How to Use Midjourney: A Comprehensive Guide

  • Introduction
  • Sign up for Discord
  • Joining Midjourney
  • Generating Your First Image
  • Processing the Job
  • Upscaling and Creating Variations
  • Favoriting and Saving Your Image
  • Troubleshooting and Community
  • Conclusion


Introduction

How to Use Midjourney: A Comprehensive Guide

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has made remarkable strides in recent years, extending its reach into numerous aspects of our lives, including the realm of creativity. Among the fascinating tools that AI has birthed is Midjourney, a unique image generator that leverages AI to create stunning visuals based on text prompts.

One aspect that sets Midjourney apart from other AI image generators is its distinctive use of Discord as the primary interface. Discord, a platform initially designed for gamers, has evolved into a robust communication tool with diverse applications in various communities, including the arts and hobbyists. The use of Discord as the platform for Midjourney creates a unique community experience, allowing artists to interact, collaborate, and inspire each other in real time as they create their AI-generated masterpieces.

In this guide, we will walk you through how to navigate this innovative tool, from signing up for Discord to creating your first AI-generated image with Midjourney. Whether you’re a seasoned artist or a curious beginner, Midjourney offers an exciting new way to explore your creativity. Let’s embark on this journey together.


Sign Up for Discord

Before you can start using Midjourney, the first step is to create a Discord account. Discord is a chat application that was originally designed to support communication among gamers. Over the years, it has evolved and expanded its reach, becoming incredibly popular with various groups, including gaming, arts, and hobby communities. Midjourney uses Discord as its platform, creating a dynamic space for users to interact and create together.

To sign up for Discord, you need to:

  1. Visit Discord’s official website.
  2. Click on the ‘Register’ button.
  3. Enter your email address, create a username, and choose a secure password.
  4. Accept the terms of service and click on the ‘Continue’ button.

Signing up for Discord is free and relatively straightforward. Once you have created your account, you can proceed to join the Midjourney community on Discord. The integration of Midjourney into Discord might seem a bit unconventional compared to other AI tools, but it adds an interesting social dimension to the image creation process, enhancing the overall user experience​1

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Joining Midjourney

With your Discord account set up, you are now ready to join the Midjourney community. Here are the steps you need to follow:

  1. Sign up for Midjourney: Navigate to the Midjourney website and click on ‘Join the Beta’. This action will open an invite to join the Midjourney Discord channel. Click on ‘Accept Invite’, and you will become a part of the Midjourney community on Discord​1​.
  2. Choose a Midjourney Plan: Midjourney offers various subscription plans to cater to different user needs. To subscribe, navigate to one of the newcomer rooms on the Midjourney Discord channel, typically named along the lines of #newbies-14 or #newbies-44. Type /subscribe in the message field and hit Enter. This command prompts Midjourney to provide a link for you to sign up for a paid plan​1​.

Subscription plans start at $10/month for the Basic Plan, which allows for approximately 200 image generations per month. At the higher end, the Pro Plan costs $60/month and provides around 1,800 AI-generated images per month​1​. Choose a plan that best suits your needs and budget.

Once you have completed these steps, you are ready to start generating images with Midjourney. The subscription model ensures that you have access to powerful Graphics Processing Units (GPUs) that Midjourney employs to create high-quality AI-generated images. Next, let’s explore how to create your first image with Midjourney.

Generating Your First Image

Now that you are part of the Midjourney community and have chosen a subscription plan, it’s time to generate your first AI image. Here’s how you can do that:

  1. Navigating the Discord Channels: Midjourney is designed with a community of artists in mind. As such, you’ll find different channels on the Midjourney Discord, such as #newbies channels that are bustling with activity. These channels are where users post prompts and requests, providing a vibrant learning environment for newcomers.
  2. Sending Commands to the Midjourney Bot: If you’re a paid user, you can send commands directly to the Midjourney Discord bot via direct messages. By default, the images you create will still be publicly visible in the members gallery. If you want to create private images, you’ll need to subscribe to the Pro plan. To send a direct message to the Midjourney bot, click on it, type your command in the message box, and press Enter or return​1​.
  3. Using the /imagine Command: To generate an image, you’ll use the /imagine command followed by your text prompt. For example, if you want to generate an image of a “sunset over a tranquil ocean”, you would type /imagine sunset over a tranquil ocean and press Enter. The bot will then process your request and generate an image based on your prompt.
  4. Observing the Process: After you send your prompt, the Midjourney bot takes some time to generate a set of images. You can observe the process, learning from how the bot interprets your prompt and creates an image.

