Control Your Midjourney Images: Essential Prompt Tips for Beginners (v7 Alpha)

Want to get better results from Midjourney? It starts with how you write your prompts. Getting the AI to create exactly what you picture can be tricky. Understanding a few basic ideas helps a lot. This guide shares simple tips for Midjourney beginners using version 7 Alpha.

Good prompts help Midjourney listen to you. If your prompt isn't clear, Midjourney will fill in the blanks. It often chooses the most common or average thing. For example, if you ask for a person and a tiger, Midjourney might make the person taller than the tiger because that's what's typical. You have to tell it if you want something different.

Guiding Midjourney: Taking Control of the Canvas

Think of your prompt as instructions for Midjourney's canvas. You need to tell Midjourney what to put in all the different parts of your image. People sometimes forget to be specific enough about everything.

Midjourney works by adding details based on your prompt. If you don't give it enough direction, it adds what it thinks is best. But what Midjourney thinks is best is often just what is most common. If you ask for a huge tiger and a small person, you need to be clear about that size difference. Otherwise, you might get a standard sized tiger and person.

Speed Modes vs. Quality Settings

Understanding how Midjourney processes your requests is key. There are two main settings related to time and processing: speed and quality. People often get these mixed up.

Speed Modes: How Fast You Wait

Speed modes determine how quickly your request starts rendering. Think of them like lines at a store:

• Relax: The slowest line. Your job waits longer.

• Fast: A quicker line.

• Turbo: The fastest line, like an express lane.

Choosing a speed mode changes how long you wait before Midjourney starts working on your image. It does not change how much time Midjourney spends creating the image itself.

Quality Settings: How Much Time Midjourney Spends

Quality, controlled by the `--quality` or `--q` parameter, is different. This parameter tells Midjourney how much time and effort to put into rendering your image. Think of it like baking a cake – quality means more time in the oven.

• Higher `--q` values mean Midjourney spends more steps on the image. Steps are like the AI working on the picture to make it look good.

• More steps mean Midjourney has more time to pay attention to your prompt details and parameters.

• This can lead to more accurate and better looking results, especially for complicated prompts.

Use `--q` based on how complex your prompt is. A simple prompt might be fine with a lower quality setting, but a detailed prompt usually needs a higher one for better results.

If you want to create many images efficiently and test variations quickly, try the Midjourney Automation Suite from TitanXT. It can help manage your prompts and images.

A Note on --draft and --q 0.25

Midjourney has a `--draft` parameter, which is like setting `--q 0.25`. This is the lowest quality setting. It's fast because Midjourney spends minimal time on the image.

However, be careful: if you type `--q 0.25` instead of `--draft`, Midjourney currently defaults it to `--q 1`. This means you'll pay more because it spends more time on the image than intended for a draft. Always use `--draft` to get the quickest, lowest quality result.

Fixing Common Prompt Problems

Sometimes Midjourney images look blended or missing details. This can happen if the prompt is too long or confusing for the time Midjourney has (which is determined by quality settings). If a prompt needs more time than the quality setting allows, the image might not turn out well. It can become inconsistent or drop parts you asked for.

Choosing the right quality setting for your prompt helps prevent these issues and gives Midjourney enough time to process all your instructions.

Managing many prompts and keeping track of quality settings for different ideas can be time consuming. A tool like the Midjourney Automation Suite from TitanXT can help streamline this process, making your workflow smoother and more organized.

In Summary

Getting great results in Midjourney means being clear in your prompts and understanding your settings. Remember to:

• Control all parts of your image canvas with specific details.

• Use speed modes to manage how long you wait for jobs to start.

• Adjust quality settings (`--q`) based on prompt complexity to give Midjourney enough time to render details.

• Use `--draft` for quick previews and avoid typing `--q 0.25`.

With practice, you'll learn how to craft prompts that give you more control over the final image. Happy prompting!

Explore ways to make your Midjourney process even easier by checking out the Midjourney Automation Suite from TitanXT, designed to help artists and creators get the most out of Midjourney.