Parama-whats? Knowing how to use Parameters will help you go beyond the basics in MidJourney to enable greater creativity and control.
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Parameters are specific instructions and constraints added to the end of a prompt that direct the AI in specific ways to achieve a desired result. Much like a skilled conductor guiding an orchestra, these parameters serve as a roadmap for the AI, directing its creative output towards desired themes, tones, and visual styles. Let’s take a look at a few powerful parameters:
This parameter changes the aspect ratio of a generation, allowing users to create images that fit specific dimensions. The default aspect ratio is 1:1, but there are lots of other options to explore.
Different aspect ratios will affect how the AI interprets the prompt and composes the image. For wider aspect ratios such as 16:9, Midjourney may sample imagery with more cinematic compositions.
If you’re using Midjourney to explore more typographic compositions or poster-style designs, consider using a parameter that reflects that style.
This parameter determines how much time the AI will spend rendering the image. Lower values will generate less detailed images and higher values will generate more detailed images. By default, Midjourney quality is set to 1, which generates imagery that can be fairly detailed. This can work well if you’re going for a more photo-realistic or detailed effect, but what if you want something a bit more gestural? If you enter a parameter of --q .25, Midjourney will generate a more impressionistic and often painterly result which can be great if you want to achieve a more abstract visual.
Now here’s an interesting one: --chaos. Like its name suggests, it’s a lot of fun to play around with. Midjourney has a default chaos value of 0, which means the initial grid of images will look pretty similar. If you dial that chaos up to 100 you’ll get some pretty interesting (and sometimes twisted) results. This can be ideal if you’re looking to produce the unexpected. The --chaos parameter will provide variation in composition, lighting, style, and even subject matter. Explore at your own risk.
This parameter allows fine-tuning of results to fit a specific style, different from the default Midjourney aesthetic. If you’re looking to create a more detailed and realistic composition consider using the --style raw parameter. This will sharpen up edges and produce a more photo-realistic effect. You can also use style parameters to create cuter characters or more expressive compositions. Default Model Version 5.2 and the previous version 5.1 accept --style raw. Model Version Niji 5 accepts --style cute --style scenic --style original or --style expressive.
This parameter influences how strongly the AI applies artistic details such as color, composition, and form. If you select a low value for the --stylize parameter, Midjourney will produce results that closely match your prompt without offering additional artistic flair. This may be desirable if you want to achieve something very simple. Adding a --stylize parameter with a high value will result in images that have highly artistic compositions often with additional details, more dramatic lighting, and more interesting angles. Acceptable parameter values range from 0–1000 with 100 being the default.
As we’ve explored in this article, parameters are an important and powerful tool in Midjourney. Each offers a unique way to influence and direct the final output. Midjourney is a powerful tool, and understanding how to speak its language is important if you want to truly harness what it’s capable of.
