Complete Guide to Writing Effective Midjourney Prompts

What is a Midjourney Prompt?

In Midjourney, a prompt is a text command you provide to instruct the AI what to create. It can be a single word, a sentence, or a detailed description combining various elements to guide the AI in shaping the output. Prompts are the blueprint of the AI creative process. The more thoughtfully designed your prompt is, the more likely the result will match your expectations.

Simple prompt: An alien humanoid --v 6.1

More detailed prompt: A low-angle shot of an alien humanoid creature with a glowing screen on its face, looking down from the side, atmospheric lighting, and a minimalist background --v 6.1

Combining these elements and command parameters provides clear direction for MidJourney, making it more likely to generate images that match your vision.

Basic Components of a Prompt

Each prompt can be broken down into key components to guide the AI more effectively:

1. Subject: What you want the image to depict - characters, objects, scenes, or concepts. For example, "a man", "a rock", "a desert", or "a cyberpunk city".
2. Background or Scene: Where the subject is located or its spatial relationship. For example, "a rock flying over mountains" or "a cyberpunk city at sunset".
3. Style: You can specify artistic styles like "watercolor", "oil painting", or even modern styles like "cyberpunk". This adds a creative layer to the prompt, guiding how the AI should render the image.
4. Mood or Atmosphere: Describe the emotional tone or feeling you want the image to convey. Words like "mysterious", "bright", "surreal", or "peaceful" help MidJourney set the tone of the image.
5. Technical Parameters: Use appropriate parameter commands to control your image style direction [--sref], character state [--cref], dimensions [--ar], etc. You can check this article for more details.

A low-angle shot of an alien humanoid creature with a glowing screen on its face, looking down from the side, atmospheric lighting, and a minimalist background --v 6.1

A low-angle shot of an alien humanoid creature with a glowing screen on its face, looking down from the side, atmospheric lighting, and a minimalist background --sref 2946597935 --sw 88 --s 666 --niji 6

Combining these elements and command parameters provides clear direction for MidJourney, making it more likely to generate images that match your vision.

How to Optimize Prompts

MidJourney's AI interprets prompts in a semi-abstract way. Rather than understanding descriptions word-for-word, it processes overall concepts and attempts to make the final image match your description. This means that specificity is key to getting desired results. Try starting with simple prompts or parameter modifications and adjust based on the generated results.

1. Initial prompt: Prompt: A banana is floating in the air --v 6.1

Review the generated result: If it looks good but lacks a specific artistic style, you can further iterate and optimize.

2. Optimize prompt: Prompt: Banana shaped hologram of molten liquid metal, floating in air, isolated on a lilac background, minimalist design, vector illustration, high resolution photography --v 6.1

3. Add adjustment parameter commands: Prompt: Banana shaped hologram of molten liquid metal, floating in air, isolated on a lilac background, minimalist design, vector illustration, high resolution photography --sref 1982393082 --sw 116 --s 321 --v 6.1

Looks like there's a problem, we used the wrong style code, let's change that

4. Change style code: If the result is more in line with your expectations, you can further adjust the prompt.

--sref 4262062604 / --sref 3423758849 / --sref 4115477301 / --sref 1855803089

Finally, we changed the style code and implemented our own needs by gradually optimizing your prompt and parameter commands or values. You will be able to generate more accurate and visually stunning outputs.