# AI photo style transfer: turn a photo into a cartoon, 90s film, comic and 5 more styles — prompts and examples

> AI photo style transfer turns a portrait into a cartoon, a 90s film snapshot, an oil painting or a comic with a single prompt: upload the photo and describe the style. We took one photo through eight styles in Nano Banana Pro and share the prompt for each. The likeness holds in every style; it's weakest in cartoon 3D, where the features are simplified on purpose.

Published 2026-10-17 · Updated 2026-10-17
URL: https://ai2face.com/blog/foto-v-stile-nejroset

AI photo style transfer turns a portrait into a cartoon, an old film snapshot or an oil painting with one prompt: you upload the photo and describe what it should become. This used to mean filters with a dozen preset effects. Now you set the style in words, and you can mix styles too. We took one photo and turned it into eight styles in [Nano Banana Pro](/models/nano-banana-pro) in the AI2Face generator. Below are the results, the prompt for each style and an honest take on the likeness. The woman in the photo was generated for this test.

![A grid of nine portraits of the same woman: the source photo and eight styles — cartoon 3D, 90s film, oil, comic, cyberpunk, pencil, watercolor, noir](https://ai2face.com/_astro/grid.BkGOziHI_2zQuO.jpg "The source (top left) and eight styles, one prompt each. Nano Banana Pro")

## How AI photo style transfer works: the prompt formula

Describe the style by its traits, not by its name. “90s style” leaves the model guessing, while “cheap point-and-shoot film camera with flash, faded colors, grain” is precise. Here's the formula that works:

1. **Technique:** 3D render, film, oil, ink, pencil, watercolor.
2. **Lighting:** direct flash, Rembrandt lighting, neon, stripes from window blinds.
3. **Palette and texture:** faded warm colors, halftone dots, grain, canvas.
4. **Setting:** 90s wallpaper, a rainy street, a dark studio background.
5. **What to keep:** facial features, freckles, hair, clothes, pose and framing.

The fifth point is a must. Without it, the model paints a beautiful portrait in the right style, but of someone else. In every example below we added the same line at the end:

```
Keep her recognizable as the same person: face shape, eyes, nose, lips,
freckles, long dark brown hair, white t-shirt and denim jacket, pose and
framing. No text, no logos.
```

Anime gets its own guide with six styles: [turn a photo into anime](/blog/foto-v-stile-anime).

## 1. Turn a photo into a cartoon: 3D like an animated movie

```
Transform this photo into a 3D animated feature film character render: soft
rounded stylized features, slightly larger expressive eyes, smooth
subsurface-scattered skin, glossy detailed hair strands, warm cinematic studio
lighting, colorful soft background.
```

![Before and after: on the left, a photo of a woman in a denim jacket by a beige wall; on the right, the same woman as a 3D cartoon character with large brown eyes](https://ai2face.com/_astro/cartoon3d.f_CYhnnD_Z1dHc3p.jpg "Cartoon 3D: freckles, straight hair and the jacket are kept, the features are simplified. Nano Banana Pro")

This is the answer to “Disney-style photo”: soft 3D, big eyes, warm light. Leave the studio's name out of the prompt — models often ignore it or refuse because of style rights. Describing the traits gets you the same result. The likeness here is the weakest of the eight: the features are simplified on purpose, but the freckles, parting, hair and jacket stayed, so she's still recognizable.

## 2. 90s photo style

```
Transform this photo into an authentic 1990s film snapshot: shot on a cheap
point-and-shoot 35mm camera with direct flash, warm faded colors, visible film
grain, slight vignetting, a 90s hairstyle with a thin headband, the background
becomes a 90s apartment with patterned wallpaper.
```

![Before and after: on the left, a modern photo by a beige wall; on the right, a flash film snapshot with a headband, floral wallpaper and 90s furniture](https://ai2face.com/_astro/90s.DNFoO7vh_Z2eiz4N.jpg "90s film: flash, grain, a headband and floral wallpaper. Nano Banana Pro")

The 90s film look rests on three traits: direct flash gives flat light and a dark background, grain and fading give texture, and patterned wallpaper with a china cabinet sets the era. Nano Banana Pro added framed photos to the wall and the cabinet — the prompt didn't ask for them, but they fit the style perfectly. The face looks more serious: direct flash wipes out the soft shadows of the smile.

