Customizing Midjourney – Settings, Preferences, and Unleashing Creative Prompts

With a solid foundation in navigating Midjourney’s capabilities, we will shift focus in this chapter to personalize your experience with the tool. As we’ve acquainted ourselves with the basics of generating art with Midjourney, it’s time to dive into the nuances of its settings and preferences. This chapter is designed to guide you through customizing Midjourney, allowing you to optimize your use of this powerful tool to match your individual creative vision.

In this chapter, we will cover the following topics:

• An overview of Midjourney’s settings: In this section, you will get a comprehensive understanding of Midjourney’s various settings and learn how they influence the art creation process.
• Customizing your preferences: Here, we will Learn to adjust and personalize your Midjourney experience, crafting custom codes for values you often use in your...

Technical requirements

To make the most of this chapter and follow along with the hands-on activities, you’ll need to ensure you’ve set up everything we covered in Chapter 2. Here’s a quick recap:

• Midjourney account: You’ll need an active Midjourney account. If you haven’t registered yet, refer to Chapter 2 for a step-by-step guide.
• Discord installation: Ensure you have Discord installed on your device, as we’ll be working with it alongside Midjourney. Again, the installation guide is available in Chapter 2.
• Payment plans: At the time of writing, Midjourney has no free or trial plan. A Midjourney paid plan is necessary. Ensure that you’ve selected the most suitable plan for your needs.
• Server creation: Having your own server can significantly enhance and expedite your experience with Midjourney. If you’ve yet to set up a server in Discord, Chapter 2 covers the process in detail.

An overview of Midjourney’s settings

One of the key features of Midjourney is its simple but powerful settings menu, which gives users a high degree of control over the creative process.

In this chapter, we will explore the various settings available in Midjourney and explain how they can be used to achieve different results. We will also provide tips on how to customize your preferences to create the perfect Midjourney experience. Start by simply typing /settings in the message box:

Figure 7.1 – Type the /settings command in the message box and hit enter

A list of your current settings will appear. Understanding and utilizing these settings can significantly enhance the quality and specificity of the generated images:

Figure 7.2 – A list of my settings

The settings in Midjourney control the fundamental aspects of your image generations. These settings include the following:

• Model version selection...

Customizing your preferences

Midjourney allows you to create custom options using /prefer commands. This feature enables you to add commonly used parameters, styles, or concepts automatically to the end of prompts, saving time and ensuring consistency. Imagine you use a lot of these terms in this sequence: realistic, breathtaking, cinematic, hyper-realistic, photorealistic and incredibly detailed, professional lighting, studio lighting, 100mm, photography gallery, winning photography. Instead of writing this in every prompt, you can create a shortcut for it. Let’s learn how!

/prefer option

The /prefer option command lets you create or manage custom options. To view your current custom options, simply type /prefer option list in the chat box and hit enter. I have utilized this feature to create a custom option named wallpaper, which is just one of up to 20 custom options that a user can have:

Figure 7.13 – An example of my custom options...

Fine-tuning our images with the Style Tuner

Style Tuner is a game-changing feature, offering a unique way to fine-tune the aesthetic nuances of your images. The Style Tuner provides a hands-on approach to visual styling, allowing you to experiment with various visual styles and select the one that best aligns with your artistic vision.

Only available while in Fast mode, this feature lets you personalize the appearance of your images by using the /tune command, generating a range of sample images that showcase different visual styles, based on your prompt. This process not only aids in visualizing the potential outcomes but also empowers you to choose your favorite style.

The journey begins with the /tune command. Typing /tune followed by a prompt, such as /tune prompt cute kitten with pink flowers, sets the stage for customization:

Figure 7.21 – Type /tune followed by your prompt and hit enter

After entering your prompt, you will see a message...

Summary

In this chapter, we journeyed through the intricate settings and customization options of Midjourney, equipping you with the knowledge to fine-tune your creative process. From mastering the nuances of various settings to exploring the innovative Style Tuner, you’re now adept at tailoring Midjourney to your vision. These features and options not only enhance your efficiency but also deepen your engagement with Midjourney, allowing your creativity to flourish without technical constraints.

In Chapter 8, Exploring Practical Use Cases and Pushing Boundaries, we will shift our focus from the technical mastery of Midjourney to its practical and professional applications in the real world. This chapter is designed for advanced users who are ready to go beyond the basics and explore storytelling and visual communication through AI art.