prompt and lighting first, pick the frame, then use Style Reference or a LoRA for consistency and the Enhancer to finish. For more paste-ready starting points, browse the full roundup or dig into the Krea photorealism prompts.
Frequently Asked Questions
What makes Krea 1 good at photorealism?
Krea 1 was built specifically to avoid the plastic "AI look." It renders crisp textures, believable skin, and realistic surface detail, and it has a wide artistic range that leans into editorial and stylized photorealism. You get the most out of it by feeding it concrete visual cues — a real lens, a light direction, named materials — rather than piling on quality words. It also supports Style Reference and custom LoRAs, so you can lock a specific look or subject across many images.
Does Krea 1 use --parameters like Midjourney?
No. Krea prompts are plain natural language — full descriptive sentences, no --ar, --style, or other flag syntax. Aspect ratio and the model you generate with are set in the Krea interface, not typed into the prompt. So instead of appending flags, you describe the framing ("vertical portrait crop") and pick the ratio in the UI.
How do I stop Krea from producing plastic, waxy skin?
Name a real lighting setup and add explicit skin texture. Say "soft window light from the left" or "golden-hour backlight," then ask for "visible skin pores, fine peach fuzz, natural imperfections, subtle film grain." Adding a film stock like "shot on Kodak Portra 400" also pushes the render toward organic color and grain instead of the smooth digital gloss that reads as fake.
What is Style Reference in Krea and when should I use it?
Style Reference lets you upload a reference image so Krea transfers its look — color grade, lighting mood, grain, and overall aesthetic — onto your new prompt. Use it when you have a photograph or frame whose vibe you want to match across a set of images, or when words alone can't pin down the exact editorial feel you're after. It handles the style; your text still controls the subject and scene.
Can I keep the same face or product consistent across images in Krea?
Yes — train a custom LoRA. Krea's Train feature lets you fine-tune on a handful of images of a person, product, or style, then call that LoRA in future generations so the subject stays recognizable shot to shot. For a looser match, Style Reference alone can carry mood and grade, but for a specific identity or object a trained LoRA is the reliable route.
Why do full sentences beat comma-separated tags in Krea?
Krea 1 reads a prompt as a described scene, so full sentences let it understand relationships — that the light comes from behind, that the lens is shallow so the background falls off, that the surface is wet stone. Comma tag-soup ("woman, cafe, 85mm, bokeh, golden hour, 8k") strips those relationships out and lands on a generic average. Describe the shot the way you'd brief a photographer, in one or two clear sentences.
Does a longer prompt give a more realistic image?
No. What moves quality most is concrete visual cues, not word count. One tight paragraph with a lens, a light direction, a depth cue, a named material, and a film stock will outperform a rambling wall of adjectives every time. Over-long prompts dilute the important cues and confuse the composition. Add specifics, then stop.
How do I upscale a Krea image for print?
Use Krea's Enhancer. Generate at your base resolution, then run the result through the Enhancer to add resolution and sharpen fine detail without changing the composition. It's the last step: nail the prompt and lighting first, choose the frame you like, then enhance for a clean, print-ready file rather than trying to fix a weak image by upscaling it.