## 3. Photo to oil painting

```
Transform this photo into a classical oil painting portrait: thick visible
brushstrokes, rich warm palette, Rembrandt lighting from the side, dark brown
painterly background, canvas texture.
```

![Before and after: on the left, a photo of the woman; on the right, the same portrait in oil with thick brushstrokes on a dark brown background](https://ai2face.com/_astro/oil.BVDTKjTg_Z70fA3.jpg "Oil painting: the brushstrokes show even on the denim jacket. Nano Banana Pro")

Oil is the “safest” artistic style for likeness: the features stay almost photographic, and only the texture changes. The brushstrokes cover the whole frame, denim included, and the side light adds volume that the flat photo against the wall didn't have. A portrait like this makes a good gift printed on canvas.

## 4. Photo to comic

```
Transform this photo into a comic book panel illustration: bold black ink
outlines, halftone dot shading, flat saturated colors, dramatic cel shading,
simple abstract background with speed lines. No speech bubbles, no letters.
```

![Before and after: on the left, a photo of the woman; on the right, the same woman in comic style with black outlines and yellow speed lines in the background](https://ai2face.com/_astro/comic.BcNozFuG_1zGP98.jpg "Comic: ink outlines, halftone and speed lines. Nano Banana Pro")

A comic is recognizable by its outlines and halftone, so name them. Always include “no speech bubbles, no letters”: otherwise the model often adds empty bubbles or fake text. If you need a whole story with dialogue across several panels, see our guide on how to [make a comic with AI](/blog/sozdat-komiks-nejroset).

## 5. Cyberpunk photo style

```
Transform this photo into a cyberpunk night scene: neon pink and cyan lights
reflecting on her face, rainy futuristic city street with glowing signs without
readable text behind her, light rain, cinematic shallow depth of field, small
subtle tech earpiece.
```

![Before and after: on the left, a photo of the woman by a wall; on the right, the same woman on a neon-lit night street in the rain with pink and cyan reflections](https://ai2face.com/_astro/cyberpunk.dNFAnUgF_25Sago.jpg "Cyberpunk: neon on the face and wet pavement. The signs show unreadable pseudo-letters. Nano Banana Pro")

Here the model changes the setting and lighting rather than the drawing technique: the photo stays a photo but moves to a city at night. The neon tinted her hair and skin pink and cyan, just as it would under real signs. The weak spot is the signs: even with “without readable text”, the model filled them with pseudo-letters. For a cover image, blur them or ask for “signs blurred into bokeh”.

## 6. Photo to pencil sketch

```
Transform this photo into a detailed graphite pencil sketch on textured white
paper: fine hatching and cross-hatching, soft shading, some unfinished loose
lines at the edges, monochrome.
```

![Before and after: on the left, a photo of the woman; on the right, a pencil sketch with fine hatching and unfinished lines at the edges](https://ai2face.com/_astro/pencil.2pQp4D4o_Z1GEQ5S.jpg "Pencil: hatching and unfinished edges make the drawing look hand-made. Nano Banana Pro")

The phrase “unfinished loose lines at the edges” does the heavy lifting: without it, the result looks like a photo with a “sketch” filter. With it, it looks like an artist's drawing. The model rendered the freckles as dots, which looks natural in pencil.

## 7. Photo to watercolor

```
Transform this photo into a delicate watercolor portrait: transparent washes of
color, soft bleeding edges, visible paper grain, loose splashes in the
background, light airy palette.
```

![Before and after: on the left, a photo of the woman; on the right, a watercolor portrait with blue washes and splashes on white paper](https://ai2face.com/_astro/watercolor.D6M1x2zp_ZrNjyQ.jpg "Watercolor: bleeding edges and splashes, with the face drawn in more detail than the rest. Nano Banana Pro")

Nano Banana Pro got watercolor “right”: the face is detailed, and toward the edges the painting dissolves into the paper — that's how artists paint portraits. The hair came out lighter: the “light airy” palette brightened it. If hair color matters, add it to the style prompt.

