🎨Tutorial: Midjourney 101

Hi AI Futurists,

Today we are trying something different — an introductory tutorial on MidJourney, our favorite generative AI image editor.

Thanks for checking it out, and let us know if you want more of this type of content. We appreciate you!

Best,
Lex

Using Midjourney

Midjourney is a generative AI platform that creates images from natural language descriptions, known as prompts, similar to tools like DALL-E and Stable Diffusion. It entered open beta on July 12, 2022, and is led by David Holz, co-founder of Leap Motion. As of 2025, it's accessible via a web interface and Discord, making it ideal for generating high-quality visuals for commercial use, such as marketing materials for various audiences.

Getting Started: Signing Up and Subscription

To begin, visit midjourney.com and sign in using your Google or Discord account. This step is crucial for accessing the platform's features. For commercial use, a paid subscription is necessary, as non-paying users are limited to a Creative Commons Noncommercial 4.0 license, restricting use to personal projects with attribution. Paying users, however, own their generated assets, enabling commercial applications.

Midjourney offers four subscription tiers: Basic, Standard, Pro, and Mega, with costs ranging from $10 to $120 monthly, depending on features like GPU time and relax mode for unlimited generations.

Understanding the Interface and Workflow

Once logged in, navigate to the Create page on midjourney.com, where you'll find the Imagine bar for entering prompts. This interface allows real-time image generation, with options to refine outputs using features like upscaling and variations. For users familiar with Discord, Midjourney also supports bot commands, though the web interface is recommended for ease of use as of 2025.

The workflow involves entering a prompt, generating four images, and then refining them using tools like:

• Upscaling: Select an image and use the U button (e.g., U1 to U4) to enlarge and add detail.

• Variations: Use the V button (V1 to V4) for slight modifications based on the selected image.

• Zoom Out: Expand the image beyond its original boundaries for wider scenes.

Crafting Effective Prompts for Commercial Use

Crafting effective prompts is key to generating suitable images. Be specific, using descriptive keywords for the scene, style, and elements. For example, include "photorealistic," "cartoonish," or "watercolor" to define the style, and specify aspect ratios like "--ar 16:9" for widescreen formats. Negative prompts, such as "--no blurry," can exclude unwanted elements.

For commercial purposes, consider brand guidelines, ensuring the images align with your marketing goals. Specify details like logos, product placements, or specific color schemes. Experiment with model versions (e.g., "--v 5") for different artistic outputs, and iterate on prompts to refine results.

Example Prompts:

• "A photorealistic image of a futuristic cityscape at night with neon lights, including a prominent tech company logo."

• "A vibrant flyer with 'Summer Sale' in bold letters, on a yellow background with images of beach products, clear and readable."

• "A brochure cover featuring a modern office space, with the title 'Innovate with Us' in elegant script, warm lighting."

Clearly these end up being just first drafts, and sometimes you will have to get hands-on to fix the drafts. It is also a good idea to be as specific as possible with color scheme and style.

Techniques for Crafting Effective Prompts

Prompt engineering is the cornerstone of generating unique images with Midjourney. Research suggests that well-crafted prompts can significantly influence the output's originality and quality. Here are key techniques:

• Be Concise and Specific: Keep prompts under 40 words for best results, as longer prompts (over 60 words) may be ignored, and over 80 words are almost certainly cut off. For example, instead of "a beautiful landscape," use "a surreal landscape with mountains made of glass and metal trees, rainbow sky."

  

• Use Descriptive Language: Incorporate adjectives and adverbs to detail color, shape, size, texture, and emotion. For instance, "a portrait of a tabby cat with green eyes, soft fur, under golden lighting, Nikon photocamera, 1995."

  

• Incorporate Unique Styles and Combinations: If you know the type of outcome you want, it is easy to reference Pixar or Picasso as desired outputs. See “a family of smurfs, pixar style”.

  

• Avoid Ambiguity: Use clear, direct language to prevent unexpected results. Avoid vague terms like "nice" and opt for specific descriptions like "vibrant, geometric shapes in cubist style."

  

• Experiment with Keywords: Test different keywords and settings to understand how the model interprets them. For example, try "steampunk" or "phantasmal iridescent" for unique effects.

  

• Use the the weirdness parameter: This parameter generates more unconventional outputs, such as vivid colors or abstract designs.

  

• Incorporate Unique Styles and Combinations: Combine different art styles or elements, such as "a futuristic cityscape in art deco style with living plant buildings." This approach, as seen in examples like "an elephant with butterfly wings made of paint," can lead to novel visuals.

  

Leveraging Parameters for Customization

Midjourney offers various parameters to customize image generation, enhancing uniqueness and quality:

• Aspect Ratio (--ar): Specifies the output image size, e.g., --ar 2:3 for vertical formats, suitable for posters or social media.

• Stylize (--s): Adjusts creative liberty, with values ranging from 0 to 60,000. Higher values make images more abstract, useful for artistic, non-cliche outputs.

• Stop (--stop): Controls generation completion, e.g., --stop 95 for less detailed, more suggestive images. “a busy street in New York, photo from 1980, —stop 75”
  

  

These parameters, detailed in the Midjourney documentation, allow users to fine-tune images, ensuring they meet commercial standards and avoid generic looks.

Refining Images for High Quality and Novelty

After generating initial images, use Midjourney's refinement tools to enhance quality and uniqueness:

• Upscaling (U1-U4): Select an image and use the U buttons to enlarge and add detail, improving resolution for high-quality outputs. This is crucial for commercial use, as seen in guides like how to upscale images in Midjourney.

  

• Variations (V1-V4): Create slight modifications of selected grid images, maintaining general composition while introducing novelty.

  

• Re-roll (): Rerun the original prompt to produce new grid images, offering fresh interpretations without changing the prompt.

• Using Reference Images: Include image URLs (e.g., .png, .jpg) at the prompt's start to influence style and content, guiding the model towards a unique vision, as noted in Midjourney blend documentation.

These tools, accessible via the web interface or Discord, ensure images are not only high-quality but also tailored to avoid overused themes.

To ensure images aren't cliche, monitor trending prompts and avoid common themes. For instance, instead of "a beautiful beach sunset," try "a beach at midnight with bioluminescent waves, in a watercolor sketch style."

By mastering prompt engineering, leveraging parameters, and refining images, users can create compelling, novel, high-quality images with Midjourney that avoid cliches. Continuous experimentation and community engagement ensure ongoing improvement, making Midjourney a powerful tool for commercial visual creation.

Key Resources

• Comprehensive Guide to Midjourney Usage

• Advanced Tips for Midjourney Image Creation

• Photorealistic Images with Midjourney

• Crafting Exceptional Prompts for Midjourney

• Midjourney Prompts 101 with Examples

• Upscaling Images in Midjourney

• Midjourney Documentation on Prompts

• Midjourney Blend Documentation

• Midjourney Subreddit Community

• Midjourney Facebook Group

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