Midjourney Materclass: What does the prompt consist of, and how does it work?

A prompt is a short text phrase that Midjourney processes to create a picture. The words in the prompt are divided into smaller parts called tokens, which the bot compares with its database and generates a picture based on. A well-written prompt leads to unique and interesting results.

1. Basic prompts

A basic prompt can be simple, such as one word or emoji. Short and precise phrases are the most effective ones because long lists of requirements can lead to confusing results.

Tip for prompting!

Midjourney works best with simple and short phrases that clearly describe what you want to see. Avoid long lists of requirements and instructions. Instead of “Show me a picture of lots of golden astronauts, make them shiny, vibrant gold, and draw them in an illustrated style with coloured pencils”, try: “Golden astronaut, colour pencil illustration” 

Example 1: /imagine prompt Show me a picture of lots of golden astronauts, make them shiny, vibrant gold, and draw them in an illustrated style with colored pencils ‐‐ar 16:

Example 2: /imagine prompt Golden astronauts, colour pencil illustration ‐‐ar 16:9

2. Advanced prompts

Advanced prompts can contain links to pictures, text phrases and tokens, and also parameters, ensuring better control over the result. Learn more about how to control parameters in our previous article!

Important tips

  • Word choice: choose particular words and synonyms (e.g. gigantic” instead of “big”) for more accurate results.
  • Plural: It is better to be specific (“three cats” instead of “cats”)
  • Focusing on positive assignments: Describe what you want to see, not what you don’t want (for instance, instead of without cake,” use simply the ‐‐no parameter).

Prompt length and details

The prompt can be simple, but a short prompt leaves more space for AI creativity. If some element is essential for you, include it into prompt or use tokens. More details and more tokens mean better control, while fewer details provide more variety. 

 

Think about these elements:

  • Object: person, animal, character, place, object
  • Medium: photography, painting, illustration, statue, drawing
  • Environment: indoors, outdoors, on the Moon, underwater
  • Light: soft, ambient, neon, studio lighting
  • Colours: vivid, muted, monochromatic, pastel
  • Mood: calm, energetic, stormy
  • Composition: portrait, detailed, bird’s eye view

Create effective prompts according to your desired outcome, and enjoy the unlimited creativity of MidJourney!

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