What is Midjourney AI and How does it Work?: A Step-by-Step Guide to Use Midjourney to Create AI Art

Artificial Intelligence has come along way and it’s getting smarter and stronger. One of the attributes to show this is the recent developments in ChatGPT and its meteoric rise in the internet.

Besides text generation and generation of AI images using ChatGPT, we also learnt in our previous article on how to use ChatGPT to generate AI Art.

But apart from that ChatGPT uses DALL·E to generate AI Arts andImages, there are a lot more options to choose from as illustrated in our link article about. Top 10 AI Art generators in 2024.

Artificial intelligence can create digital art within a matter of seconds all you need is a bit of text that describes the image you have in mind.

One of the best AI art generators in 2024 is Midjourney. Midjourney is one my favourite AI image generators and I’ve tried using a lot of them. It reliably produces the most interesting results and It would easily be my overall top pick among the AI image generators.

In this article we have compiled a dedicated guide on how to go about using Midjourney to create AI art and images easily so boot up your computer and lets get started.

What is Midjourney.

Midjourney is a generative AI program that can convert text prompts into stunning AI images and Arts. But just like other Artificial Intelligence systems, the more accurate prompts you provide the better the results it produces.

So to use Midjourney accurately you should know better at prompt engineering. But don’t worry here are our comprehensive article on How to write a better prompts and top 100 prompts to use in every business.

Unlike other AI art and image generators to you can’t install Midjourney on your own computer or use a nicely designed web app. The only way to access it is through Discord. Yes you got that right the only way to use Midjourney is through a chat app Discord and you don’t have to install additional items such as ChatGPT.

For ChatGPT You have to install and use ChatGPT plugins to generate the images and arts and this is the major advantage of ChatGPT over other AI art generators.

But although Midjourney is not a free software, it’s worth paying for due to the quality you’ll get. Here’s the summary of how to use Midjourney, but keep reading for detailed Step-by-Step:

Sign up for Discord.
Sign up for Midjourney, and accept the invitation to the Midjourney Discord channel.
Go to a #newbies channel, and type /subscribe.
Pick your Midjourney plan.
Head back to Discord, and start generating images.
Edit, upscale, and download your creations.

Detailed Step by Step Guide for using Midjourney to generate AI Arts and Images.

Step 1. Sign up for Discord.

Discord is a popular communication platform that allows users to chat via text, voice, and video. It’s commonly used by gamers for creating communities, but it’s also used for various interest-based groups and casual conversations.

To access Midjourney, ensure you’re a member of its Discord community, here’s how: If you’re not on Discord, visit the official website, click ‘Register,’ and fill in your details.

After you register, locate the search bar and search for the Midjourney community and join. This community serves as your central point for all things related to Midjourney, including updates and support.

Step 2. Sign Up for Midjourney

Once you have completed the Discord sign up, it’s time to sign up for Midjourney. Go to the Midjourney website and click Join the beta. A pop-up will appear asking for a display name. Click on ‘continue.

Fill in the details like email address and password to complete the sign-up process.

This will Now open an invite and by Clicking “Accept Invite” will grant you access to the Midjourney Discord channel.

The next step from here is choosing a subscription plan .Starting March 2023, Midjourney discontinued its free trial, requiring users to subscribe to a paid plan for AI image generation. The subscription options include three plans, beginning at $10 per month, with a 20% discount available for annual subscriptions.

This gives you something like ~3,600 AI-generated images quickly and unlimited image generations if you’re prepared to wait a bit longer.

*Midjourney pricing, Note that the subscriptions are subjected to change at any time.*

Note that buying the Midjourney subscription is not hard but can be some hell if you don’t know how but don’t worry, We have a dedicated guide to help fulfilling both requirements, i.e. joining the Midjourney Discord server and how to buy a Midjourney subscription. Navigate to the link to get started.

Once you’ve signed up, head back to Discord. It’s time to get started.

How to create an AI image on Midjourney?

Step 3: Join the Newbies Text Channel

After joining the Discord server and obtaining a Midjourney subscription, you’re ready to embark on your journey to creating inaugural AI art piece. Here’s your initial step:

Now go back to the Discord Midjourney community and In the discord community, join any newbies channel to create AI images.

Once you’re in the Midjourney channel, type “/imagine” in the message box.

Step 4: Enter Your Midjourney Art Prompt

Start by using the /imagine command and continue with the prompt. Make sure to make the input as detailed as possible for the best output. This is because Midjourney needs to understand every specific thing to create AI art. You can add commas (,) after each word for specificity. Once done, press Enter.

Within a second, Midjourney will begin creating AI art. You can see the process in real time as the images become clearer. In a minute or two, Midjourney will fully create your chosen AI art with four different variations.

These newbie channels are generally very crowded, and finding the generated AI image for your prompt can be difficult.

Instead of wasting time scrolling through hundreds of images, you can directly send the prompt again to the Midjourney bot and it will re appear.

Midjourney generates four variations of AI images Within 60 seconds. The 1 in U1 and V1 refers to the first image of the grid. ‘U’ means upscale and ‘V’ means vary.

We’ll learn about upscaling We’ll learn about upscaling and varying in the next section.

Edit and Refine AI images

Making an AI image is just the start. Midjourney gives you different choices to tweak and improve your AI pictures in detail. Begin with the basic editing tools below the generated image.

Let’s start with the basic editing features that you can see below the generated image.

Re-run or Re-roll: The🔄button will rerun the initial prompt, generating a fresh grid with new images.
Upscale: In previous Midjourney versions, upscaling was employed to enhance image size and quality. However, in the latest versions, Midjourney automatically produces high-quality images at their maximum size.

Now, the ‘U’ button serves to choose a single image from the grid, making it convenient to save and access additional editing tools.

Upon clicking U3, it selects the third image and grants access to editing features such as zoom, vary, and more.

Vary: The V buttons enable you to generate various versions of your selected image, producing a new set of images with consistent overall look and composition each time you press one.

After selecting an image, you have the option to generate variations of the image, either in a strong or subtle manner.

Vary (strong) will give flexibility to Midjourney, where it experiments more.

Vary (subtle) will give more control to the user and limit the tool’s creativity.

Vary (region) gives full control to the user, where you can select a part of the image to be changed.

The outcomes resemble this, with no skyscraper visible in the centre of any of the images.

Zoom out: It expands the image’s perspective, extending beyond the original canvas boundaries while preserving the original content. The prompt and initial image contribute to creating the newly widened canvas.

You can choose between two zoom-out options: Zoom out (1.5x) and Zoom out (2x), indicating the extent to which you can magnify the view.

Custom zoom: It enables you to extend an image’s canvas within a scale range of 1.0 to 2.0, allowing for prompt adjustments to redesign the zoomed-out view.
Pan: The ⬅️ ➡️ ⬆️ ⬇️ buttons assist in enlarging the picture in a specific direction and incorporating additional elements using both the original picture and the prompt.

To add the image to your favourites list, click the ❤️ icon. Additionally, view the image in your gallery by clicking the Web ↗️ button.

In short, Midjourney AI is a cool mix of tech and creativity, giving artists a fun way to make awesome AI art. Follow our guide, and you’ll be creating amazing artwork that breaks the rules. Try out Midjourney AI to bring your imagination to life in a whole new way!

That’s how you can generate AI art using Midjourney. We hope our dedicated guide on Midjourney AI art helps you create some fantastic masterpieces.