Your Simple Guide to Getting Started with Midjourney AI

Welcome to the exciting world of AI image creation with Midjourney. This guide will walk you through the basics, from signing up to using powerful features to get the images you imagine. Whether you're new or looking for tips, we'll cover what you need to know for 2025.

Starting Your Midjourney Journey

First, how do you get started? Go to the Midjourney website (midjourney.com). While Discord used to be the main way, you can now easily register using your Google account right on the site. This guide will focus on using the website interface.

When you log in, you'll likely see an explore page showing images from the community. Ignore that for a moment. Look for the area to enter your prompts at the top of the page.

Creating Your First Images

This input box is where you tell Midjourney what you want to create. You can type anything. The clearer your description, the better the image will be. Start simple and add details as you go.

Build Your Prompt Step-by-Step

Instead of writing a long description all at once, begin with the main subject. For instance, if you want a capybara:

• Type "capybara" and see what Midjourney creates (you'll get four suggestions).

• The images are simple. Now, add more detail: "capybara dressed like a gentleman". Midjourney understands styles, so you don't need to describe the outfit exactly.

• Next, add a background by editing the prompt: "capybara dressed like a gentleman, standing in front of a bar."

• To add another element like "smoking a cigarette," it's helpful to refer to the subject again: "A capybara is smoking a cigarette in the street." This makes the prompt clearer.

• Keep adding details like "crowded street" and a style like "vintage Polaroid effect."

By adding details slowly, you can see how each part changes the image and have more control.

Creating images that perfectly match your vision can take trial and error. Automating repetitive tasks or generating many variations quickly can save significant time. Explore tools like the Midjourney Automation Suite by TitanXT to streamline your workflow and experiment faster.

Order Matters

The order of words in your prompt makes a difference. Midjourney gives more importance to the words at the beginning. What's first often appears more prominently.

Compare these two prompts:

• Astronaut walking in flowering meadow at sunset

• Flowering meadow at sunset astronaut walking

In the first, the astronaut is the main subject. In the second, the meadow and sunset are the focus, and the astronaut is smaller, perhaps in the background.

Another example: "Samurai meditating in a Zen garden" versus "Zen garden that the Samurai is meditating in." The first centers the samurai. The second emphasizes the garden details, with the samurai small or less visible. Changing word order is a simple way to change the image's focus.

Understanding Parameters

Parameters allow you to refine your images further. Think of them as settings you add to your prompt, usually starting with `--`. You can also often set them in the website's settings menu.

The Stylize Parameter (--stylize or --s)

This parameter controls how artistic Midjourney is with your image versus how closely it follows your prompt text. Values range from 0 to 1000.

• Stylize 0: Midjourney sticks very closely to your words but the image might look less artistic.

• Stylize 100: This is the default. It balances text accuracy with artistic style.

• Stylize 1000: Midjourney prioritizes artistic beauty, even if it means deviating from the prompt details.

Adding `--stylize 800` or `--s 800` to a prompt will make it more artistic. Using `--s 50` will make it more realistic. Experiment to see how this changes the look and feel of your images.

The Chaos Parameter (--chaos or --c)

Chaos affects how different the four images generated from a single prompt are from each other. Values range from 0 to 100.

• Chaos 0 (Default): The four images will be very similar and predictable.

• Chaos 100: The four images will be very different and experimental. Midjourney takes creative liberties.

Setting `--chaos 5` gives you some variation without getting too wild. Using `--chaos 50` or `--c 100` can produce surprising results, but they might not match your prompt closely.

Managing parameters and prompt variations across many ideas can become complex. A tool like the Midjourney Automation Suite by TitanXT is designed to help you manage prompts, parameters, and large-scale generations efficiently, allowing you to focus more on the creative process.

Raw Style (--style raw)

The Raw style mode makes Midjourney take your prompt very literally, aiming for a more realistic look rather than a painterly or dramatic one. Add `--style raw` to your prompt or select it in settings.

For example:

• "Photo from National Geographic of an eagle flying over snowy mountains --ar 16:9"

With the standard style, the image might look like a beautiful painting. With `--style raw`, it will look more like a real photograph. This is great for realistic scenes.

The Seed Parameter (--seed)

Every image is generated from a unique number called a seed. If you use the same prompt and the same seed, you will get almost identical images.

Midjourney picks a random seed if you don't specify one. To find the seed of an image you like, you can usually react to the image in Discord or check details on the website gallery. To use a specific seed, add `--seed [number]` to your prompt.

Using a seed is useful for testing small changes in your prompt. You can keep the base image the same but see how adding one word, like "happy," changes a character's expression across generations.

Permutations ({})

Use brackets {} to create multiple versions of one prompt at the same time. For example: "A wizard with a {staff, hat}". Midjourney will run two prompts:

• A wizard with a staff

• A wizard with a hat

This is a fast way to compare how different words or elements affect your image, especially when using the same seed.