That’s it! You’ve now generated your first image with Midjourney. It’s an exciting process, and the possibilities are endless. You can experiment with different prompts, observe the results, and refine your approach as you learn more about how Midjourney interprets your prompts.


Processing the Job and Refining Your Image

Once you’ve sent a prompt to Midjourney, the system will process it and generate a set of images based on your description. Here’s what happens during this phase:

  1. Processing the Job: The Midjourney bot takes approximately a minute to generate four image options based on your prompt. Midjourney utilizes powerful Graphics Processing Units (GPUs) to interpret and process. When you purchase a subscription to Midjourney, you are essentially buying time on these GPUs. Every time you create an image, you consume a portion of your subscription’s GPU time. You can use the /info command to check your remaining GPU time​.
  2. Upscaling or Creating Variations: After the initial image grid has been generated, two rows of buttons appear. The ‘U’ buttons (U1, U2, U3, U4) are for upscaling an image, which generates a larger version of the selected image and adds more details. The ‘V’ buttons (V1, V2, V3, V4) are for creating slight variations of the selected grid image. Creating a variation generates a new image grid similar to the chosen image’s overall style and composition. There’s also a 🔄 (re-roll) button that reruns a job, generating a new grid of images from the original prompt​.
  3. Creating Variations or Favoriting Your Image: After you upscale an image, a new set of options appear. The 🪄 Make Variations option creates a variation of the upscaled image and generates a new grid of four options. The Web ↗️ option allows you to open the image in your gallery on the Midjourney website. The ❤️ Favorite option lets you tag your best images, making them easy to find on the Midjourney websi​te.
  4. Saving Your Image: Click on the image to open it to full size, then right-click and choose ‘Save image’. On mobile, long-tap the image and then tap the download icon in the top right corner. All images are immediately available to view on the websi​te.

This process gives you a lot of control over the creation of your images. You can make fine adjustments, create variations, upscale for more details, and save your favorite images for easy access later.

Troubleshooting and Community

If you encounter any issues while using Midjourney, your best course of action would be to visit the #support chatrooms on their Discord channel as indicated on their official website. For billing support, you can also reach out to them via [email protected] For other inquiries, you can reach out via [email protected]​.

As for the community aspect, Midjourney is designed to be used by a community of artists. The community management team on Discord includes two individuals, fnuckle (Katryna) and Ancient Chaos. They also have a broad team of Discord Moderators and Guides to facilitate the user experience​.

Furthermore, Midjourney is always open to new talent as they continue to grow their team. If you’re interested in joining them, you can explore their open positions on their careers page​​.

Given the collaborative nature of the platform and the supportive community on Discord, users are encouraged to share their experiences, learn from each other, and contribute to the development of this innovative AI tool.

Conclusion and Future Prospects

As you have seen, Midjourney is a unique and innovative platform that allows users to generate AI-created images via Discord. Despite its unconventional usage method, Midjourney’s impressive capabilities and the quality of the images it produces make it an exceptional tool for artists, designers, and anyone interested in experimenting with AI-powered creativity.

Midjourney’s use of Discord as its main interface positions it at the center of a vibrant community of users who can collaborate, share, and learn from one another. The chat-based interface may be a departure from more traditional applications, but it also introduces a level of social interaction that is often missing from other AI art generation tools.

Looking ahead, Midjourney seems set to continue evolving. Given the active community and the continual developments in AI and machine learning, users can likely expect more features and improvements in the future. The team behind Midjourney is always open to new talent, hinting at the ongoing growth and evolution of the platform.

However, as with any innovative technology, the future direction of Midjourney will likely be shaped by both the technological advancements in the field and the needs and feedback of its user community.

In conclusion, Midjourney offers a unique and powerful tool for generating AI-created images. By understanding how to use it effectively, you can unlock a new realm of creative possibilities. Happy creating!