Negative Prompts That Actually Work in Veo3Gen: A Creator’s “No-List” for Fixing Hands, Faces, Text, and Style Drift (as of 2026-02-28)

Negative prompts are tempting: just tell the model what not to do and expect the problem to disappear.

In practice, “don’t do X” can backfire. Luma’s own documentation notes that negative prompting can be counterproductive and can even increase the chance of unwanted elements appearing (https://lumaai-help.freshdesk.com/support/solutions/articles/151000219614-understanding-prompting-for-dream-machine-positive-vs-negative). Still, creators do use “no-lists” in real workflows—especially when a recurring defect keeps showing up.

This post adapts Luma’s positive vs. negative prompting concept into a practical Veo3Gen No-List system you can test and iterate. It’s not a claim that Veo3Gen behaves identically to Luma—treat this as a structured troubleshooting method you can validate shot-by-shot (as of 2026-02-28).

Why negative prompts fail (and how to make them specific)

Luma describes positive prompting as clearly describing what you want the AI to generate, and calls it the most efficient and reliable way to guide the model (https://lumaai-help.freshdesk.com/support/solutions/articles/151000219614-understanding-prompting-for-dream-machine-positive-vs-negative). By contrast, negative prompting instructs the AI to exclude elements (https://lumaai-help.freshdesk.com/support/solutions/articles/151000219614-understanding-prompting-for-dream-machine-positive-vs-negative).

The key failure mode: when you focus attention on the defect, you may be “summoning” it. Luma even gives a concrete example: if you tell the AI to exclude people, it may add them first and then try to remove them (https://lumaai-help.freshdesk.com/support/solutions/articles/151000219614-understanding-prompting-for-dream-machine-positive-vs-negative).

Prefer positives when you can

If you want “no people,” a positive rewrite tends to work better. Luma’s article explicitly demonstrates translating “a room, do not add people” into “an empty, minimalist room with natural light” (https://lumaai-help.freshdesk.com/support/solutions/articles/151000219614-understanding-prompting-for-dream-machine-positive-vs-negative).

Use negatives when you must—but start small

When a defect is persistent (text artifacts, warped hands, logo-like smears), a small No-List can be useful as a guardrail. The trick is specificity over volume:

• Start with 3–7 negatives.
• Expand only if the issue repeats.
• Avoid banning core nouns you actually need on-screen.

The Veo3Gen “No-List” system: 3 tiers (must-not / avoid / de-emphasize)

Think of negatives as priorities, not a giant blacklist.

Tier 1 — Must-not

Use for hard failures that ruin the shot:

• “watermark,” “subtitle,” “random text overlay”
• “extra fingers,” “extra limbs” (when it keeps happening)

Tier 2 — Avoid

Use for soft failures that you can tolerate once but don’t want to dominate:

• “glitch,” “compression artifacts,” “posterization”
• “flicker,” “frame jitter”

Tier 3 — De-emphasize

Use when the model keeps drifting toward an unwanted aesthetic:

• “cartoonish,” “anime,” “oil painting,” “overly saturated”

This tiered approach helps you keep the No-List short while still communicating intent.

Placement rules: where the No-List goes in your prompt (and why)

A simple placement strategy:

1. Write a clean positive prompt first in natural language. Luma recommends using natural, detailed language and being specific about style, mood, lighting, and elements you want to see (https://lumalabs.ai/learning-hub/best-practices).
2. Append the No-List at the end as a compact “do-not” clause.

For structuring the positive part, you can borrow a practical ordering used for Luma image-to-video prompts—camera/shot, subject, action, camera movement, lighting, mood (https://filmart.ai/luma-dream-machine/). It’s not a Veo3Gen rule, but it’s a helpful way to ensure your “yes-list” is clear before you add any “no.”

7 ready-to-copy negative prompt packs (with positive anchors)

Each pack includes:

• Use case
• Symptoms
• Positive anchor line (what you do want)
• Negative No-List (what to forbid)

Pack 1 — Hands: reduce finger chaos

Use case: Talking, gesturing, holding objects.

Symptoms: Melted fingers, too many fingers, fused hands.

Positive anchor line:

Natural human hands with five fingers per hand, relaxed grip, anatomically plausible.

Negative No-List:

extra fingers, extra hands, fused fingers, deformed hands, twisted fingers, broken anatomy

Pack 2 — Faces: stop uncanny warping

Use case: Close-ups, dialogue shots, portraits.

Symptoms: Asymmetrical eyes, shifting facial features between frames, “rubber face.”

Positive anchor line:

Realistic face, stable facial features across frames, natural skin texture.

Negative No-List:

warped face, asymmetrical eyes, distorted mouth, uncanny, deformed facial features, face morphing

Pack 3 — Text/logos: prevent random typography

Use case: Backgrounds with signs, packaging, billboards.

Symptoms: Gibberish letters, brand-like marks, accidental captions.

Positive anchor line:

Clean environment surfaces with no readable signage; blank labels; plain walls.

Negative No-List:

text, captions, subtitles, watermark, logo, brand mark, readable words, typography

Note: If you do want text, Luma suggests explicitly requesting it (e.g., a poster with text that reads “...”); the general principle is to be explicit either way (https://lumalabs.ai/learning-hub/best-practices).

Pack 4 — Extra limbs & duplicate people

Use case: Full-body action, crowds, dancing.

Symptoms: Third arm appears, duplicated legs, “phantom” person enters.

Positive anchor line:

Single subject with two arms and two legs, clear silhouette, consistent body proportions.

