Continuing from the previous article: In-depth Midjourney: Common Issues and Optimization with Prompts (Part 1)
6. Using weights (double colons) to create special effects#
In this section, I will show you how to handle scenarios and themes as examples, as using weights to create themes and scenarios is an interesting way to learn about weights.
🤖Creating Themes
- Find theme words that interest you, such as friendship, fear, safety, hope, war, romance, destruction, heroism, silence, heartbreak, vanity, youth, futurism, robots, space opera, mystery, etc.
- Write your prompt using the theme words and measure it based on how much you want the theme to be present in your visual (recommended value is 1-3), then write your prompt as usual.
- The theme will affect your prompt. Take the following prompt as an example, and create your own prompt.
Sentience::3 This is a picture of a chaotic mess of external wiring and plumbing on the walls of a brutalist architecture building in a busy city evening atmosphere. The colors are mainly midnight-blue and oak-brown. --ar 5:9
Sentience::3 这是一张在繁忙的城市夜晚氛围中，野兽派建筑的墙壁上外部布线和管道混乱的照片。颜色以午夜蓝和橡木棕为主。 --ar 5:9
(Here, the emphasis is on the Sentience weight of 3)
🌳Creating Settings/Scenarios/Backgrounds
- Imagine a background or environment and describe it in 3-5 words, such as "midnight forest clearing" or "cliffs overlooking the sea."
- Describe your prompt with the description and give it a weight to help it compete with the rest of your prompt (recommended value is 1-3).
- The prompt acts as a "stage" where the weighted part becomes the "main character," and the rest of your prompt will be presented on it. Try the following prompt as an example, and create your own prompt.
Twilight, vintage coffee house::1.5 Hipster female with blue eyes and long flowing brown hair poses wearing a floral tank and jeans, photorealistic edge-to-edge print in the style of Joe Ranft, Tom Ruegger, John Canemaker, Atelier Lulua --ar 5:7
暮光之城，老式咖啡馆::1.5 时髦女性，蓝眼睛，长长的飘逸的棕色头发，身着花卉背心和牛仔裤，照片级逼真的边到边印花，风格为 Joe Ranft、Tom Ruegger、John Canemaker、Atelier Lulua --ar 5:7
(Here, Twilight, vintage coffee house is given a weight of 1.5)
🧮Common Issues
Midjourney defines things based on their main characteristic features. Deviating from the standard features means Midjourney doesn't "recognize" it. To make Midjourney "recognize" non-standard things, you need to transform them into standard things. For example, you can't get "a woman with green skin," but you can get "a female humanoid creature with green skin" because for Midjourney, "woman" cannot have green skin based on the human prototype, but a humanoid creature can have green skin based on a non-human prototype.
Another good approach is to use negative weights. You may need to use negative weights for non-standard things. For example, if you're trying to provide a "non-standard" feature for something, you can try giving a negative weight to the feature you don't want to see.
In the following example, we want to give a cat a non-standard third eye. We allow Midjourney to add the third eye by replacing the "cat" prototype with "felinoid" and guide Midjourney to not focus too much on the "two eyes" by giving it a negative weight.
third-eye, felinoid::1 two eyes::-0.5
第三只眼，类猫科动物::1 两只眼睛::-0.5
(two eyes is given a weight of -0.5 to reduce its impact in the image)
7. Use sentence-like fragments instead of word lists.#
In --v 5, write sentence-like fragments instead of word lists. "A young woman walks across campus" is more effective than "woman, young, walking, campus."
"A young woman walks across campus" is better than "woman, young, walking, campus."
8. Styling Images.#
In --v 5, to generate content beyond photographic images, you need to refer to art movements, artistic techniques, genres, media types, game titles, directors, artist names, influences, time periods, etc.
To invoke the aesthetic style of an image, try referencing two or more of the following:
- Art Movement: Identifying the art movement in the prompt will introduce its style and techniques. Examples include Impressionism, Surrealism, or Pop Art.
- Media Type: Identifying the medium of the image will determine its aesthetics. Examples include photography, illustration, comics, conceptual art, storyboards, sculpture, etc.
- Media Title: Identifying media influences will affect its appearance. For example, from "Spirited Away" or "The Wizard of Oz" or "Sid Meier's Civilization" or the video game "Duel."
- Artist Name: Quoting the name or work of a specific artist will loosely invoke their unique style. Examples include Vincent van Gogh, Frida Kahlo, or Banksy.
- Technique: Referring to techniques will add that style to the image. Examples include impasto, pencil sketch, watercolor, or digital art.
- Time Period: Identifying the historical background of the image will invoke its aesthetics. For example, images from the Renaissance period, Baroque period, or Modernist period.
- Geographic Location: Referring to regions and countries will influence the style. Examples include Japanese ukiyo-e prints, African tribal art, or American Abstract Expressionism.
9. Image Aspect Ratio#
Don't want a square? Add the parameter --ar X or --aspect X or even --h X --w Y at the end of your prompt. (These three methods express the same thing in different ways.)
The following aspect ratios can be added at the end of your prompt:
Square
--ar 1:1
Portrait
--ar 1:2 --ar 2:3 --ar 4:6 --ar 5:7 --ar 9:16
Landscape
--ar 2:1 --ar 3:2 --ar 6:4 --ar 7:5 --ar 16:9
Although you can specify any aspect ratio you prefer, Midjourney doesn't actually produce output for all aspect ratios. Only certain resolution values are allowed, and Midjourney will choose the closest one to the aspect ratio you specified. For example, if you specify --ar 850:1100, you will get the following results:
Initial grid: 4:5 (256x320)
Default Upscale: 4:5 (1024x1280)
Light Upscale: 4:5 (1024x1280)
Max Upscale: 11:14 (1408x1792)
Beta Upscale: 7:9 (1792x2304)
初始网格：4:5 (256x320)
默认高档：4:5 (1024x1280)
轻高档：4:5 (1024x1280)
最大高档：11:14 (1408x1792)
Beta 高档：7:9 (1792x2304)
Best and closest Midjourney aspect ratios for reference
10. Optimizing with Parameters: Style, Chaos, Quality Parameters#
To optimize images with parameters, refer to the official documentation for this section:
Style
https://docs.midjourney.com/docs/stylize
Chaos
https://docs.midjourney.com/docs/chaos
Quality
https://docs.midjourney.com/docs/quality