Getting Started with Midjourney: A Simple Guide to Website and Prompting

Decided to explore Midjourney? It can feel a bit much at first. References, settings, aspect ratios – there are many things to learn. This guide breaks down the basics of using the Midjourney website and creating your first images.

Treat this post like a quick intro. If you can, follow along with Midjourney open in another window.

Understanding Midjourney Plans and Usage

Before you create, let's look at subscription plans and how image creation is measured. If you haven't, go to Midjourney.com and sign up.

Midjourney has four plan levels. You can pay monthly or yearly. For new users, the basic plan is a good start. You can upgrade as you use it more.

Midjourney measures usage with GPU time. The basic plan gives you about 200 minutes, which is roughly 200 image jobs. The standard plan offers 15 hours and has 'relaxed mode.' Relaxed mode gives you unlimited jobs, but they take longer to finish. The basic plan does not have relaxed mode. Once you use your 200 minutes, you wait for the next month or upgrade.

If you use Midjourney for business, the pro or mega plans offer 'stealth mode.' This keeps your creations private. You can change your plan anytime by clicking your username and choosing 'manage subscription.' This page also shows how much fast GPU time you have left.

A Quick Look at the Midjourney Website

We'll focus on the desktop website. Mobile might not have all options.

• Explore: See images from the community. It's great for ideas. You can view popular or top images. Like images you enjoy. The search bar finds images based on keywords.

• Create: This is where you make images. Type your ideas into the 'Imagine bar' at the top. There are default settings you can check. You can also search your past prompts here.

• Organized: This is your gallery. All your images save here. You can filter, search, and download them. You can also create images directly from this page, but using the Create page helps you focus.

• Chat: Join a room to create images and talk with others. Newbie and prompt craft rooms are good when you're starting.

• Tasks: Complete tasks to help Midjourney improve and understand your preferred look.

• Help: Find useful info and report issues here.

Making Your First Image Prompt

Start easy with your first prompt. Don't worry about it being perfect. The goal is just to try things.

Choose a subject. It could be anything – an animal, person, object, or place. In the Imagine bar, type something simple like "two bears having a tea party" and press enter.

You'll see a space for the results. Midjourney runs an 'image generation job' for each prompt.

Look at the result: a grid of four images with two bears at a tea party. They are square because the default aspect ratio is 1:1. We will cover how to change that later.

These results are okay, but maybe you wanted a photo, not an illustration. Since you didn't ask for a style, Midjourney picked one. Midjourney has its own tendencies. You often need to be more specific.

To get a photo, find your recent job. Hover over the white space next to it to see action buttons. Click the button that puts the prompt back in the Imagine bar. Now, add "photo of" at the start of your prompt: "photo of two bears having a tea party." Submit it.

Now you're seeing photo-style images. If they are too dark, try again. Put the prompt back and add details like "taken with Kodak portra 400 film." This film type often makes photos brighter. The results look even more like photos now.

For your very first prompt, keep it simple. You can add more details later.

Making lots of prompts and variations can be time-consuming. If you find yourself wishing for a faster way to get through image jobs or organize your favorite styles, consider looking into tools that can help. The Midjourney Automation Suite from TitanXT is designed to help manage and speed up these kinds of workflows.

Changing and Improving Images

Once you have an image grid, you can change or improve the images. Look at the image you like. Hover over it. You'll see 'very subtle' and 'very strong' buttons. Clicking these creates new image versions using your chosen image as a starting point.

Choose 'subtle' for small changes. Choose 'strong' for bigger differences. Subtle variations keep the main elements close to the original. Strong variations allow for more new ideas while still referencing the first image.

Let's open a single image to see all the actions available. Click the image in the grid to open it. In the lower right, you see actions.

Upscaling: This makes the image larger. The base images might be 1024x1024 pixels. Upscaling can make it 2048x2048 pixels. 'Upscale subtle' keeps details close to the original. 'Upscale creative' allows for more changes during the enlargement. Try both to see which you prefer.

Remix: This is like 'vary' but lets you change the prompt text. Click Remix (choose subtle or strong). The image and prompt go back to the Imagine bar. Change the prompt, for example, add "in the background as a sandy beach." Midjourney uses the original image look and the new prompt to make variations. The bears and setup might be similar, but now they are on a beach.

Could your workflow benefit from managing variations and remixes more efficiently? Tools like the Midjourney Automation Suite from TitanXT can help you keep track of different versions and apply changes more quickly across many images.

Pan: Extend the image view in one direction (up, down, left, or right). Click an arrow, and Midjourney makes a new image job that expands the scene.

Zoom: Make the view wider to show more of the area around your subject.

Rerun: Get new images using the exact same prompt as before.

