Recraft Prompts

Recraft is an AI design tool built by Recraft, a London-based startup. It generates raster images and, unusually, true vector graphics you can export as SVG. Its flagship model, Recraft V3, launched October 30, 2024 and topped the Artificial Analysis Text-to-Image leaderboard at release. Recraft pairs the model with an infinite canvas, a reusable brand style system, a mockup generator, vectorization, and background removal. It is aimed at designers, sellers, and teams who need assets that drop into a real production pipeline, not just pretty pictures.

Two things. First, it outputs editable vector graphics, so a logo or icon can scale from a favicon to a billboard without going blurry, and you can export an SVG and tweak the paths in Illustrator or Figma. Second, it has a brand style system: you teach it a look from a few reference images, then every new generation matches that style. Most generators only make raster images in whatever style the prompt suggests. Recraft is built around consistency and production-ready files.

Set the output type to Vector before generating, then ask for flat shapes, simple geometry, and a limited palette. Words like flat, minimal, geometric, two-tone, and single continuous line steer the model toward clean paths. Avoid asking for photorealism, gradients with fine detail, or busy textures, since those produce messy vectors with hundreds of stray points. The cleaner and more graphic your description, the more editable the resulting SVG. Think poster art and iconography, not photography.

A Style in Recraft is a saved visual fingerprint you create from a handful of reference images or by tuning an existing preset. Once saved, you select it before generating and your prompt renders in that exact look, matching color, line weight, and shape language. In practice you build a Style from your brand illustrations once, then write plain prompts like a delivery rider with a parcel and get on-brand output every time. It is the fastest way to keep a whole asset library visually consistent.

Recraft meters generations in credits. A standard raster image costs 1 credit, a vector image costs 2, a mockup costs 2, vectorizing an upload costs 2, background removal costs 1, and a Creative Upscale costs 20, which makes it the priciest single action by far. Plan around that: draft cheaply as raster, then regenerate the keeper as vector. Recraft's free plan grants a daily credit allowance for trials, and paid plans add monthly credits plus commercial rights. Check recraft.ai/pricing for the latest allotment (pricing current to May 2026).

Yes, that is the headline feature. When you generate in vector mode, the result is a genuine vector you can download as SVG and open in any vector editor, where the shapes are editable paths rather than a flattened image. This is why Recraft suits logos, icons, and illustrations destined for print or a design system. Raster generations export as PNG. If your job ends in a developer handoff or a printer, generate vector so the file arrives in the format the next person actually needs.

Recraft V3 was the first model in its class to place text at specific positions, so you can say put the words at the top or center the title and it largely listens. Put the exact phrase in quotes, keep it short, and describe its location and the surrounding layout. For posters and badges this is reliable. As with any model, longer copy degrades, so reserve Recraft for headlines and labels and add paragraph text in a design tool afterward if the layout calls for it.

At its October 2024 launch, Recraft V3 reached the number one spot on the Artificial Analysis Text-to-Image leaderboard hosted on Hugging Face, with a reported Elo around 1172, ahead of FLUX 1.1 Pro, Midjourney v6.1, and DALL-E 3 HD at the time. Benchmarks shift as new models ship, so treat the ranking as a launch-window snapshot rather than a permanent title. The practical takeaway holds: Recraft V3 is a top-tier model for design-oriented work and especially for text and vectors.

The mockup tool places a finished design onto a realistic product or scene, such as a mug, a bottle, a tote, a phone screen, or a framed poster on a wall. It costs 2 credits per mockup. You generate or upload your logo, label, or artwork, pick a mockup template, and Recraft composites it with believable lighting and perspective. It is handy for product listings, pitch decks, and social posts where you want to show how a design looks in the real world without a photo shoot.

The free plan gives daily credits suited to trying the tool and personal projects, usually with public generations. Paid tiers add monthly credits, private generation, and commercial usage rights, which is what you want for client logos and products you sell. Licensing terms and credit amounts shift over time, so confirm the current details on recraft.ai before shipping billable work (terms current to May 2026). For paid deliverables, a Recraft subscription is the route that covers commercial use and keeps your files private.

They serve different ends of design. Midjourney leads on painterly, photoreal mood. Ideogram leads on rendering correct text in raster images for posters and social. Recraft leads on production assets: true vector output, a reusable brand style, and precise text placement. If you need an SVG logo or a consistent icon set, Recraft is the natural pick. If you need a striking photoreal hero image, Midjourney fits better. Plenty of designers use Recraft for the system and another tool for the imagery.

Messy vectors usually trace back to a prompt that asked for detail vectors do not handle well: gradients, photoreal shading, fine texture, or a cluttered scene. Simplify the description toward flat shapes, fewer colors, and one clear subject. Words like minimal, flat, geometric, and bold outline help. If a generation is close but heavy, regenerate with a simpler prompt rather than editing hundreds of stray nodes. As a last resort, export the SVG and run a path-simplify pass in your vector editor.

Yes. Recraft exposes an image generation API with the same vector, style, and brand capabilities as the app, billed per image. Public pricing for the API has been around $0.04 for a raster image and $0.08 for a vector image, though rates can change, so check recraft.ai for current figures (May 2026 rates). Teams use the API to generate on-brand assets at scale, automate icon and illustration pipelines, or build design features into their own products without a human in the loop each time.