Master Midjourney: Comprehensive Website Guide & New Features Explained

Comprehensive guide on mastering Midjourney, the powerful AI image generator. Covers the new Midjourney website, parameters, prompting, references, and personalization. Includes expert tips, tricks, and workflows for beginners and advanced users.

July 20, 2024

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Unlock the full potential of Midjourney with this comprehensive guide. Discover the website's intuitive interface, powerful parameters, and innovative prompting techniques to create stunning, personalized images. Whether you're a beginner or a seasoned user, this post will equip you with the knowledge to master Midjourney and unleash your creative vision.

Explore Tab for Endless Inspiration

The explore tab is the best spot for endless inspiration. You can see images that other people have generated, and sort them in various ways. Use the search box to find things for inspiration or to use as style and image references.

When you click on an image, it will show the full prompt and parameters used. You can click to use the prompt or use it as a style/image reference. You can also drag the image up to the prompt bar to use it.

Hovering over an image and clicking the magnifying glass will pull up other similar images. This is a great way to find inspiration and discover new styles and concepts. Make a habit of liking any images you really like, so you can easily find them again later.

Sometimes it's fun to just find the weirdest picture, click the magnifying glass, then find the weirdest one of those, and repeat until you have nightmares. This exploration process can lead to some truly unique and unexpected results.

Prompt Bar to Generate Images

The prompt bar is the central hub for generating images in Midjourney. Here's how it works:

  1. Imagination: Start by typing a single word in the prompt bar, such as "imagination". This will generate a quick image based on that simple prompt.

  2. Parameters: Clicking the dropdown on the right side of the prompt bar will open up a range of parameters you can adjust. These include:

    • Image Size: Choose from portrait, square, or landscape aspect ratios, or type in a custom ratio.
    • Aesthetics: Control the "stylization", "weirdness", and "variety" of the image.
    • Mode: Switch between "standard" and "raw" modes to adjust the level of automatic beautification.
    • Version: Select different versions of the Midjourney model, from v1 to the latest v6.
    • Speed: Choose from fast, standard, turbo, or relax generation speeds.
  3. Generating Images: Hit enter or the "Imagine" button to generate the image. You can watch the process in the "Create" tab.

  4. Image History: The "Archive" tab shows all your previous generations, which you can sort, search, and organize into folders.

  5. Liking Images: Clicking the heart icon on an image will add it to your "Liked" folder for easy reference later.

  6. Prompting Tips: Keep prompts simple and specific. Use power tokens like "cinematic", "vibrant", or "detailed" to guide the output. Experiment with parameters and references to fine-tune the results.

The prompt bar puts a huge amount of control at your fingertips. By mastering the parameters and prompting techniques, you can unlock the full creative potential of Midjourney.

Create Tab to Watch Generation

In the middle of the site, you'll find the "Imagine" prompt bar where you can type in your prompt and hit enter to generate an image. Once you do that, the "Create" tab will open up, allowing you to watch the image generation process in real-time.

As the image is being generated, you'll see the prompt and parameters displayed on the side. This gives you full visibility into how Mid Journey is interpreting your prompt and applying the various settings.

The number that pops up shows how many images you've currently generated. You can click on this to open the "Archive" tab, which displays all your previous generations as thumbnails. This makes it easy to browse and organize your image history.

Overall, the "Create" tab provides a seamless way to generate images, see the process unfold, and access your full image library - all within the Mid Journey web interface. It's a significant improvement over the previous Discord-based workflow, making the entire experience much more intuitive and user-friendly.

Archive Tab to Organize Images

The archive tab in Midjourney is a powerful tool for organizing and managing your generated images. This tab displays all of your previous generations as thumbnails, making it easier to browse through your history and find specific images.

Some key features of the archive tab include:

  1. Sorting and Filtering: You can sort your images by date, size (landscape or portrait), and whether they have been upscaled. This allows you to quickly find the images you're looking for.

  2. Layout Options: You can change the layout of the thumbnails to either a grid or a full-size view, depending on your preference.

  3. Search: You can search through your images by date, using the search bar on the right side of the screen.

  4. Folders: You can create custom folders to organize your images, either by manually selecting and dragging images, or by using "smart folders" that automatically group images based on keywords in the prompts.

  5. Liking Images: Liking your favorite images is a great way to keep track of them and easily find them later.

By taking advantage of the archive tab's features, you can stay organized and efficiently navigate your growing collection of Midjourney-generated images. This can be especially helpful as you continue to explore and experiment with the platform, ensuring that your best work is easy to access and reference.

Controlling Output with Parameters

The main ways to control the output in MidJourney are through parameters, prompting, and references. These can all be adjusted right in the prompt bar.

