Kling Prompt Cheat Sheet (2026)

This is the fast reference for writing Kling 3.5 prompts. Keep it open in a tab, copy the pieces you need, and assemble them with the formula below. Every table maps to one part of a good prompt — subject, camera, light — so you can build a shot in under a minute.

For deeper walkthroughs, see our best Kling prompts roundup and the ready-made templates.

The Kling shot formula

Write one sentence in this order and you get a clean, controllable clip. The order matters less than the discipline: one main action, one camera move.

Subject + Action + Setting + Camera (shot size + one movement) + Lighting + Mood.

A lone hiker climbing a snowy ridge at dawn, wide shot, slow dolly in, golden hour backlight, quiet and epic mood.

Match each element to a row in the tables below. Skip any element and Kling fills the gap for you — usually with something generic — so specify what matters to your shot.

Shot sizes

Shot size sets how much of the subject fills the frame. Pick one and put it right before the camera move.

Camera moves — one per shot

Use exactly one movement per clip. Stacking moves causes drift and warping — chain shots instead of overloading one.

Lighting & lens

Lighting and lens terms set the look. Combine one lighting cue with one optical cue for a cinematic feel.

Kling features

These modes live in the app or API, not in the prompt text. Reach for Image-to-Video when quality matters most.

Negative prompts

The negative prompt is a plain list of artifacts you want gone. Paste it into the negative field, not the main prompt.

blurry, distorted hands, extra fingers, warping, morphing, flicker, plastic skin, over-saturation, text, watermark, logo

Trim it to fit the shot. A face close-up needs plastic skin and distorted hands; a landscape needs flicker and warping. Adding every term to every shot can over-constrain the model.

Output settings

Choose these in the app or API. Kling has no --ar style flags — you never type them into the prompt.

Example prompts

Five complete prompts built with the formula. Copy, swap the subject, and set the output options in the app.

1. Cinematic portrait

A young woman turning to look over her shoulder in a rain-soaked neon alley, close-up, slow push-in, low-key practical lights with backlight rim, moody and intimate. 85mm, shallow depth of field.

Push-in on a close-up builds tension without changing framing. (9:16, 1080p, 5s)

2. Product hero

A matte black wireless earbud case resting on wet slate, macro shot, slow orbit, softbox lighting with subtle rim, clean and premium mood. Shallow depth of field.

Best rendered as image-to-video from a product still to lock the shape. (1:1, 4K, 5s)

3. Landscape reveal

Mist rolling over a pine valley at first light, extreme wide shot, drone ascending, golden hour with volumetric light, calm and vast mood. Film grain.

A rising drone move pairs naturally with an extreme wide reveal. (16:9, 4K, 10s)

4. Action tracking shot

A cyclist speeding down a coastal road, wide shot, tracking sideways with the subject, bright high-key afternoon sun, energetic and free mood. 24mm.

Tracking keeps the subject centered while the background streaks past. (16:9, 1080p, 10s)

5. Character dialogue setup

An older detective leaning back in a dim office chair, medium close shot, static locked-off, low-key light from a single desk lamp, tense and weary mood.

Keep the base clip silent, then add speech with Lip Sync as a separate step. (16:9, 1080p, 5s)

Once these feel natural, level up with our realistic-video guide.