Boost Your Midjourney Art: Practical Tips for Creating Better AI Images

Looking to improve your artwork created with Midjourney? This guide shares straightforward tips you can use to get enhanced results right away. From managing your GPU time to refining your artistic style, these techniques will help you make the most of the platform.

Creating exceptional AI art involves more than just writing a prompt. It requires understanding the tools and features available to you. Let's look at some simple ways to elevate your Midjourney creations.

Save Time and Resources

Managing your GPU time is key to affordable art generation. Here's how to use resources wisely.

Free Upscaling in Relax Mode

If you have a standard plan or higher, you can upscale images without using up your fast GPU hours. Just enable Relax Mode before upscaling. This is a bit slower but costs you nothing in terms of GPU time. On the website, find the settings in the art generation bar. On Discord, type `/relax`.

Earn Free GPU Time

Did you know you can earn fast hours on the Midjourney website? Look for the "earn fast hours" badge under "Tasks." You can rank images by preference. Ranking several images daily can earn you free GPU time, allowing more experimentation.

While manual ranking helps, automating parts of your workflow can save even more time. Tools like the Midjourney Automation Suite from TitanXT can handle repetitive tasks, leaving you free to focus on creative prompting and image improvement.

Shape Midjourney to Your Style

Midjourney can learn your aesthetic preferences through personalization and mood boards.

Master Personalization Profiles

You can train Midjourney to lean towards the styles you prefer. By ranking images under tasks (either globally or for specific models like Niji), you build a personalization profile. Once unlocked (after ranking about 40 images), you get a profile code you can add to your prompts. This influences the output grids to better match your taste. You can create several profiles and switch between them.

Use Mood Boards for Style Reference

Mood boards let you use a collection of images to influence the style of your generations. You can upload your own images, link to online images, or even select images you've previously generated in Midjourney. This is powerful for applying a specific artistic style or combining different visual elements.

For example, you can select several images you made using a particular artist's style (like HR Giger), create a mood board from them, and then apply that mood board code to a new prompt. This helps Midjourney capture the essence of that style, even for subjects you haven't used with it before. It's a great way to make a prompt like "woman using a laptop" take on a stylized look.

Refine Image Details with Settings and Parameters

Adjusting settings like quality and using parameters gives you fine control over the outcome.

Control Detail with Quality Settings (--q)

The `--q` (quality) parameter changes how much rendering time and detail Midjourney puts into an image. Lowering it, like `--q 0.5`, cuts render time and detail, useful for simpler images or faster tests. Increasing it, like `--q 2` (for V6.1), adds more detail and sharpness but uses more GPU time. Experiment to find the quality level that fits your desired look.

Keep Prompts Consistent with Seeds (--seed)

A seed is a number that Midjourney uses to start the image generation process. If you generate an image grid you like and want to explore variations or apply different parameters while starting from the exact same visual basis, copy the job's seed number. Add `--seed [number]` to your prompt. This ensures that future generations using that seed will produce images very similar in composition to the original grid, allowing you to make controlled adjustments.

Experiment with Permutations

Permutations let you try multiple values or settings within a single prompt submission. Using curly brackets `{}` with comma-separated values (e.g., `--stylize {100, 200, 300}`), you can generate multiple image grids for the exact same prompt, each with a different value for that parameter. This is powerful for comparing the impact of stylization, chaos, weirdness, or even different models on your core idea.

Automated tools can significantly streamline testing multiple parameters. The Midjourney Automation Suite from TitanXT is designed to manage complex parameter testing and permutations, helping you discover the optimal settings for your prompts without manual repetition.

Explore Models and Portability

Understanding different Midjourney models and how to move images or styles across platforms is useful.

Use Non-Anime Styles on Niji Mode

Niji is Midjourney's anime-focused model, but it's worth trying non-anime prompts with it. You might get interesting, unexpected interpretations of styles. Use the `--niji` parameter or switch the model setting. Comparing the Niji result to the same prompt in the standard model (like V6.1) can reveal unique stylistic differences.