Editor: This tool lets you make specific changes. You can select parts of the image to repaint, zoom out, pan, change aspect ratio, and edit the prompt text all at once. For example, you could zoom out, select one bear's head, and change the prompt to "bear on the left is wearing a hat." Midjourney only changes the part you selected or the new added space.

Image/Style Buttons: Use the current image as a reference for new prompts. This means Midjourney can try to match the visual look or style of the image you chose. These are more advanced techniques.

Prompt Button: Puts the original prompt back into the Imagine bar so you can change it and try again.

Changing Default Settings and Using Parameters

Click the settings icon. These choices set how Midjourney works for all your prompts. You can change these settings for just one prompt by adding 'parameters.'

One important setting is 'image size,' which sets the aspect ratio. The default is 1:1 (square). You can drag the slider to make your default images taller or wider. If you use a specific aspect ratio often, change this. Otherwise, leave it at 1:1.

You can also choose the Midjourney model here. V6 is the current one, but you can try older versions or different styles.

Speed mode is also in settings. 'Fast mode' and 'turbo mode' use your monthly GPU time. 'Relax mode' does not use fast time but is slower. Remember, not all plans have relaxed mode.

These are default settings. You might not want them for every single prompt. The simplest way to change settings for one prompt is using parameters. For example, changing the aspect ratio.

Let's use a new prompt: "vintage space rocket." This has a subject and a style. To make it a tall image, add a parameter to the end: "vintage space rocket --ar 9:16."

Parameters start with two dashes (--). Then comes the parameter name, a space, and the value. '--ar' is the aspect ratio parameter. '9:16' is the value for a tall image (width:height). This parameter overrides the default 1:1 just for this prompt.

The results are tall images. The aspect ratio used is shown. Midjourney has many parameters you can use. You can use several in one prompt. Parameters always go at the end. Their order doesn't matter.

Managing Your Image Library

The Organized page is your personal gallery. Open any image to see the action menu. You can group images by creating folders. Make a new folder, then drag images into it.

Use the search bar to find images based on words in the prompt or even a specific parameter used.

You can filter images, like only seeing ones you have Liked or Upscaled. There are also view options.

To download images, select them. You can select all by date, click and drag, or shift-click. At the bottom, click 'download' to get a zip file.

Managing large libraries can be tedious. An automation tool could help here by speeding up selection, filtering, or batch actions. Check out how the Midjourney Automation Suite from TitanXT might simplify organizing your creations.

More Tips for Writing Prompts

Midjourney learns from lots of images and text. It understands many concepts, but some are less common in its training data. Getting exactly what you want often means being clear.

For the newest Midjourney models, clear, descriptive prompts work best. Don't start with phrases like "show me a picture of." Avoid terms like "4K" or "HD;" they don't change the image quality. Focus on the image content and style you want.

Look at this prompt: "photo two cats facing the camera sitting on a ledge one on the left is white one on the right is black." It describes the medium (photo), number (two), position (facing camera, sitting on ledge), and details (color of each cat). The results match this specific request.

Notice that the type of ledge and the background weren't mentioned. Midjourney decided those. If a detail is important to you, put it in the prompt. You could add "kittens sitting on a wooden ledge blue hot air balloon in the background" for a different result.

Also, some words come with built-in visual ideas. "Hero" might often create a male character with a red cape. "Wizard" usually means an old man with a white beard. "Rose" is likely red. These are strong 'archetypes.' You can use them or add more details to get something different.

To sum up prompting:

• If you want something specific, be very clear in your prompt.

• Think about colors, light, mood, clothing, and how things are placed.

• Don't use extra phrases or quality terms like 4K.

• Think about the typical image connected to certain words and if you want to use or avoid that.

• Most important: try different things to see what works for you.

Personalizing Your Midjourney Style

Midjourney uses its own style by default when your prompt isn't fully detailed. You can set up model personalization to tune Midjourney to your taste. This creates your own customized style.

A personalized style can make results look very different from the default. A 'hero' might look unique with your style settings.

It's good to set this up once you are comfortable with basic prompting. It helps Midjourney make results that fit your personal look better.

Getting Help and Finding Inspiration

Midjourney can be exciting but also a bit much to learn. Start simple. Try one thing at a time.

Look around the Midjourney website for help. Join the chat rooms to create with others. The theme room offers a new topic daily.

Listen to Midjourney's weekly office hours, usually on the Midjourney Discord server. If you haven't used Discord with Midjourney before, there are guides to help you set it up and connect your account.

Experimentation is key to learning Midjourney. While practicing prompts and settings by hand helps you understand the system, remember that automation can significantly speed up repetitive tasks once you have a handle on the basics. Tools like the Midjourney Automation Suite from TitanXT could be a valuable next step for increasing your output and organizing your best creations.