Replace Sky

ROLE
Act as a senior professional photo retoucher, landscape photographer, environment editor and AI image-editing specialist. Perform a controlled, production-quality replacement of the sky in the uploaded image. Treat the source image as the ground truth and preserve everything that is not explicitly requested to change.

EDIT
Replace only the existing visible sky with [DESCRIBE THE DESIRED SKY] or with the sky shown in the provided reference image. Integrate the replacement naturally behind the existing subject, skyline, landscape and foreground while preserving the original composition, perspective and scene structure.

PRIMARY OBJECTIVE
Execute the requested “Replace Sky” edit convincingly and naturally. The new sky must appear to have been present when the original photograph was captured—not pasted behind the scene or added as an artificial backdrop. Preserve the subject, environment and all unrelated image content while maintaining physically coherent lighting, atmosphere and reflections.

EDITING PRIORITY

Replace only the visible sky.
Match the requested sky accurately.
Preserve the subject, foreground, landscape and skyline exactly.
Integrate the new sky with realistic perspective, lighting and atmosphere.
Keep every unrelated image detail unchanged.

SKY SPECIFICATION

Create the new sky according to the user’s description or supplied reference image.
Match the requested time of day, weather, cloud type, cloud coverage, colors and atmospheric conditions.
If a sky reference image is provided, use it only to reproduce the sky’s appearance—not the foreground, landscape, people or composition from that reference.
Adapt the referenced sky to the perspective, horizon and lighting conditions of the main image.
Preserve believable cloud scale, depth, softness and atmospheric perspective.
Keep the sky consistent with the camera’s viewing direction and field of view.
Do not introduce celestial objects, birds, aircraft, lightning, stars or dramatic effects unless explicitly requested.
When the desired sky is unspecified, create a natural sky that fits the existing scene rather than an exaggerated cinematic replacement.

SKY MASKING & EDGE CONTROL

Identify the exact boundary between the original sky and all foreground elements.
Preserve buildings, rooftops, mountains, trees, branches, leaves, poles, antennas and wires accurately.
Protect fine boundaries such as hair strands, transparent fabric, glass, smoke, mist and vegetation.
Preserve natural anti-aliasing and optical softness around distant edges.
Allow the new sky to show naturally through genuine gaps in trees, fences, architecture and other objects.
Do not erase, reshape, thicken or duplicate foreground silhouettes.
Avoid halos, color fringing, hard cutout edges and visible masking errors along the skyline.

HORIZON & PERSPECTIVE

Align the replacement sky accurately with the source image’s horizon and camera angle.
Maintain believable cloud scale and perspective from foreground to distance.
Keep distant clouds softer and lower in contrast where atmospheric depth requires it.
Respect the original lens characteristics, including field of view, distortion and depth rendering.
Do not move, raise, lower or redesign the physical horizon.
Do not alter buildings, mountains, trees, waterlines or other landscape features to accommodate the new sky.

LIGHTING & COLOR INTEGRATION

Match the sky’s brightness, color temperature and light direction to the existing scene.
Preserve the original subject and foreground lighting whenever the requested sky is compatible with it.
If the new sky requires integration, apply only minimal and physically necessary color spill or tonal adjustment to sky-facing surfaces.
Keep skin tones, clothing colors, architecture and vegetation natural.
Preserve existing shadows unless a very small correction is essential for consistency.
Do not apply a dramatic global color grade or completely relight the scene.
Avoid changing the image’s time of day unless explicitly requested.
Ensure the sky does not appear brighter, darker or more saturated than the scene can realistically support.

SUN & SHADOW CONSISTENCY

If the new sky contains a visible sun, place it in a direction consistent with the existing highlights and shadows.
Preserve the source image’s shadow direction, length and softness.
Do not add multiple suns or conflicting light sources.
Do not create new sun rays, lens flares or glowing edges unless explicitly requested.
If the source lighting direction cannot support a visible sun, keep the sun outside the frame or naturally obscured by clouds.
Avoid unrealistic rim lighting or artificial glow around subjects and objects.

REFLECTIONS & TRANSPARENT SURFACES

Update visible sky reflections only where physically necessary, including water, windows, polished vehicles or reflective metal.
Preserve the shape, geometry and material of every reflective surface.
Keep reflections softer, darker or distorted according to the material and viewing angle.
Do not place a sharp duplicate of the sky inside reflective surfaces.
Preserve existing objects and details visible through windows or transparent materials.
Do not alter reflections unrelated to the replaced sky.

ATMOSPHERE & WEATHER CONTINUITY

Maintain consistent haze, humidity, mist, fog and atmospheric depth between the sky and landscape.
Blend the lower sky naturally into the horizon without a visible seam.
Ensure clouds interact believably with distant terrain and architecture.
Preserve existing rain, snow, dust or fog unless the requested sky explicitly requires a compatible adjustment.
Do not add severe weather, dramatic storms or fantasy cloud formations unless requested.
Keep atmospheric effects subtle and photographic.

SUBJECT & SCENE PRESERVATION

Preserve every person’s identity, face, expression, body, pose and anatomy exactly.
Preserve hair, clothing, accessories, jewelry and all distinguishing details.
Preserve the foreground, landscape, buildings, vehicles, roads, water and vegetation.
Preserve readable text, signage, logos and architectural details.
Preserve the original composition, crop, camera position, perspective and aspect ratio.
Do not add, remove or reposition any foreground object.

STRICT PRESERVATION RULES

Do not change anything outside the visible sky unless a tiny local adjustment is essential for realistic integration.
Do not replace the entire background or rebuild the environment.
Preserve the original terrain, skyline and scene layout exactly.
Preserve the source image’s sharpness, depth of field, motion blur, grain, noise and compression characteristics.
Do not alter the overall exposure, contrast or color grading unnecessarily.
Do not introduce unrelated people, objects, structures or decorations.

ARTIFACT PREVENTION
Avoid:

pasted-on or artificial-looking skies
incorrect horizon alignment
oversized or repeated clouds
excessive saturation or HDR
mismatched time of day
conflicting light and shadow directions
multiple suns or impossible illumination
halos around buildings, trees or people
missing branches, wires or antennas
sky leaking across foreground objects
hard masking boundaries
unnatural glow around the skyline
incorrect reflections
excessive global recoloring
altered landscape or architecture
changes to the subject’s identity or appearance
fantasy elements unless requested
obvious generative-AI artifacts

QUALITY CONTROL
Before finalizing, compare the result carefully with the source and verify that:

only the visible sky has been replaced;
the requested sky appearance has been represented accurately;
the skyline, horizon and all foreground elements remain unchanged;
fine edges such as trees, hair, wires and architecture are preserved cleanly;
cloud scale, depth and perspective are believable;
lighting direction, shadows and color temperature remain coherent;
reflections have been adjusted only where physically necessary;
the lower sky blends naturally with the horizon and atmosphere;
no halos, masking errors or repeated cloud patterns are visible;
the result remains believable at close inspection.

OUTPUT
Return one polished final image only. Preserve the original aspect ratio, resolution and framing. Use the highest practical image quality and detail available. Do not add captions, watermarks, borders, comparison labels or explanatory text.