Bring Website Images to Discord with /show

[P]If you generate images on the Midjourney website but prefer using Discord for upscaling or editing tools (like face-swapping if you use external bots), you can bring website images over. Copy the Job ID of the image on the website, go to Discord, type `/show` followed by a space, and paste the Job ID. This displays the image grid in Discord, allowing you to use Discord-based tools on it.[/H3]

Remaster Older Model Images

[P]Images generated with older Midjourney models (V4 or earlier) might have great composition but lack detail compared to newer models. You can select an upscaled image from an older model and use the Remix subtle feature (available on the website for accounts paid for 12+ months or annual) but switch the model to V6.1 (or another newer model). This attempts to remaster the older image with the newer model's detail while keeping its basic structure. You can repeat the "very subtle" remix to further refine it.[/H3]

Advanced Image Editing and Style Discovery

Use Midjourney’s editor and other techniques for complex image manipulation and learning.

Zoom and Crop with the Editor

[P]While the Midjourney editor doesn't support full cropping directly, you can use a workaround. First, upscale your image using subtle or creative upscale. Download the upscaled image and crop it externally using a tool like Adobe's free online image cropper. Then, upload your *cropped* image into the Midjourney editor (this feature requires a specific account history or plan). Use the brush tool to remove a small section and use a simple prompt like "fill" or "upscale." Midjourney will generate variations that fill the brushed area, and importantly, upscales the entire cropped image to a much higher resolution.[/H3]

Upscale Small External Images

[P]The Midjourney editor can also upscale images you upload from outside the platform. Similar to the cropping trick, upload your small external image (like a scan of a drawing). Use the brush tool to remove a small area and use a simple prompt like "fill" or "upscale." Midjourney will process it, generating variations and potentially upscaling the entire image significantly. This is useful for bringing old or low-resolution external images into higher resolution using Midjourney's capabilities.[/H3]

Use Random Objects as Character References

[P]The character reference feature (`--cref`) is great for maintaining character consistency. But you can also use images of random objects or textures as character references. Midjourney will try to incorporate elements or color palettes from that image into your character, leading to unique and unexpected results. It’s a fun way to experiment with color and style influence.[/H3]

Learn and Discover Styles

Find new artistic directions and build your prompt vocabulary.

Discover Style Codes with /repeat

Midjourney has hidden style codes accessed with `--sref random`. Use `--repeat [number]` at the end of a prompt with `--sref random` to generate multiple image grids, each with a unique, random style code. This is an efficient way to find new styles to save and reuse. The

The Midjourney Automation Suite from TitanXT can help manage the large volume of grids generated by `--repeat` and permutations, making it easier to review and save the styles or results you like best.

Prioritize Style Phrases Over Codes

While style codes are useful, learning descriptive phrases is more portable and future-proof. Style codes might change or not work on other platforms. You can learn phrases by using Midjourney's `/describe` command on images you like (even ones generated with style codes). This generates text prompts that attempt to describe the image's style. Experimenting with these descriptions helps you build a library of terms you can use anywhere.

Learn Styles and Phrases Through Upload

Another way to discover descriptive phrases is by uploading images directly into the Midjourney prompt bar (click the image icon). After uploading, hover over the image and click the information icon. Midjourney provides suggested words, artist names, and descriptions related to the image. You can then add these directly to your prompt, learning new terms and experimenting with different influences.

Use Prompt Formulas

Consider using prompt formulas as a structural guide. These are frameworks you can fill in (e.g., [Subject] in a [Setting] with a [Style]). They help you think about all the elements needed for a strong prompt and can lead to better image generation because you're more deliberate in your input.

Wrapping Up

These tips offer various ways to enhance your Midjourney art practice, from saving resources to mastering detailed controls and discovering new styles. By applying these techniques, you can achieve more predictable, higher-quality, and uniquely stylized results.

Remember, practice is essential. The more you experiment with settings, parameters, and different approaches, the better you'll become at guiding Midjourney to create the images you envision. Don't be afraid to try new things and see what the AI can do.