Midjourney Tutorial

Midjourney is a generative Artificial Intelligence tool that generates images from natural language description. It takes prompts similar to OpenAI's DALL-E and Stability AI's Stable Diffusion. It is one of the technologies of Artificial Intelligence (AI) evolved in recent years. The idea behind it is to bring imagination into reality through visualization in the new age of technology.

What is Midjourney?

Midjourney is a revolutionary idea in the AI field, which is a tool developed by a San Francisco-based independent research lab, Midjourney Inc. It generates images based on textual descriptions provided by the users, called prompts.

Additionally, even images can be prompted using the URL of the image or uploading it. Users can access the tool through Discord. It is not an open-source tool, hence you have to opt for a subscription.

The image in this tool can be generated once you give a text description (prompt). It offers various editing and modifying options, such as artistic style, image generation speed, upscaling, variation, and default mode.

History of Midjourney

Midjourney is a San Francisco based lab that was founded by Davis Holz. This artificial intelligence image generating tool was first introduced to the public as a Discord bot in February 2022.

The company has been working on improving the algorithms, making the model better after each version. In addition to the latest version, V6.1, the company has also focused on creating other models, such as Niji, specifically tailored for anime.

Features of Midjourney

Midjourney is a generative AI tool that operates similarly to many other existing tools with its own capabilities. Some of the key features are −

• Text-to-Image Generation − It allows users to provide detailed text descriptions to generate simple to complex images.
• Artistic Exploration − Midjourney allows users to create images in various artistic styles like impressionism, surrealism and futurism.
• Creative Control − Midjourney gives users the option to generate images with specific sizes, resolutions, aspect ratios, and other details.
• Background Removal − This feature in Midjourney allows users to remove the existing background in an image and replace it with a new one.
• High Image Resolution − Midjourney is developed to generate high-resolution images, which are up to 1792x1024 pixels.

Midjourney Vs. Other Image Generating Tools

Similar to Midjourney, there are other tools that generate images when a text description is provided. The following table summarizes the differences between Midjourney, DALL-E, and Stable diffusion −

Steps to Create AI-generated Images

Wondering how to use the Midjourney bot to generate stunning images from simple texts in seconds. Here is the step-by-step process to access the tool −

Step 1: Login to Discord

To access the Midjourney tool, you will have to create a Discord account and verify it. You can access Discord via web browser, mobile app, or desktop app. After verifying and logging in, you can join the Midjourney Discord server.

Step 2: Choose Midjourney's Subscription Plans

Since, the tool is not open source, you will need to subscribe to a plan. For this −

1. Visit the Midjourney website.

2. Login or sign up using your verified account.

3. Choose a subscription plan as per your needs.

Step 3: Enter A Prompt

Once you subscribe to a plan and pay for it, you can send messages directly to the Midjourney Discord bot by selecting the newbie-# channel.

Interact with the Midjourney Bot using the /image command. This command generates an image with a short description.

How to use the /image command?

• Type image prompt in the message field.
• Provide the text description in the prompt field.
• Once you send the message, the bot will interpret the text and generate images.

Step 4: Generate and Edit Image

Once you enter the prompt and send it, it creates four unique image options. This process utilizes advanced Graphics Processing Units (GPU). Select an image among the four options; two rows of buttons will be available under the image grid.

The U button is used for up-scaling; these buttons would help you separate out the chosen image from the rest, giving access to additional editing. While the V buttons are used to create variations. Each V button gives an option to generate a new image grid that maintains the composition of the selected image.

Step 5: Modify and Save the Image

Once you finalize the image, it extends the set of options like variation (strong or subtle), zoom-in, or zoom-out. The other option includes the Pan option , which allows you to expand the image's canvas. After editing the image, full size and right-click to choose the 'save image' option.

Limitations of Midjourney

Though Midjourney has its benefits and a wide range of use cases across various fields, there are a few challenges. Some of the limitations in Midjourney are −

• This tool relies on the LAION-5B dataset that has links to images and captions available on the internet to generate images. Hence, the accuracy depends on the quality and newness of the sources.
• If the prompts are complex or have ambiguities, the image generated might not match your imagination.
• The tool doesn't accurately produce photorealistic images regarding human anatomy and complex objects. The generated images might have imperfections or unrealistic elements.

Use Cases of Midjourney

Midjourney is the most used text-to-image generating AI tool, especially because it offers a wide range of editing and modifying options. Some of the practical applications of Midjourney are −

1. Designs for Print

Midjourney is used to design and customize posters and creative images to print on products like T-shirts, mugs, and notebooks. This helps to turn your ideas into stunning visuals.

2. Marketing and Advertising

Midjourney can also be used to create graphics for brand campaigns to stand out in the public. From social media posts to posters and campaigns, these AI generated images can be more eye-catching and engaging.

3. Concept Art

Background sets, film theme, and visualization of characters can be designed and visualized using Midjourney based on the genre and story of the film. This helps the creative process in the film to speed up.

4. Education

Tutors and instructors can use Midjourney to create images that visualize the theoretical content to make it captivating and interesting to the students. This will also help them to understand better.

5. Interior Designing and Home Decor

Midjourney would help architects and interior designers to visualize room layouts and decor choices, which helps them by giving a clear picture of their plan and also explaining it to the clients.

6. Novels and Comics

Authors and storywriters can use Midjourney to bring their stories to life. The main page of the novel can be designed using this tool based on the genre of the story. Additionally, visuals for comic stories can also be created.

7. Business Branding

Midjourney also helps to design logos and promotional materials and visualize the brand's product or service for elegant and minimalist business branding and promotion.

8. Event Management

Midjourney can be used by event planners to visualize the event in advance by prompting the theme of the event, floral arrangement, and custom-designed decoration.

9. Fashion Designing

Fashion designers can experiment with new designs and patterns, use various textures, and blend ideas. This visualization before actually designing it would help refine their ideas.

FAQs on Midjourney

There are some very Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) on Midjourney, this section tries to answer them briefly.

How do I access Midjourney?

To access the Midjourney tool, you will have to create a Discord account and verify it. You can access Discord via web browser, mobile app, or desktop app. After verifying and logging in, you can join the Midjourney Discord server.

How does Midjourney work?

Midjourney accepts textual description as prompt and uses the AI algorithms to generate images that matche description. You can also provide extra description to refined the generated images.

Can I use Midjourney for commercial purposes?

Yes you can use Midjourney for commercial purposes. Midjourney provides commercial plans for professionals who want to use the images for their work.

Is Midjourney free to use?

Midjourney is not free to use. You need to subscribe to a paid plan.

Can I customize the generated Images?

Yes you can customize the generated images by providing more specific details about the image in the propmt.

Can I use Midjourney to create animations or videos?

You can't use Midjourney to create animation or videos directly but you can create a series of images that can be combined into animation or videos.