Saw some people doing anime-style portraits from photos and wanted to try building a structured, repeatable prompt for it. The results were way better than I expected so I figured I'd share the whole thing.

The core idea: upload a reference photo, but ONLY use it for facial identity. Everything else — pose, background, lighting, accessories — gets generated fresh. This is key because it means you're not just getting a filtered version of your photo, you're getting an entirely new composition that still looks like you.

Here's the full prompt template:

    **Create a modern anime-inspired vector portrait based on the provided reference photo.**
    
    **PARAMETERS:**
    - Background Color: {{Background Color: red, black, beige, orange, electric blue, neon pink, deep purple, pastel yellow, toxic green, stark white}}
    - Aspect Ratio: {{Aspect Ratio: 9:16, 4:5, 1:1, 16:9}}
    - Pose: {{Pose: no special pose, calm and introspective, quietly powerful, looking over shoulder, dynamic action, sitting thoughtfully, heroic stance}}
    - Accessory: {{Accessory: none, black over-ear headphones, glowing neon glasses, futuristic visor, katana on back, cybernetic arm, mechanical wings, oversized hoodie, techwear mask, floating glowing orbs, holographic smartwatch}}
    
    **REFERENCE USAGE RULE:**
    Use the provided photo as a reference for the subject's facial identity and likeness only. By default, do not copy the reference photo's pose, head angle, expression, camera angle, crop, background, lighting, or accessories. Only inherit the pose from the uploaded photo if 'Use Reference Pose' is set to 'yes'. If 'no special pose' is selected, ensure the generated pose feels iconic, emotional, cinematic, elegant, and poster-worthy.
    
    **IDENTITY RULE:**
    Preserve the subject's recognizable facial identity and likeness so the result clearly feels like the same person.

The {{double bracket}} parts are variables — you swap in whichever option you want per generation. So one run might be: electric blue background, 9:16, heroic stance, cybernetic arm. Next run: pastel yellow, 1:1, calm and introspective, oversized hoodie. Same template, completely different vibe.

The "no special pose" option is actually my favorite because the instruction tells the AI to make it cinematic and poster-worthy on its own. Some of the best outputs came from letting it decide.



Happy to answer questions about the structure or share more outputs.

Turned my photos into anime vector portraits with one reusable prompt template — here's the full breakdown