ideogram

Ideogram (image prompt craft)

Write prompts that get design-grade images with correct text and deliberate layout out of Ideogram (Ideogram 4.0). This is the prompt-craft layer of a three-layer setup, and the typography/layout sibling to nano-banana under the image-prompt router.

• Connection/API (per-image pricing, MCP, the generate → upload to WoopSocial Media → attach flow) → tools/integrations/ideogram.md.
• Prompt craft (this skill) → how to direct the right asset well.
• Router → image-prompt picks the tool for the job.

This skill covers both lanes: generation prompt-craft (below) and the Ideogram app-editor workflow (Canvas, Magic Fill, Extend, Style References, Magic Prompt, Layerize) — for in-editor work, see references/app-editor-and-canvas.md. Re-verify model/specs quarterly.

Reach for Ideogram when… (match the job)

Its real strengths: in-image text rendering (the standout — legible, correct typography), deterministic layout (bounding-box placement), brand-accurate color (hex palettes), native 2K, and transparency (Background Remover). Reach elsewhere for conversational edits / pure photoreal scenes (→ nano-banana) or specific art house looks (→ the photoreal branch). Don't default it to every image. (Details: references/when-and-how-to-prompt.md.)

Step 0 — Read the brand + the job

Load brand-profile.md (palette as hex, type feel, do/don't). Identify the job (quote card / carousel cover / poster / logo concept / ad / signage) and the aspect ratio (4:5, 9:16, 1:1).

Step 1 — Direct a layout, not just a scene

Describe like a designer: subject/scene/style · text elements (exact string + styling + placement) · hex palette · layout/hierarchy · format (2K, aspect). Don't bury copy in a vague sentence. Ground in the brand. See references/when-and-how-to-prompt.md.

Step 2 — Use the superpower: structured JSON

Ideogram 4.0 is JSON-native. For exact, repeatable layout/text/color, write structured JSON: per-element bounding boxes, hex palette (up to ~16), and each text element's **literal string

• visual styling**. Casual input works via magic-prompt (it expands to JSON). See references/json-prompting-and-layout.md.

Step 3 — Text, transparency, recipes

• Text: ~0.97 OCR, multilingual, multi-line, logos/signage — but review every render.
• Transparency: Background Remover → clean alpha cutout. Layerize Text (live, beta) turns rendered text into editable layers — restyle/rewrite copy without regenerating; works best on clear, straight type. 2K output; aspect ratios in multiples of 16.
• Pick a recipe (quote card, carousel cover, logo concept, ad, poster). See references/text-rendering-and-recipes.md.

Step 4 — Iterate cheaply, then verify, disclose, ship

• Iterate on Turbo / magic-prompt to lock layout; finalize on Quality with refined JSON. Per-image pricing — prompt/layout precision is the cost + quality lever.
• Verify the rendered text and composition before publishing.
• Disclose AI images (EU AI Act Article 50, California AB 853) and sign with C2PA; never pass an AI image off as a real photo. Open weights are non-commercial (commercial → plan/API).
• Ship: generate per the integration guide → upload to WoopSocial Media → attach via scheduling-and-queue. WoopSocial doesn't generate images.

Quality bar — self-check

• Did I match the tool to the job (route conversational/photoreal to nano-banana)?
• Are text elements typed (exact string + styling + placement), with a hex palette and 2K/ aspect set, brand-grounded?
• Did I use JSON where layout/text precision matters (and magic-prompt for casual)?
• Did I plan iterate-cheap → finalize, and verify the rendered text?
• Did I handle disclosure + C2PA, non-commercial license, and refuse real people / IP / logos?
• Did I point to tools/integrations/ideogram.md for the API + WoopSocial flow (no claim WoopSocial generates images)?

Edge cases & pushback

• "Exact headline + brand colors + placement" → structured JSON (bounding boxes + hex palette).
• Conversational "now change the background" → route to nano-banana; Ideogram is layout-first.
• Real person / copyrighted IP or logo / "post as a real photo" → refuse; disclose + C2PA; offer an original/owned alternative.
• "Editable text layers" → Layerize Text is live (beta, all plans + API endpoint**)** — best on clear, straight standard type; curved/decorative text may not be detected.
• "Generate it in WoopSocial" → WoopSocial doesn't generate; this prompts Ideogram, then the image is uploaded to Media and attached.
• Long paragraph of text in-image → keep lines short, hierarchy clear; verify the render.

Related

• tools/integrations/ideogram.md — API/pricing/MCP, the upload-to-WoopSocial flow.
• image-prompt — the router; nano-banana — the conversational/photoreal image sibling.
• brand-profile — the visual brand; carousel-writer, caption-writer, hook-writer — copy that pairs with the asset; veo-3 — animate a still into video (image-to-video).
• scheduling-and-queue — attach the image to a post and publish.

References

• references/when-and-how-to-prompt.md — when to reach for Ideogram vs other tools, and the prompt anatomy.
• references/json-prompting-and-layout.md — the 4.0 differentiator: structured JSON, bounding boxes, palettes.
• references/text-rendering-and-recipes.md — the text superpower, transparency/2K, social recipes.
• references/app-editor-and-canvas.md — the in-app editor workflow: Canvas, Magic Fill, Extend, Style References, Magic Prompt, brand models.
• references/examples.md — weak→strong, a JSON layout, a text-heavy card, and honest scope.