Midjourney Basics for Beginners
Midjourney is the gold standard for artistic AI image generation. Where ChatGPT and Gemini aim for "useful," Midjourney aims for "beautiful." Many of the AI images you've seen go viral on Twitter, LinkedIn, or design portfolios came from Midjourney. It's the only tool in this course that requires a paid subscription, but the basic plan is just $10/month. This lesson shows you how it works and helps you decide whether it's worth trying.
What You'll Learn
- How to sign up for Midjourney and run your first prompt
- The four buttons under every grid (Upscale, Variation, Vary Region, Re-roll)
- The most important parameters: --ar, --s, --v, --no
- When to choose Midjourney vs. the free tools
What Makes Midjourney Different
Midjourney has a strong aesthetic baked in. Even with a basic prompt, the output tends to feel cinematic, painterly, and intentional. Where DALL-E 3 might give you a "good photograph," Midjourney often gives you something that looks like a movie still or a gallery painting.
Trade-offs:
- Paid only. No free tier. The Basic plan is $10/month for ~3.3 hours of GPU time (≈200 fast images).
- Used to live on Discord. Now there's a clean web app at midjourney.com (much friendlier for beginners).
- Less obedient to literal instructions. Midjourney has artistic opinions; if you want surgical accuracy, use DALL-E 3 or Ideogram.
Signing Up and Generating Your First Image
- Visit midjourney.com and sign in with Google or Discord.
- Subscribe to a plan. Start with Basic ($10/month) — Standard ($30) and Pro ($60) come later if you fall in love.
- Click "Create" in the sidebar.
- Type a prompt in the text box at the top.
Try this beginner prompt:
a vintage red bicycle leaning against a stone wall covered in
ivy, soft afternoon light, oil painting style, warm color palette
Midjourney generates a grid of four images. Click any one to see action buttons:
- U1, U2, U3, U4 (older Discord) or Upscale Subtle / Creative (web) — make a single image full-resolution
- V1, V2, V3, V4 (older) or Vary Subtle / Strong / Region (web) — generate variations of the chosen image
- 🔄 Re-roll — run the same prompt again from scratch
- Vary Region — paint over an area to regenerate just that part (Midjourney's killer inpainting feature)
The Four Parameters Beginners Should Know
Add these at the end of your prompt:
--ar [aspect ratio] — image dimensions. Examples: --ar 16:9, --ar 9:16, --ar 3:2. Default is 1:1 square.
--s [style intensity, 0-1000] — how strongly Midjourney applies its aesthetic. Default is 100. Lower (e.g., --s 50) makes it more literal; higher (e.g., --s 750) makes it more stylized.
--v [version] — which Midjourney model to use. As of 2026, V7 is the latest. New versions usually mean better hands, lighting, and prompt adherence.
--no [thing to exclude] — Midjourney's negative prompt. Example: --no people, text, watermark.
Combined example:
a futuristic library on Mars, glass dome ceiling, Earth visible
in the sky, photorealistic cinematic --ar 16:9 --s 250 --no people
Conversational Workflow on the Web
The Midjourney web app at midjourney.com/imagine has tabs called Create, Edit, Personalize, and Image Boards. The two beginners use most:
- Create — your generation feed. Each prompt produces a grid; clicking opens action buttons.
- Edit — upload your own image (or a previous Midjourney image) and use Vary Region, Pan, Zoom Out, or Reframe to keep iterating.
A typical beginner workflow:
- Enter prompt → generate 4-image grid.
- Pick the best one → Upscale.
- Use Vary Region on small problem areas (weird hand, awkward background).
- Use Pan or Zoom Out to extend the canvas.
- Download the final image.
When Should You Pay for Midjourney?
Skip Midjourney if:
- You're brand new to AI images and just want to learn the basics — ChatGPT and Gemini are enough.
- Your goal is functional graphics (slides, social posts, mockups) rather than artwork.
Try Midjourney if:
- You're building a design portfolio.
- You want concept art, character illustrations, mood boards, or "wall-worthy" images.
- You've outgrown the free tools and want a more painterly aesthetic.
- You're freelancing on Fiverr/Upwork and need professional-looking deliverables.
Two Beginner Prompts to Try (If You Have Access)
If you do subscribe, run these to feel Midjourney's range.
Prompt 1 — Atmospheric photography:
a fisherman in oilskin jacket standing on the prow of a wooden
boat, dense fog, lighthouse beam in the distance, North Sea,
ominous mood, cinematic photograph --ar 16:9 --s 200
Prompt 2 — Stylized illustration:
a snow leopard reading a book of constellations on a Himalayan
peak at midnight, magical realism, pastel watercolor on textured
paper, dreamy mood --ar 3:2
Save both, and notice how Midjourney handles atmosphere and texture compared to your earlier ChatGPT/Gemini outputs.
Common Beginner Mistakes on Midjourney
- Over-prompting. Midjourney works best with concise prompts (10-25 words). Don't pile on adjectives.
- Ignoring
--ar. Default 1:1 is fine for some uses but you usually want widescreen or vertical. - Forgetting to upscale before downloading. The grid images are low-res previews; always upscale your favorite.
- Comparing apples to oranges. Midjourney is for artistic images; don't blame it for failing at "an exact diagram of the digestive system" — that's a DALL-E 3 job.
You Can Skip This Lesson
If $10/month isn't in your budget right now, that's fine. You can complete every assignment in this course using only free tools. Bookmark this lesson and come back to it once you've earned your certificate and built a portfolio that justifies the upgrade.
Key Takeaways
- Midjourney has a strong artistic aesthetic baked in — best for portfolio-quality images
- It's paid only ($10/mo basic), but the web app at midjourney.com is now beginner-friendly
- Learn just four parameters first:
--ar,--s,--v,--no - The Vary Region feature is the easiest way to fix small problems in your image
- Skip Midjourney for now if budget is tight — free tools are enough for the course certificate