Unlock Your Creative Potential: Simple Prompt Engineering for Stunning AI Art

Want to make better AI art? These simple tips will help you improve your prompts for Midjourney and other AI art platforms. Learn how to get the images you want by using the right words and techniques.

Focus on the Positive

[P]It's best to use positive words in your prompts. This helps the AI focus on what you want to see. If you tell Midjourney what *not* to include, it might still add it in! For example, if you type "a farm with no dogs," you might still get an image with a dog. Instead, try "a farm with cows, pigs, and various animals." This tells Midjourney exactly what you want in the scene.</P]

If positive words don't work, you can try using negative words with the "--no" parameter. For example, "farm --no dogs" will remove dogs from the image. Give it a try and see what you get!

Prioritize Your Keywords

[P]Put the most important words at the beginning of your prompt. Midjourney and other AI art platforms prioritize what comes first. If you want the main focus to be an evil bull, start with that. If you want to highlight the farm, put that first. Here are two examples:</P]

• "Massive evil bull on a nice farm" - The bull will be the main focus.

• "Nice farm with a massive evil bull" - The farm will be the main focus.

You can use this for styles, too. Want a minimalist logo? Put "minimalist logo" at the start. It's all about what you want to stand out. Simplify your Midjourney workflow with the Midjourney Automation Suite from TitanXT. Streamline your creative process and bring your visions to life more efficiently.

Define Color and Lighting

[P]Take control of your image's look by defining color and lighting in your prompt. Here's how:</P]

• Colors: Use terms like "pastel colors," "neon colors," or specific colors like "blue and green color palette." You can also use "sepia colors" for an old-fashioned look.

• Lighting: Use terms like "low contrast," "high contrast," "dark low lighting," "very sunny lighting," or "golden hour lighting."

These simple additions can drastically change the mood and feel of your image, even with the same seed number.

Word Weight and Multi-Prompts

[P]Midjourney lets you fine-tune your prompts with word weight and multi-prompts. Here's how to use them:</P]

Word Weight

[P]Add two colons after a word, followed by a number. The default is 1. Higher numbers increase the word's priority. For example:</P]

• "Massive evil bull::3 on a nice farm::1" - The bull gets more emphasis than the farm.

• "Evil::8 bull::4 on a nice farm" - "Evil" gets the most focus, followed by "bull."

Multi-Prompts

[P]Use two colons to separate words and create distinct prompts. For example, "outside hot:: dog" will create an image with "outside hot" as one element and "dog" as another. This helps Midjourney understand your intent better.</P]

Study Art and Photography

Learn about art and photography to expand your vocabulary and describe what you want to see. The more you know, the better you can communicate with Midjourney or any AI platform. Check out online learning platforms to improve your skills.

Keep Prompts Short and Sweet

Try to keep your prompts short, dense, and focused on the important aspects. Long prompts can distract from the key elements. Define what's really important and cut out the rest. For example, instead of "create an artwork of a small monkey in the stall of a modern video game built on Unreal Engine," try "Unreal Engine 3D render of a monkey, forest, sunny sky, high contrast, earthy tones."

You can also use the "/shorten" command in Discord. Midjourney will analyze your prompt and suggest shorter versions. This helps you remove unnecessary words and focus on what matters. Enhance your Midjourney experience with the Midjourney Automation Suite from TitanXT. This tool helps you automate tasks and optimize your workflow, saving you time and effort.

Define Styles and Use Artist Names

[P]Define distinct styles in your prompts to get specific looks. Try art styles like "watercolor painting" or "ink dripping drawing." For photos, use "DSLR photo" or "Sci-Fi Blockbuster movie screen cap." You can also use artist names to mimic their unique styles. For example:</P]

• "In the style of HR Giger" for a unique, biomechanical look.

• "In the style of Picasso" for a cubist style.

• "In the style of Salvador Dali" for something surreal.

[P]You can even combine artists, like "Hans Belmer and Picasso," to create something truly unique. Experiment and have fun!</P]

Get Inspired by Others

Look at other people's prompts to get ideas and learn new phrases. Check out the Midjourney explore page or social media. Find images you like and see how others have styled their prompts. For example, you might find that adding "fisheye lens effect" or "film grain" gives you the look you want.

Experiment with Permutations

[P]Take an existing prompt and split it into shorter phrases using permutations. This helps you see the impact of each phrase on the image. Use curly brackets and commas to separate the phrases. For example:</P]

"Dog {antique photography in a gothic city, in the 1900s, dark fantasy}"

This will generate images with each phrase, allowing you to pick the ones that work best for you. This is a great way to discover new styles and phrases to use in your prompts. Maximize your Midjourney efficiency with the Midjourney Automation Suite from TitanXT. Automate repetitive tasks, generate variations, and refine your prompts with ease.

Control Angle and Framing

[P]Describe the angle and framing of your image to get more control over its perspective. Use terms like:</P]

• "High angle" for a shot from above.

• "Low angle" for a shot from below.

• "Landscape shot" to show more of the background.

• "Closeup shot" to get close to the subject.

• "Side angle" to show the side of the subject.

Reroll and Remix Your Images

The first image is often not enough. Keep rerolling and remixing your images to find what you're looking for. On the Midjourney website, click "rerun" to generate new results with the same prompt. In Discord, click the "roll" button.

[P]Turn on remix mode by typing "/settings" and enabling it. This allows you to alter the prompt each time you reroll. Make small adjustments to your prompt and see how they affect the image. This is a great way to fine-tune your results.</P]

Set the Mood

[P]Describe a certain mood in your prompt to get a specific look and feel. Try words like:</P]

• "Depressing mood" to dull things down.

• "Excited" for energy and movement.

• "Gloomy and spooky" for a haunted feeling.

• "Quiet" for stillness and peace.

• "Loud" for energy and chaos.

• "Powerful energy" for intensity.

• "Serene stillness" for calmness.

• "Vibrant party energy" for a festive vibe.

[P]These mood descriptions can dramatically change the overall look of your images.</P]

Use Prompt Formulas

[P]Use prompt formulas to speed things up and get better images. A simple formula is:</P]

"Art style of a [subject] in a [location/scene], [mood]"

[P]For example:</P]

• "3D render of a gray star alien in a spaceship, gloomy and spooky"

• "Detailed pen sketch of a dolphin in an office, powerful energy"

[P]Switch out the bracketed items to create different images. This is a great way to experiment and see what you can create.</P]

Final Thoughts

By following these simple prompt engineering tips, you can create stunning AI art with Midjourney and other platforms. Remember to experiment, get inspired by others, and have fun! With a little practice, you'll be amazed at what you can create.