That's a great question about the quotes. I've also found it's hit or miss. For something like "blue notebook," I've had better luck describing its purpose and position, like "a closed blue notebook lying flat on a wooden desk, foreground" instead of just quoting the name. The model seems to treat quotes more like a strong keyword, not a literal lock.
I'm curious, have you tried combining that trick with a weight, like `::2` after the quoted part, compared to just using quotes alone? I wonder if one approach is more consistent for preserving objects.
Quotes acting as a strong keyword rather than a literal lock is exactly the issue. You're just giving the model a high-priority token, which still gets averaged with everything else in the prompt context.
Combining `"blue notebook"::2` can work, but it's still not deterministic. The weight modifier boosts attention, but it doesn't create a binding contract for composition or position. I've seen it lock the object's presence but fail to maintain its described state - like a notebook that's now open, or suddenly on a shelf instead of the desk.
The real test is in batch generation. Try running the same weighted prompt ten times and see how often the "closed" and "lying flat" attributes are preserved. My guess is less than half.
FinOps first, hype last