Source: https://docs.sogni.ai/sogni-create/pocket/advanced-features/controlnet/depth-map/

# Depth Map

Depth Map extracts a 3D distance map from a reference image and uses it to constrain the spatial layout of a generation. Foreground stays foreground, background stays background, and the rough shapes of objects stay where they were — but materials, color, lighting, and style are wide open to the prompt.

It is the right tool when you care about _where things sit in space_ more than what they look like up close. Architecture, environment design, product photography, and room redesigns all live here.

[Watch the tutorial: Depth ControlNet — Style Transfers with Spatial Precision](https://youtu.be/QsWbxwE6PXI)

## [#](https://docs.sogni.ai/sogni-create/pocket/advanced-features/controlnet/depth-map/#what-it-does)What it does

Pocket gives you three depth-style preprocessors, each with a slightly different read on the scene:

-   **Depth** — a straight depth map. Preserves the spatial layout directly from the reference. Strong on foreground, looser on background detail.
-   **Normal Bae** — uses surface-normal maps to infer structure. Best for architecture and product design where surfaces and orientations matter. Tends to preserve detail across both foreground and background more evenly than Depth.
-   **Segmentation** — identifies and isolates distinct regions (sky, wall, furniture, person) and uses them as a layout mask. Use when you want clean object boundaries reusable in your composition.

Pick the variant that matches what you're trying to keep: shapes-in-space (Depth), surface-and-volume (Normal Bae), or region boundaries (Segmentation).

## [#](https://docs.sogni.ai/sogni-create/pocket/advanced-features/controlnet/depth-map/#how-to-start)How to start

1.  Open Advanced Guidance and tap **Depth Map**.
2.  Pick a reference image — a room, a building, a still life, a landscape.
3.  Choose the depth variant (Depth, Normal Bae, or Segmentation) for what you need to preserve.
4.  Write a prompt for the new look — different materials, different era, different lighting.
5.  Generate.

## [#](https://docs.sogni.ai/sogni-create/pocket/advanced-features/controlnet/depth-map/#prompt-tips)Prompt tips

-   **Prompt for materials and atmosphere.** "Marble walls, late-afternoon sun through windows, photoreal interior" — the structure already comes from the reference.
-   **Specify era or genre when redecorating.** "Mid-century modern," "brutalist concrete," "Art Deco gold and black" all work as clean style anchors.
-   **Match the camera language** — wide angle, fisheye, tilt-shift, top-down. The depth map carries layout but not lens character.
-   **Strength tuning.** Higher strength locks the layout strictly; lower strength lets the model reshape objects while keeping the general scene composition.

## [#](https://docs.sogni.ai/sogni-create/pocket/advanced-features/controlnet/depth-map/#workflows)Workflows

**Room redesign.** Photograph a room you want to redecorate, run Depth, and prompt for the style you're considering — Scandinavian, industrial, cottagecore. Furniture stays where it is; finishes change. Good for previewing renovations.

**Architecture style transfer.** Use Normal Bae on a photo of a building, then prompt for a different architectural era. Volumes are preserved; ornamentation, materials, and weathering shift.

**Product photography variants.** Shoot a product once on a plain background. Use Depth to reshoot it in twenty different scenes without moving the product.

**Environment concept art.** Start from a real landscape photo. Prompt for "alien planet," "post-apocalyptic," or "fantasy realm" and watch the same valley turn into a different world.

**Same scene, different time.** Take one reference, generate "morning," "noon," "sunset," "stormy night." The layout is constant; the mood transforms.

## [#](https://docs.sogni.ai/sogni-create/pocket/advanced-features/controlnet/depth-map/#tips)Tips

-   Cleaner references give cleaner depth maps. Cluttered scenes can confuse the preprocessor.
-   Segmentation is the strongest choice when you want to reuse the _outline of objects_ rather than their volumes.
-   Depth Map pairs nicely with strong style prompts because the structural fidelity gives the style somewhere to live.
-   Push steps up to 30+ for architectural scenes — extra steps help the model resolve clean straight lines.

## [#](https://docs.sogni.ai/sogni-create/pocket/advanced-features/controlnet/depth-map/#see-also)See also

[ControlNet— the four Pocket guidance modes.](https://docs.sogni.ai/sogni-create/pocket/advanced-features/controlnet/)[Sketch a Masterpiece— when edges matter more than spatial depth.](https://docs.sogni.ai/sogni-create/pocket/advanced-features/controlnet/sketch-a-masterpiece/)[Face and Pose Capture— guidance for human subjects rather than environments.](https://docs.sogni.ai/sogni-create/pocket/advanced-features/controlnet/face-and-pose-capture/)[Advanced Features— Pocket's other power tools.](https://docs.sogni.ai/sogni-create/pocket/advanced-features/)