Parameters change the way MidJourney interprets your prompt, allowing you to explore and fine-tune an infinite number of aesthetic directions:

  • Image Size: Choose from portrait, square, or landscape aspect ratios, or type in a custom ratio.
  • Stylization: Adjusts how "artistic" the image is, favoring aesthetic colors, composition, and forms.
  • Weirdness: Explores more unconventional aesthetics, leading to unique compositions and perspectives.
  • Variety: Controls how varied the initial outputs are, with lower values producing more consistent results.

You can type these parameters manually at the end of your prompt, or use the dropdown menu to adjust them. Changing a parameter will apply it to every prompt going forward until you change it again.

Experimenting with these parameters allows you to fine-tune the aesthetic direction of your images, from realistic to highly stylized and unconventional. Finding the right balance can take some trial and error, but provides a huge amount of creative control.

Prompting Strategies and Structure

Crafting effective prompts is key to getting the desired results from MidJourney. Here are some strategies and a structured approach to prompting:

The Four S's

A good prompt structure follows this framework:

  1. Scene: Describe the overall scene or setting using generic keywords and archetypes.
  2. Subject: Specify the main subject(s) or focal point(s) of the image.
  3. Setting Details: Add more specific details about the environment, location, lighting, etc.
  4. Style Details: Describe the desired artistic style, medium, or visual treatment.

By building up the prompt in this way, you provide MidJourney with a clear vision to interpret and generate the image.

Power Tokens

Certain words and phrases can have a significant impact on the output. Some examples of "power tokens" include:

  • Cinematic, dramatic, epic
  • Intricate, detailed, photorealistic
  • Surreal, abstract, impressionistic
  • Vibrant, muted, monochrome
  • Vintage, retro, futuristic
  • Gritty, weathered, worn
  • Whimsical, fantastical, magical

Experiment with incorporating these types of words to guide the aesthetic.

Prompting for Specific Styles

When aiming for a particular artistic style, it's helpful to research and learn the vocabulary associated with that medium. For example, for a vector art or graphic design prompt, consider using terms like:

  • Minimalist, geometric, abstract
  • Brandmark, icon, emblem
  • Silhouette, outline, flat
  • Gradient, texture, pattern

This helps MidJourney understand the desired visual language.

Iterating and Experimenting

There is no single "perfect" prompt. Prompting is an iterative process of experimenting, evaluating results, and refining. Don't be afraid to try different variations, swap out keywords, and explore unexpected directions. The more you practice, the more intuitive prompting will become.

Remember, the goal is to provide clear, concise direction while leaving room for MidJourney's creativity to shine. With a structured approach and a willingness to experiment, you can unlock the full potential of this powerful AI tool.

Generating Text and Logos

When it comes to generating text and logos in MidJourney, there are a few key things to keep in mind:

Text Generation:

  • Adding text to an image is done by enclosing the text in quotation marks within the prompt.
  • The text generation is not always consistent, so you may need to try several variations or use inpainting to fix any issues.
  • A good tip is to start with simpler text prompts and gradually increase the complexity as you get better results.

Logo Generation:

  • For generating logos, some useful keywords to include in the prompt are: "minimalist", "abstract", "brandmark", "geometric", etc.
  • Experiment with different styles like "retro", "psychedelic", "modern", etc. to see how it affects the output.
  • The stylize parameter is important for logos, as higher values will lead to more complex and artistic designs, while lower values will be more minimalist.
  • You can also try using the names of famous logo designers like "Milton Glaser" or "Paul Rand" to influence the style.
  • Don't forget to include the aspect ratio and other parameters to ensure the logo is the right size and shape for your needs.

The key with both text and logos is to be patient, experiment, and don't be afraid to try different approaches. With some practice, you'll be able to consistently generate high-quality text and logos using MidJourney.

Using Image References

Image references are a powerful way to guide the output of MidJourney. There are three main types of image references you can use:

  1. Image Prompt: This pulls in the structure, subjects, and motifs of the reference image. You can control the strength of the influence using the --iw (image weight) parameter.

  2. Style Reference: This focuses on the aesthetic qualities like colors, lighting, and textures of the reference image. The --sw (style weight) parameter adjusts the strength.

  3. Character Reference: This allows you to consistently generate the same character across different scenes and styles. The --cw (character weight) parameter controls how much the character features are matched.

You can use these references individually or combine them for even more control. For example, using an image prompt to set the scene, a style reference for the aesthetic, and a character reference for a consistent protagonist.

When using image references, hold down the Shift key and click multiple images to use them together. You can also manually type the reference parameters like --iw 1.5 at the end of your prompt.

Experimenting with different image references and weight values is key to honing in on the exact look you want. Don't be afraid to try out random images as references - the results can be surprisingly creative.

