Beyond the Basics: Control Your Midjourney Generations

Ready to move past simple text prompts in Midjourney? This guide helps you go from setting up the basics to creating the specific images you imagine. We'll cover everything from getting started to understanding parameters and using image prompts to get exactly what you want.

Getting Started with Midjourney

The Discord Connection

Midjourney works through Discord. If you don't have a Discord account, create one. It's free. Then, go to midjourney.com, sign in, and allow the bot to connect to your Discord.

Setting Up Your Private Space

While you can use the public "newcomer" rooms on the official Midjourney server, your work gets lost easily. A better way is to set up a private server just for yourself and the bot.

• Click the "+" button in Discord to create a new server.

• Name your server.

• Go back to the Midjourney server and find the Midjourney bot user list (usually on the right).

• Click the bot, then select "Add to Server." Choose your new server.

• Now you have a dedicated space to work.

Essential Midjourney Commands

You'll use two main commands, both starting with a forward slash (`/`).

Settings

Type `/settings`. You'll see various options. The most useful one to know initially is turning on "Remix mode." This helps when you want to make tweaks to generated variations. Here you can also switch between Midjourney versions (like version 4 or 5). The tips in this post generally work for both.

Imagine

This is the main command for creating images. Type `/imagine` and a box appears where you write your prompt. Tell Midjourney what you want to see. Start simple and you'll get four images back.

Understanding Results

After a few moments, you'll see your grid of four images with buttons below.

• Buttons labeled "U" (U1, U2, U3, U4) are for Upscale. Clicking one gives you a larger, more detailed version of that specific image.

• Buttons labeled "V" (V1, V2, V3, V4) are for Variations. Clicking one gives you a new grid of four images based on the style and composition of that specific image. Remix mode lets you change the prompt at this stage.

• The blue circular arrow button rerolls the original prompt, giving you four completely new images.

Adding Detail and Style to Your Prompts

To get specific results, add descriptive words or "tags" to your prompt, often separated by commas.

Using Stylistic Keywords

The style you choose has a big impact. You can add keywords like "cinematic," "watercolor," "steampunk," etc., to guide the look. For example, "fox in a mountain landscape, cinematic."

Referencing Artists and Mediums

Another powerful way to influence style is by including the name of a specific artist or a type of artistic medium (like "oil painting," "digital art," "pencil sketch"). Midjourney recognizes many well-known styles.

Understanding Midjourney Parameters

Parameters give you more fine-tuned control over your images. They start with a double dash (`--`). You add them at the end of your prompt.

Common Parameters Explained

• Aspect Ratio (`--ar`): Sets the width-to-height ratio. Defaults to 1:1 (square). Use `--ar 16:9` for widescreen, `--ar 9:16` for vertical phone style, `--ar 3:2` or `--ar 2:3` for common photography ratios. Just type `--ar` followed by the numbers.

• Stylize (`--s`): Affects how much of Midjourney's default artistic style is applied. Numbers from 0 to 1000. Low values (e.g., `--s 50`) stick closer to your prompt but are less artistic. High values (e.g., `--s 750`) are more artistic but may stray from the prompt.

• Quality (`--q`): Controls the level of detail and generation time. Options are 0.25, 0.5, or 1 (default). Higher values add more detail but take longer.

• Chaos (`--chaos`): Influences how varied the four initial results are. Numbers from 0 to 100. Higher values create more unusual and different images in the grid.

• Seed (`--seed`): Allows you to reproduce similar results from a previously generated image. React to the image in Discord with the envelope emoji ✉️ to get its seed number via direct message. Add `--seed <number>` to your prompt.

• Negative Prompting (`--no`): Attempts to remove something from the image. Example: `a garden --no flowers`. It doesn't always work perfectly.

• Prompt Weights (`::`): Used for multiprompting. Adding `::` splits words or phrases so Midjourney considers them separately. Example: `hot:: dog` creates an image of a dog that is hot, instead of a hot dog. You can add numbers after the colons to give importance (e.g., `hot::2 dog` makes "hot" twice as important).

• Tile (`--tile`): Creates images that are perfectly seamless and can be repeated as a pattern. Works only in version 5.

Learning parameters helps, but many people find value in tools that simplify this process. The TitanXT Midjourney Automation Suite offers features designed to streamline prompt creation directly from your ideas.

Creating Specific Types of Images

Realistic Photography

Midjourney version 5 is especially good at realistic photos. Simple tricks include using a photographer's name (e.g., "American Soldier photographed by Robert Frank") or specifying a photography type (e.g., "macro photography"). Thinking like a photographer about angle, lighting, and mood helps improve results.

Designing Logos

Be aware: Midjourney is not good at adding text to images. You'll need to add text later using editing software. To guide logo creation, you can start with "create a logo for a [industry] company." Or, you can reference a specific logo designer (like Milton Glaser) or use a type of logo (like "minimalist logo"). For finishing touches, vectorizer.ai can turn raster images into editable vector files.

Using Images as Prompts

You can give Midjourney an image to influence your new creations. This works for replicating styles, faces, or environments.

How Image Prompting Works

First, get a link to the image you want to use. The easiest way is to upload the image in Discord and then right-click it to "Copy Image Address." Paste this URL at the very beginning of your text prompt. Midjourney will use the image's style, composition, or colors as inspiration.

Adding Control with Image Weight

The `--iw` parameter (Image Weight) controls how much the image influences the result. `--iw 2` gives the image a lot of influence, while lower numbers give Midjourney more freedom. Default is `--iw 1`.

Combining Images

You can use multiple image URLs in a single prompt to blend elements from different pictures. You can also use the dedicated `/blend` command in Discord, which lets you drop up to five images to mix together (though `/imagine` with images gives you more control to add text prompts and parameters).

Finding Inspiration and Streamlining Prompts

Sometimes the hardest part is deciding what to prompt! There are many ways to get ideas and tools to help structure your prompts.

Tools and Resources

• prompt.newshot.com: A simple tool where you add your main idea and click options for styles, lighting, etc. It builds the prompt text for you to copy.

• The `/describe` command: Upload an image in Discord and use the `/describe` command. Midjourney will analyze the image and give you four prompt ideas based on it. This is great for seeing how the AI interprets visuals or getting ideas for new prompt phrasing.

• Twitter: Many artists share their results and prompts. Following creators focused on AI art is a good source of inspiration.

• Midjourney Website Explore Tab: Browse images created by others on the official Midjourney website. You can often see the full prompt and parameters used and even copy the complete command to try it yourself.

Creating detailed and specific prompts manually can take time and experimentation. The TitanXT Midjourney Automation Suite is designed to assist with this, providing tools to help you generate, manage, and refine your prompts more efficiently.

Conclusion

Midjourney offers incredible flexibility once you learn to move beyond basic text prompts. Experimenting with styles, parameters, and image inputs opens up a wide range of creative possibilities. Practice is key to seeing how different elements influence your results.

If you want to take the effort out of complex prompting and manage your generations more effectively, consider trying the Midjourney Automation Suite from TitanXT. It can help streamline your workflow and let you focus more on creating great images.