Midjourney
Contents
About
Midjourney is a program that creates images from textual descriptions, similar to OpenAI's DALL-E and Stable Diffusion. The independent research lab that produces Midjourney shares the same name. The tool is entered open beta on July 12, 2022 and became profitable by August. Currently, users create artwork with Midjourney using Discord (the chat platform) bot commands in the form:
/imagine A phoenix drinking wine, and with a red and black Chinese banner behind her. --ar 3:2To use the platform you get a certain number (~20) free generations. To try it go to:
- www.midjourney.com/home - Try the beta - this takes you to Discord then just follow the prompts.
- www.midjourney.com/app - Where you can activate a plan for ~$8 a month.
- discord channel - where you can see more mind blowing examples of text to image.
| Note: Most of the screenshots here are from Midjourney version 4 (~Feb 2023) - version 5 was released mid March 2023 and is already a big step up in photorealism! |
Videos
- Midjourney Beginners Tutorial – Getting Started & Creating Your First AI Art - A great video that explains exactly how to get started with Midjourney on Discord. Watch it now - it takes you through the whole process and has great tips and examples.
- Midjourney IMG Resolution Guide: Get the BIGGEST Images Possible - Good advice, and a suggestion to use letsenhance.io - to at least double your resolution after.
Midjourney Functionality
Midjourney is currently only accessible through a Discord bot on their official Discord, by direct messaging the bot, or by inviting the bot to a third-party server. To generate images, users use the /imagine command and type in a prompt; the bot then returns an image. Midjourney is also working on a web UI.
Pro Tip: Imagine Parameters and Phrases to Change the Style
In addition to the text description there are about a dozen imagine parameters you can enter at the end of the text with the typical `--` syntax. For instance --ar 3:2 to generate a 3:2 aspect ratio. It also pays to try certain phrases that will change the style of your image, such as "in the style of ___", "website, ui", "pixelart", "photorealistic", "3d render", "cartoon", "__ lighting", "portrait", "line art". The more examples you look at the more amazing things you can try.
Pro Tip: Getting Reproducibility
For reproducibility (to produce the same result using seed and version (eg: "--seed 1 --v 4"). For instance:
"a dancer exploding into the sky" --ar 1:1 --seed 1 --v 4
Pro Tip: Getting Max Resolution
Let's try that again:
"a dancer exploding into the sky" --ar 1:1 --seed 1 --v 4- Tip: If in newbie mode you'll lose it quickly, so open the inbox and click "Jump"
- Tip: Try add argument --hd or --quality 4
And to get the max resolution:
- Now if you like the first panel click the "U1" button. This will upscale image #1.
- Click the result and "Open in browser".
- Save this image and it should be 1024x1024.... (~1.5GB)
- If you want it bigger... you can try "Light/Beta Upscale Redo"... these will produce 1536 × 1536, but these usually lose quality, so it's not worth it.
- To make it bigger than 1024x1024 try letsenhance.io.
Pro Tip: Making Consistent Characters
There are a couple of good videos on making a consistent character in AI.... they both involve:
- Typing a really long prompt for a character you want including a name, "multiple poses and expressions", "100% white background", "--no outline", "multiple " etc.
- Upscale an image you like... save the output... copy and paste each pose into Midjourney and get the URLS.
- Click "..." > "Add Reaction" > "envelope"... and it will show the seed.
- Make a prompt like:
"ImageA ImageB ImageB, long-text-string --seed XXXXXX", but change the "multiple poses and expressions" to the pose you like.
- Videos:
- Character Consistency SOLVED in Midjourney 5.2 - probably the best video, shows how to use "different angles. character sheet" with his example "
A cute girl with black short curly hair, different angles, character sheet, in the style of a childrens book illustration. --ar 16:9 --repeat 3 --v 5.2" - How To Make Consistent Characters In Midjourney V5 (How to keep a Character Consistent)
- How to Create Consistent Characters in Midjourney - EASY Step by Step AI Tutorial for Amazon KDP
- Character Consistency SOLVED in Midjourney 5.2 - probably the best video, shows how to use "different angles. character sheet" with his example "
Using Your Own Photo
If you want to use your own image and render your face as something different, you can use Discord, but it is easier to try uploading an image to postimg.cc. Then get the URL to that link and type:
/imagine https://i.postimg.cc/m2kJK4gk/Screenshot-2023-01-24-at-12-32-17-PM.png as a medieval warrior or frog.Apparently, there are also ways to combine two photos. Using just one photo I feel it usually fails to render something that looks like you, versus Lensa AI which asks for 10-20 photos of you and is specifically trained to render your face in a set number of styles. At least with Midjourney, you can ask for any arbitrary style - just don't expect it to look like you as of version 3. Maybe version 4 will fix this.
Midjourney Use and Legalities
Midjorney has already been used to generate magazine covers and is said to be popular for quick design prototyping. David Holz, the founder and leader of the Midjourney team, says he sees artists as customers, not competitors of Midjourney. Since Midjourney training set may include copyrighted artists' works artists may request takedowns and for certain works to be removed from the set.
Some Examples
Here are some fun examples... all these examples were made January 2022, so version 3 of Midjourney. Expect it to get better and better with the loss cases.
Your Face Rendered Differently
Ever wonder what you might look like if you were a frog or princess? I do all the time. Midjourney will let you do that, but it's a little bit of hit or miss if the result looks anything like you at this point (version 3). Give it another iteration.
Website
Wow, so if you use the right keywords Midjourney is amazing at prototyping ideas for a website. Pity you still have to write the HTML to try to replicate it.
Specific Style Request
This is brilliant, if you have style of painting or art you like, ask for that style.
Abstract Concepts
The most fun thing to try is often taking two concepts... like your friend's favorite animal and musical instrument.... or two crazy concepts like a "teddy bear" and "underwater spearfishing" and seeing what it produces.
Classic Art
Other
AI's Impact on the Art Community
It's hard not to see these stunning images, generated by AI in mere seconds, wonder if the job of artists jobs is threatened. You could hang any of these stylized images on a wall and it will probably look just fantastic as an artist's painting - most people would never know. The big difference is that it can take an artists days to produce an original work, but with AI it takes mere seconds. But I personally don't think artists should panic just yet.
Here are some factors your maybe haven't considered yet:
- Art buyers value the original piece, not copies
- Artist usually take decades to build reputation
- People value time and narrative, over imitators
- AI art has flaws - especially with photo realism
I think a hybrid system of computers and humans is ahead and I've written about this in more detail at: The Impact of AI on the Art Community.
See Also
- Adobe Firefly - Another amazing AI tool for generating and tweaking images.
Links
- Midjourney.com - official website.
- Wikipedia Midjourney - wikipedia article.
- Midjourney Can Turn Your IRL Photo Into A Supercool Avatar - Here's How