Refining Your Images

Variations

Once you generate an image, you can create variations of it. Hover over an image on the website, and you'll see options for "Subtle Variation" and "Strong Variation". Clicking these generates four new images similar to the one you started with.

• Subtle Variation: Makes very small changes.

• Strong Variation: Creates new versions with more noticeable differences (outfits, poses, details).

Clicking "Strong Variation" repeatedly on a result you like is sometimes called "Vrolling" until you find a perfect version.

The Editor Page

Midjourney has an advanced editor page that lets you modify images, even ones you didn't create with Midjourney initially. Access to this page typically requires having generated many images (over 10,000) or having a long-term subscription. It offers powerful tools for editing based on prompts.

Retexture

The Retexture feature is available from the Full Editor (accessible by clicking on an image). It lets you keep the shape and layout of an image but apply a completely new visual style or atmosphere based on your prompts. It essentially repaints the image.

Managing Your Creations

The Organize Page

This page is your personal gallery. Every image you generate is stored here. You can search, filter, and sort your images. Change the thumbnail size to see details better. You can also create folders to group your images.

Right-click on an image to like it (adds to favorites), hide it (removes from view but keeps it in your library), or quickly scale/remix/edit it.

Filters let you quickly find images by specific criteria like aspect ratio, Midjourney version used, or if they were upscaled.

The Explore Page

Unlike the Organize page which shows only your images, the Explore page shows creations from the entire Midjourney community. Use the search bar here to find inspiration. Type keywords like "witch misty forest" to see how others have interpreted those ideas.

Clicking the like button on an image also shows you other images in a similar style. This is a great way to discover new aesthetics.

Community and Features

Priority Points

Midjourney gives users points to vote on future development ideas, like better video generation or improved style consistency. Assign your points to the features you think are most important. This helps the Midjourney team decide what to work on.

Privacy

By default, all images you create on standard plans are public and visible on the Explore page. If you want your creations to be private, you need a "Pro" plan that includes "Stealth Mode." This allows you to generate images that only you can see.

Chat Tab

The Chat tab on the website allows you to join public themed rooms where users create images together and chat in real-time. There are rooms for general creation, inspiration, and more. You can even create private rooms.

Tasks Tab

This section is where Midjourney sometimes offers free generation time, runs community polls on features, or asks users to help test image quality.

Advanced Prompting Techniques

Using Images as Prompts

You can drag an image directly into the prompt bar. Midjourney will add a link to this image. You can then add text. Midjourney will combine the image's content or style with your text prompt. It's like blending ideas.

Image Weight (--iw)

When using an image in your prompt, the `--iw` parameter controls how much influence the image has compared to your text.

• --iw 0: Ignores the image; only text matters.

• --iw 1 (Default): Balances image and text influence.

• --iw 2: Image has more importance than text.

• --iw 3: Image heavily dominates; text has little effect.

Values between 1.2 and 1.5 often give a good balance between the image's style/content and your text description.

You can also use multiple images in a single prompt by dragging or shift-clicking them into the prompt bar.

Style Reference (--sref)

Use `--sref` with an image link to copy the style of that image without copying its content. Drag an image into the prompt bar, click the "Use as style reference" button, then add your text prompt. Midjourney will generate images using your text but applying the look and feel of the reference image.

You can even use multiple style references by holding Shift while dragging images. Midjourney will blend the styles.

Character Reference (--cref)

This exciting feature allows you to use an image as a reference to create a consistent character. It works best with characters Midjourney has already generated. Drag a Midjourney character image into the prompt bar and click "Use as character reference." Add your text prompt.

By default, Midjourney tries to keep the character's face, hair, and even clothing. The `--cw` (Character Weight) parameter controls this:

• --cw 100 (Default): Keeps everything (face, hair, clothes).

• --cw 0: Focuses only on the face, allowing you to easily change clothing and style with your text prompt.

Personalization

On the Personalization page, you can train Midjourney to understand your unique artistic taste. You are shown pairs of images and asked to pick the one you like more. Doing this about 40 times creates a personal style profile and a unique code. You can then add this code to prompts (like `cat and dog on a cute date --style code`) to apply your preferred style automatically.

As you go deeper into Midjourney's features, managing prompts, parameters, and reference images manually can become time-consuming. Consider how automation can simplify complex workflows. Tools like the Midjourney Automation Suite from TitanXT are built to handle these tasks, giving you more time to focus on creativity and less time on logistics.

Conclusion

Midjourney is a powerful tool for creative exploration. Starting with simple prompts, learning about parameters like Stylize, Chaos, and Raw, and using advanced techniques like image prompts, style references, and character references will help you create amazing images. Don't be afraid to experiment and see what you can discover.