How to use Midjourney - A beginner-friendly guide to Creating AI Art

Midjourney is one of the most exciting AI tools for generating stunning images just by using text prompts. Whether you’re an artist, designer, content creator, or just curious about AI, Midjourney makes it easy to bring your ideas to life—no drawing skills needed!

In this guide, you’ll learn:

• ✅ What Midjourney is

• 🛠 How to start using it

• ✍️ How to write effective prompts

• 🖼 Tips for getting better images

• 📦 Useful commands and parameters

🎨 What Is Midjourney?

Midjourney is an AI-powered art generator that turns your words into visual artwork. You simply describe what you want to see, and Midjourney creates it for you.

Midjourney is hosted on Discord, a chat platform, so you’ll need a Discord account to use it.

🚀 How to Start Using Midjourney (Step-by-Step)

1. Create a Discord Account

If you don’t have one already, go to discord.com and sign up. It’s free and only takes a few minutes.

2. Join the Midjourney Server

• Visit midjourney.com

• Click “Join the Beta” (top right)

• It will invite you to join the Midjourney Discord server

• Accept the invite and you’re in!

3. Subscribe to a Plan

Midjourney is not free, but it offers a variety of subscription plans starting at $10/month.

• Visit https://www.midjourney.com/account

• Choose a plan that fits your needs

• Once subscribed, you’ll get access to private messaging with the Midjourney Bot

4. Start Creating Images

You can generate images in two main ways:

✅ Public Channels

In the Midjourney Discord, find a channel like #newbies-1
Type your prompt like this:

bash

/imagine prompt a futuristic city at sunset

✅ Direct Messages (after subscribing)

Message the Midjourney Bot directly with your prompt:

bash

/imagine prompt a magical forest with glowing animals

✍️ How to Write Good Prompts

A prompt is just a sentence or phrase that describes what you want. The more specific and descriptive, the better your results.

Examples:

• Basic: a cat

• Better: a fluffy orange cat sitting on a windowsill in the morning light

• Even better: a highly detailed digital painting of a fluffy orange cat on a windowsill, soft sunlight, cozy atmosphere, photorealistic

You can add styles, lighting, moods, or even artists:

csharp

a samurai warrior in battle, cinematic lighting, anime style, by Studio Ghibli

🧠 Pro Tips for Better Images

• Use adjectives: vibrant, surreal, hyper-realistic, dark, dreamy

• Add time of day: sunset, night, golden hour

• Mention styles: watercolor, 3D render, vaporwave

• Use aspect ratios: --ar 16:9 for landscape, --ar 1:1 for square

• Set quality: --q 2 gives better results but uses more credits

• Add versions: Use --v 5 to specify the AI model version

Full example prompt:

css

/imagine prompt a cyberpunk street at night, neon lights, rain-soaked pavement, cinematic, --ar 16:9 --v 5

🔧 Common Midjourney Commands

Here are a few useful ones:

Command	What it does
/imagine prompt	Creates an image from your prompt
--ar	Sets aspect ratio (--ar 3:2, --ar 9:16, etc.)
--v	Selects version (--v 5, --v 6, etc.)
--q	Sets quality (--q 1, --q 2)
--style	Applies specific styles like --style raw, --style cute
/info	Shows your remaining usage and subscription info

📥 Upscale, Variations, and Remixing

After generating an image, you’ll see four image options and buttons like:

• U1–U4: Upscale image 1–4 (make it larger and more detailed)

• V1–V4: Create variations of image 1–4

• 🔄: Reroll and get a new set of images from the same prompt

🛡 Is Midjourney Safe to Use?

Yes! Midjourney respects your privacy, and you control your creations. Just remember that images are public unless you’re on a Pro plan (which includes Stealth Mode for private generations).

🧠 Final Thoughts

Midjourney is a powerful tool for exploring your creativity, even if you’re not a traditional artist. Whether you're designing for a website, crafting images for a brand, or just having fun, Midjourney makes it possible with just your words.