# Inpainting prompts
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Inpainting is an editing operation that can be used to add, remove, or replace elements within an image. Inpainting requires an input image and either a natural language mask prompt (`maskPrompt`) or a user-provided mask image (`maskImage`) to define which parts of an image to change.

## Example 1: Removing elements from an image
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To remove an element from an image, provide a mask that fully encompasses the thing you want to remove, and omit the `text` parameter from your request. This signals to the model to remove that element.

**Input Image**

![\[Three pots\]](http://docs.aws.amazon.com/nova/latest/userguide/images/three_pots.jpg)


**Mask Prompt**

"flowers in pots"

**Result**

![\[Scene with no pots\]](http://docs.aws.amazon.com/nova/latest/userguide/images/remove-with-prompt.png)


## Example 2: Adding elements to an image
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To add an element to an image, use a mask that defines the bounds of the area where you want the element to be added and a text prompt that describes what you want the *whole* image to look like after the edit. It is usually more effective to use a mask image for this, but you may use a mask prompt instead.

The following example uses a `text` value of *"a garden gnome under a table in a greenhouse".*

**Input Image**

![\[Three pots\]](http://docs.aws.amazon.com/nova/latest/userguide/images/three_pots.jpg)


**Mask Image**

![\[Mask image\]](http://docs.aws.amazon.com/nova/latest/userguide/images/three_pots-add_mask_INVERTED.png)


**Result**

![\[New element added to the mask location\]](http://docs.aws.amazon.com/nova/latest/userguide/images/add-with-mask-image-1.png)


## Example 3: Replacing elements in an image
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You can replace one element with a new one using inpainting. A common way to achieve this is to use a mask prompt that describes the thing you want to replace. When using this approach, the outline of the new content will closely match the outline of the element which it is replacing. If this is not what you desire, create a mask image that fully encompasses the element you want to replace but doesn't adhere directly to its contours.

The following example uses a `text` value of *"a palm tree graphic"* and a `negativeText` value of *"colorful"*.

**Input Image**

![\[Reference image\]](http://docs.aws.amazon.com/nova/latest/userguide/images/ref-img-seed-1.png)


**Mask Prompt**

*"dog"*

**Result**

![\[Inpainted image\]](http://docs.aws.amazon.com/nova/latest/userguide/images/ref-inpainted-1.png)