Negative No-List:

extra limbs, extra arms, extra legs, duplicated body, clone, additional person, phantom person

Pack 5 — Flicker/jitter: stabilize the shot

Use case: Slow cinematic moves, product shots, moody scenes.

Symptoms: Exposure flicker, micro-jumps, shimmering edges.

Positive anchor line:

Stable exposure and color, smooth motion, consistent edges, steady camera movement.

Negative No-List:

flicker, strobing, frame jitter, shimmering, unstable exposure, temporal noise

Pack 6 — Watermark-like artifacts & UI smears

Use case: Social exports, “clean plate” footage, stock-style clips.

Symptoms: Corner smudges, ghosted UI icons, stamp-like marks.

Positive anchor line:

Clean image with uninterrupted corners and edges; no overlays.

Negative No-List:

watermark, timestamp, UI overlay, corner logo, app icon, border, frame, interface

Pack 7 — Unwanted style drift (keep it grounded)

Use case: You want consistent realism across iterations.

Symptoms: Suddenly becomes cartoon/anime/painting; oversharpened HDR look.

Positive anchor line:

Photorealistic, natural color grade, cinematic lighting, consistent visual style.

Negative No-List:

cartoon, anime, illustration, oil painting, sketch, hyper-saturated, over-processed, HDR halo

Pairing positives + negatives: the “Do this, not that” pattern

Because negative prompting can be counterproductive (https://lumaai-help.freshdesk.com/support/solutions/articles/151000219614-understanding-prompting-for-dream-machine-positive-vs-negative), treat negatives as a supporting clause—the shot should stand on positives alone.

Below are two before/after prompt pairs using the same base prompt, with a No-List appended.

Before/After #1 — Café close-up with hands

Base prompt (before):

35mm close-up shot of a barista pouring latte art into a ceramic cup on a wooden counter, slow dolly-in, warm morning light, cozy mood.

Same prompt + No-List (after):

35mm close-up shot of a barista pouring latte art into a ceramic cup on a wooden counter, slow dolly-in, warm morning light, cozy mood. No-List: extra fingers, fused fingers, deformed hands, broken anatomy, warped face.

Before/After #2 — Product shot with “no text”

Base prompt (before):

Static studio shot of a minimalist skincare bottle on a white seamless background, soft diffused lighting, premium clean aesthetic.

Same prompt + No-List (after):

Static studio shot of a minimalist skincare bottle on a white seamless background, soft diffused lighting, premium clean aesthetic. No-List: text, logo, watermark, readable words, typography, labels.

Common mistakes: over-blocking, banned nouns, and contradictions

Over-blocking (the fastest way to lose the shot)

If hands must be visible, don’t ban “hands.” If your scene is a crowd, don’t ban “people.” Luma’s example warns that “exclude people” can lead to the model adding them and then trying to remove them (https://lumaai-help.freshdesk.com/support/solutions/articles/151000219614-understanding-prompting-for-dream-machine-positive-vs-negative).

Recovery move:

• Replace banned nouns with banned defects.
  • Bad: “no hands”
  • Better: “no extra fingers, no deformed hands”

Contradictory constraints

If your positive says “handwritten label” but your No-List says “text,” you’ll get instability. Choose one:

• If you need text, specify it clearly (Luma notes you can ask for text by specifying the wording) (https://lumalabs.ai/learning-hub/best-practices).
• If you don’t, keep surfaces explicitly blank.

Mini test protocol: iterate negatives in 3 runs without losing the shot

Use this quick loop to avoid spiraling into a giant ban list:

1. Run A (positive-only): get composition, lighting, mood right.
2. Run B (+3–5 negatives): target the single biggest defect.
3. Run C (+1–3 more negatives): only if the defect persists.

Keep a simple change log (what you added, what changed). If quality drops, roll back to the last “good” No-List.

Checklist: diagnose which pack to use

• The shot includes close hands → start with Pack 1
• The shot includes close faces → add Pack 2
• You’re seeing random words/logos → add Pack 3
• Bodies look duplicated → add Pack 4
• The clip flickers/jitters → add Pack 5
• You see corner stamps/UI smears → add Pack 6
• The aesthetic keeps changing styles → add Pack 7

FAQ

Do negative prompts always make results worse?

Luma’s help article argues negative prompting is counterproductive and can increase the likelihood of unwanted elements showing up (https://lumaai-help.freshdesk.com/support/solutions/articles/151000219614-understanding-prompting-for-dream-machine-positive-vs-negative). In Veo3Gen, treat negatives as optional guardrails and validate with small tests.

Where should I put the No-List?

Put it after a complete positive description. Luma recommends natural, detailed language for what you want (https://lumalabs.ai/learning-hub/best-practices). The No-List works best as a short add-on, not the core of the prompt.

How long should a negative list be?

Start with 3–7 negatives. Add only when you can name a repeated defect.

If I need text, what’s the safest approach?

Be explicit about the exact wording you want. Luma notes you can request text directly by specifying what it should read (https://lumalabs.ai/learning-hub/best-practices).

Related reading

• Veo 3.1 vs Sora 2: Comparison
• Veo 3 API pricing comparison
• Veo 3 API features guide

Build your own No-List workflow with Veo3Gen

If you’re generating at scale, a reusable No-List system is easier to maintain when it’s programmatic.

• Explore the Veo3Gen API to automate prompt templates, version No-Lists, and run A/B test batches: /api
• See plans and usage options before you scale up rendering: /pricing

Try Veo3Gen (Affordable Veo 3.1 Access)

If you want to turn these tips into real clips today, try Veo3Gen:

• Start generating via the API: /api
• See plans and pricing: /pricing