---
title: "How to prompt in Cardboard"
description: "Prompting in Cardboard is as easy as typing your ideas out in your own words. This guide covers the few habits that make the biggest difference to your videos."
canonical: "https://www.cardboard.ai/learn/how-to-prompt-in-cardboard"
---

# How to prompt in Cardboard

Prompting in Cardboard is as easy as typing your ideas out in your own words. This guide covers the few habits that make the biggest difference to your videos.

## Before you prompt

- **Start with a reference.** Add at least one, and you can simply send a link, so there is nothing to download. If you add more than one, tell the agent what you like about each.
- **Pick your music first.** Your cuts and key moments get timed to the music, so it makes a big difference. If you don’t have any, ask Cardboard to generate it for you.
- **Use real footage where you can.** Real footage looks better than generated footage. If you don’t have clips, ask the agent to source B-rolls, and only generate what it can’t find or what doesn’t exist.

### Not sure what to reference?

Share a reference video and explain what you like about its pacing, text, music or visual style.

## When you prompt

Be specific: “About 1.5 seconds per shot” and “make the mood warm and nostalgic” are clearer than “make this faster” or “make this nice.”

## After the first cut

Change one thing at a time so you can tell which change helped. Say what to keep, for example “keep the opening as it is and make the ending shorter.” Point to the exact moment and say what you see, for example “at 0:12, the text is hard to read over the sky.”

## Related

[Make your first video](https://www.cardboard.ai/learn/make-your-first-video) · [Start from a recipe](https://www.cardboard.ai/learn/start-from-a-recipe) · [How to refine your edit](https://www.cardboard.ai/learn/how-to-refine-your-edit)