Leveraging Style Reference Codes

One of the most powerful features of Midjourney is the ability to use style reference codes (SRFs) to achieve consistent and unique visual styles across generations. SRFs are essentially codes that represent specific styles that Midjourney has been trained on, allowing you to apply those styles to your prompts.

To use an SRF, simply add --srf <code> to the end of your prompt, where <code> is the numerical code for the style you want to use. You can also use --srf random to have Midjourney randomly select an SRF.

Exploring and finding great SRFs can be a fun and rewarding process. There are a few resources available that catalog and categorize various SRFs, such as the ones created by Ali Jewels, Wade McMaster, and Charlie Q. These provide a great starting point for discovering new and interesting styles to experiment with.

When using SRFs, you can also adjust the strength of the style application using the --sw parameter, which takes a value between 0 and 1000 (the default is 100). This allows you to find the right balance between your prompt and the SRF-driven style.

Another powerful technique is to combine multiple SRFs by separating them with spaces in your prompt. You can also specify the relative weight of each SRF by using the :: syntax, like --srf <code1>::<weight1> <code2>::<weight2>.

Mastering the use of SRFs can open up a whole new world of creative possibilities in Midjourney. Experiment with different codes, blend them together, and adjust the style weights to find the perfect aesthetic for your needs.

Personalization for Unique Aesthetics

Personalization is the newest feature in MidJourney, and it's a game-changer. Normally, when you prompt MidJourney, the algorithm fills in the missing details based on its own preferences and biases, which are the combined preferences of the entire community.

With personalization, MidJourney will learn your personal preferences and fill in the blanks accordingly. This means the output will be tailored to your unique aesthetic, resulting in images that are distinctly "you."

To use personalization, you need to rank at least 200 images in the "Tasks" tab. This trains MidJourney on your preferences. Once you've done this, you can simply add --p or --personalize to your prompt, and MidJourney will apply your personalized aesthetic.

The personalization can be further fine-tuned by adjusting the --stylize parameter. This controls how much of your personalized aesthetic is applied, allowing you to find the perfect balance between your preferences and MidJourney's default style.

Personalization is incredibly powerful for developing a consistent, unique visual style. By combining it with other features like style reference seeds (SRFs) and image references, you can create truly one-of-a-kind images that reflect your artistic vision.

Experiment with personalization, play with the parameters, and let your creativity shine through. The possibilities are endless!

Specialized Parameters: Tile and Stop

The tile parameter is used to generate images that can be used as repeating tiles to create seamless patterns. This can be useful for creating textures, wallpapers, fabrics, or even 3D scenes. To use the tile parameter, simply add --tile at the end of your prompt.

Here's an example:

multicolored stones pattern --tile

This will generate an image that can be used as a seamless tile pattern. You can then download the image and use it in a pattern checker to verify the seamlessness.

There's also a technique called "super tiling" that can be used to make the pattern even less repetitive. To do this, open the generated image and use the "very region" tool to select most of the image, leaving some space on each side. Then, send that selection back to MidJourney. This will replace the selected area while maintaining the seamlessness.

The stop parameter is used to finish a job partway through the process, creating blurrier or less detailed results. You can use it by adding --stop <number> at the end of your prompt, where <number> is a value between 0 and 100 (100 being the default, which finishes the full job).

Here's an example:

woman --stop 80

This will stop the generation process at 80%, resulting in a less detailed image. The stop parameter can be useful for creating backgrounds or images that will have additional post-processing applied, as it can help reduce the overall level of detail.

While the stop parameter has limited use cases, it can be helpful in certain situations, such as when you want a blurrier or less detailed image, or when you're generating a background that will be further edited in a separate tool.

Conclusion

In this comprehensive guide, we've explored the powerful capabilities of the MidJourney AI image generator. From navigating the intuitive website interface to mastering the art of prompting, we've covered a wide range of techniques and strategies to help you unlock your creative potential.

We delved into the various parameters that allow you to fine-tune your image generation, including stylization, weirdness, and variety. We also discussed the importance of prompting, providing a structured approach to crafting effective prompts that can guide MidJourney to produce the desired results.

The integration of reference images, style references, and character references was highlighted as a game-changing feature, enabling you to seamlessly blend visual elements and achieve consistent aesthetics across your creations.

Additionally, we explored the power of style reference seeds (SRFs), which provide a unique way to apply consistent styles to your images, and the personalization feature, which allows MidJourney to learn and adapt to your individual preferences.

Throughout the guide, we emphasized the importance of experimentation and embracing the serendipitous nature of the AI-driven image generation process. By combining the techniques and resources presented, you'll be well-equipped to master MidJourney and unleash your imagination to create truly remarkable and captivating visuals.

Remember, the journey with MidJourney is an ongoing exploration, and the resources provided in this guide, along with the ever-evolving capabilities of the platform, will continue to inspire and empower you to push the boundaries of what's possible in the world of AI-generated art.

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