Explore Midjourney V7: Draft Mode and Conversational Prompting
- kylixie
- Apr 28, 2025
- 4 min read
Midjourney recently launched version 7, bringing some useful updates. Two big changes are Draft Mode and Conversational Mode. These features can help you save time and make prompting easier. Let's look at how they work and what they offer.
Save Time and Money with Draft Mode
One of the most exciting new features is Draft Mode. It's designed to help you experiment with images without using up your GPU hours too quickly. GPU hours are valuable in Midjourney, and Draft Mode costs you half the GPU time compared to standard generating. It's also much faster, about ten times quicker!
This speed and cost saving make Draft Mode perfect for trying out different ideas or variations. You can quickly generate several rough versions to see what works best before committing to a full-quality image.
How to Activate Draft Mode
Go to your Midjourney settings.
Make sure you are on version 7.
Select "Draft Mode" in the settings.
You can also enable it using a specific icon.
Working with Draft Mode Images
Images created in Draft Mode are lower resolution than standard generations. You'll see a "Draft" tag next to the prompt to know it's in this mode. Once you have a draft image you like, you can turn it into a high-quality version.
Upscaling Your Drafts
To get a high-resolution image from your draft, you need to upscale it. You have a couple of options:
Upscale (Regular): Creates a higher resolution version of the exact draft image.
Creative Upscale: Makes the image higher resolution but might add some slight creative touches.
Keep in mind that upscaling can sometimes use a significant amount of GPU minutes, potentially doubling the cost of the initial draft generation. Use Draft Mode to finish and refine an image until you have it just right, and then use the upscaling option to produce the final high quality version.
Want to try out many variations quickly and efficiently? Discover how automation can help you with features like permutations. Check out the Midjourney Automation Suite by TitanXT to streamline your workflow.
Rerunning a Job in Standard Quality
If you prefer to rerun a Draft Mode job in standard quality rather than just upscaling the low-quality draft image, you can use the "Enhance" button. This takes the original draft concept and generates a *new* image from it in full quality. The resulting image will be very similar to the draft you started with, but it will have slight differences.
Before You Use Draft Mode: Personalization
Currently, before you can use Draft Mode for the first time, Midjourney asks you to complete a quick personalization step. This usually involves choosing which of two images you prefer. It only takes a few minutes. Once you do this, Draft Mode is available.
You can choose to leave personalization on or turn it off in your settings. If you leave it off, the images you create won't be influenced by your past preferences.
Conversational Mode: Talk to Midjourney
Another major new feature in V7 is Conversational Mode. This lets you talk to Midjourney using natural language, similar to how you might interact with other AI language models. You don't need to know specific keywords or commands upfront.
Find the Conversational Mode icon (a text bubble) next to the Draft Mode option at the top.
How Conversational Mode Works
When you type a prompt in Conversational Mode, Midjourney might suggest or refine the prompt for you, adding descriptive terms to help you get the image you want. For example, if you ask for "a car on a city street in the rain," Midjourney might refine that prompt to include details like "wet pavement," "evening lighting," and "reflections.
Conversational Mode also remembers the last job you did. You can follow up by saying things like "Now make it on a sunny day" and Midjourney will understand you want the same subject but in a new setting.
Modifying Previous Jobs
While Conversational Mode remembers the last job, referring back to older jobs isn't direct within the chat interface. To modify an older image or job, you click on the image itself. This lets you use options like:
Editor: Modify the image while keeping the original.
Remix or Vary: Create variations of the image.
Image Style or Prompt buttons: Adjust aspects based on the original image.
Automating variations, upscaling, and rerunning jobs can save you significant time. Explore how tools specifically built for Midjourney can help you manage your creations more efficiently. Check out the Midjourney Automation Suite by TitanXT.
Features Not Yet in V7 Alpha
Midjourney V7 is currently an alpha version, meaning it's still developing. Some features are not yet available.
No Relaxed Speed (Yet)
As of now, there is no "Relaxed" speed generation option in V7. You will be using Fast or Turbo speed. These modes use more GPU minutes than Relaxed speed, so be mindful of your usage. Midjourney plans to add Relaxed speed in the near future.
Missing Character Reference
Character Reference, available in V6.1, is currently missing in V7 Alpha. You can still use Image and Style references. Midjourney has stated that Character Reference will be added back.
They are also planning to introduce a new feature called "Object Reference" in the future. While details are limited, it sounds like it will allow you to reference objects in an image, similar to how Character Reference works for people. This could be very useful for consistency with items like cars or other specific objects.
Managing different reference types, variations, and upscales can become complex. Simplify your process and maximize your output with automation. Learn more about the Midjourney Automation Suite by TitanXT and how it can help.
Conclusion
Midjourney V7 introduces powerful new features like Draft Mode for cost-effective experimentation and Conversational Mode for more natural prompting. While some features are still being added, V7 offers exciting ways to create images faster and more intuitively. Keep an eye out for future updates as V7 continues to evolve.
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