How to View the Prompt and PNG Info Hidden in an AI Image
When an AI model creates an image, it often writes the prompt and every setting into the file itself. A prompt viewer reads that hidden block back, so you can see exactly how a picture was made. This guide explains what is stored in PNG and JPEG images and how to read it.
An Online PNG Info Viewer for Stable Diffusion Images
Stable Diffusion interfaces have a "PNG Info" tab that shows the settings saved in a picture. This page does the same job in your browser, with nothing to install: it works as a PNG Info viewer and Stable Diffusion metadata viewer for images from AUTOMATIC1111, Forge and ComfyUI. Drop the original file in, read the prompt, then copy it with one click to reuse or study it.
Lost the prompt for an image you made earlier? As long as you still have the original file, the prompt, seed and sampler are usually still inside it. Use the original download: a screenshot, or a copy that went through a social platform, has had this data removed.
What Information is Hidden Inside AI Images?
Depending on the generator software used, image files contain structured key-value parameters:
- Text Prompt: The literal instructions provided to the text-to-image model.
- Negative Prompt: Concepts and attributes instructed to be excluded (common in Stable Diffusion).
- Seed Number: The exact random noise initialization integer used to produce the visual composition.
- Sampler & CFG Scale: The algorithm (e.g. DPM++ 2M Karras, Euler a) and Classifier-Free Guidance strength.
- Model Checkpoint Hash: Unique identifier specifying the exact neural network weights used.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I see what prompt was used to make an AI image?
Drop the image into the viewer. If it came from Stable Diffusion, Forge or ComfyUI, the full prompt is stored in a PNG text chunk and will be shown along with the negative prompt, seed, sampler, CFG scale and model. Images from DALL-E 3 or Firefly do not store the prompt at all.
What is PNG Info?
PNG Info is the name Stable Diffusion interfaces use for the generation settings written into a PNG file. It is a plain-text block under the key "parameters" holding the prompt, negative prompt, steps, sampler, CFG scale, seed and model hash. This viewer reads the same block without needing Stable Diffusion installed.
Which AI generators store the prompt inside the file?
Local Stable Diffusion tools (AUTOMATIC1111, Forge, ComfyUI, InvokeAI) store the full prompt and every setting. Midjourney can carry the prompt in EXIF or XMP depending on where you downloaded it. DALL-E 3, ChatGPT images and Adobe Firefly store a marker identifying the image as AI-generated but never the prompt text.
Why does my image show no prompt?
Almost always because the file was re-encoded after generation. Social platforms strip metadata on upload, screenshots discard it entirely, and converting PNG to JPEG or WebP drops the text chunks. Always test the original download rather than a copy that has passed through another service.
Can I recover a ComfyUI workflow from a PNG?
Yes. ComfyUI writes two JSON graphs into the file, one executable and one describing the visual node layout. The viewer surfaces the conditioning text, checkpoint and sampler settings as readable fields instead of raw JSON, and the original PNG can still be dragged onto a ComfyUI canvas to rebuild the graph.
What do seed, CFG scale and sampler actually mean?
Seed is the integer that initialises the noise, so the same seed with identical settings reproduces almost the same image. CFG scale controls how strictly the model follows the prompt. Sampler is the denoising algorithm, and different samplers give visibly different results at the same seed.
Is it OK to look at the prompt on someone else's image?
Reading metadata a publisher chose to leave in a public file is exactly what the format allows, and studying a prompt to learn a technique is normal practice. Passing someone's prompt off as your own, or scraping an artist's catalogue to clone their style commercially, is where it stops being reasonable.
Does my image get uploaded anywhere?
No. The file is decoded in your browser and never leaves your device, which matters because prompts routinely contain unreleased product names and client briefs. There is no account, no upload and no server-side copy.