## 8. Film noir photo style

```
Transform this photo into a 1940s film noir still: high-contrast black and
white, hard light through window blinds casting striped shadows across her face
and the wall, deep blacks, film grain, a 1940s hairstyle.
```

![Before and after: on the left, a photo of the woman; on the right, a black-and-white still with striped shadows from blinds across her face and a wavy 1940s hairstyle](https://ai2face.com/_astro/noir.B1NPcypk_zULQP.jpg "Noir: stripes from the blinds and a 1940s hairstyle. Nano Banana Pro")

Noir is all about light: stripes from the blinds are its signature, and the model laid them across both the face and the wall. It came up with the 1940s hairstyle — waves and victory rolls — on its own from the words “a 1940s hairstyle”. It shows how a style changes more than color: the same person now looks like the heroine of an old detective movie.

## How to copy a style from a reference image

If a style is hard to put into words, upload a second image — a style example — along with the photo. The prompt is short then:

```
Redraw the person from the first photo in the style of the second image:
technique, palette, lighting and texture as in the second one. Keep the face,
hair, clothes and pose from the first photo.
```

Image-editing models — Nano Banana Pro, Nano Banana 2.1, [GPT Image 2.5](/models/gpt-image-2-5) — accept several references in one generation. Use your own images or images with a free license. Copying the style of a specific living artist for commercial use isn't a good idea.

## Where to try it: AI2Face

Nano Banana Pro, [Nano Banana 2.1](/models/nano-banana-2-1) and [GPT Image 2.5](/models/gpt-image) are all in one AI2Face generator: upload a portrait and try the style in several models. The cost is shown before you start, and credits from packs don't expire. A stylized portrait makes a great profile picture — ideas and prompts are in our guide to [AI avatars](/blog/avatarka-nejroset).

**More prompt collections**: [AI image prompts](/blog/promty-dlya-kartinok), [Nano Banana prompts](/blog/nano-banana-pro-prompts), [AI product photography prompts](/blog/promty-dlya-kartochek-tovara), [AI photoshoot prompt](/blog/promty-dlya-fotosessii).

## Bottom line

AI photo style transfer turns a portrait into a cartoon, 90s film, oil, comic, cyberpunk, pencil, watercolor or noir with one prompt — as long as you describe the style by its traits: technique, lighting, palette, setting. End every prompt with what to keep, and the person stays recognizable. In our test, Nano Banana Pro held the likeness in all eight styles, weakest in cartoon 3D, where the features are simplified on purpose. Start with oil or noir: the likeness is at its highest, and the effect is striking. For cartoon 3D and comic, make 2–3 versions and pick the closest one.

## FAQ

### How do I turn a photo into a specific style with AI?

Upload a portrait to the generator, pick an image-editing model such as Nano Banana Pro and describe the style by its traits: technique, lighting, palette, era. At the end, add what to keep: facial features, hair, clothes and pose.

### Can AI make a Disney-style photo?

You can get a similar cartoon 3D look if you describe its traits: “3D animated feature film character render, soft rounded features, large expressive eyes, warm cinematic lighting”. You don't need the studio's name in the prompt — models often ignore it or refuse.

### How do I make a photo look like it's from the 90s?

Ask for “a snapshot from a cheap 90s point-and-shoot film camera with direct flash”: faded warm colors, grain, vignetting, patterned wallpaper in the background. The full prompt is in the 90s section.

### Will the face stay the same after a style change?

In realistic styles, almost completely. In cartoon and graphic styles the features get simplified: the further the style is from a photo, the more the model draws a loose interpretation. End the prompt by saying the face must stay recognizable.

### Can I try different photo styles for free?

Yes, a few times. AI2Face gives you starter credits when you sign up, and the cost of each generation is shown before you start.

## Sources

- https://blog.google/innovation-and-ai/products/nano-banana-pro/
- https://ai.google.dev/gemini-api/docs/image-generation