Midjourney Beginner Guide: How to Create Stunning AI Art in 2026

Midjourney is the most popular AI image generation tool in 2026, known for producing stunningly artistic and photorealistic images. This guide will take you from zero to creating impressive AI art.

Getting Started with Midjourney

Midjourney now offers both a Discord-based interface and a dedicated web app. To get started:

• Visit midjourney.com and create an account
• Choose a subscription plan (Basic starts at $10/month)
• Access the web app or join the Discord server
• Type your first prompt and watch the magic happen

Understanding Prompts

A Midjourney prompt has three parts:

• Subject: What you want to create
• Style: How it should look
• Parameters: Technical settings

Basic prompt structure:

/imagine a majestic mountain landscape at golden hour, oil painting style --ar 16:9 --v 6

Essential Parameters

Aspect Ratio (--ar)

• --ar 1:1 — Square (default, good for portraits)
• --ar 16:9 — Widescreen (landscapes, wallpapers)
• --ar 9:16 — Vertical (phone wallpapers, stories)
• --ar 3:2 — Classic photo ratio

Version (--v)

• --v 6 — Latest model with best quality
• --v 5.2 — Previous model, still excellent

Stylize (--s)

• --s 0 — Minimal artistic interpretation
• --s 100 — Default balance
• --s 1000 — Maximum artistic style

Quality (--q)

• --q .25 — Quick drafts
• --q 1 — Default quality
• --q 2 — Higher detail (uses more GPU time)

Prompt Engineering Tips

Be Descriptive

Bad: "a cat"

Good: "a fluffy Persian cat sitting on a velvet cushion in a sunlit Victorian library, warm golden light streaming through stained glass windows, detailed fur texture, photorealistic"

Specify Art Styles

• Photorealistic: "photograph, DSLR, 85mm lens, shallow depth of field"
• Digital art: "digital painting, concept art, artstation"
• Classic: "oil painting, Renaissance style, dramatic lighting"
• Anime: "anime style, Studio Ghibli, cel shading"
• Minimalist: "minimal, clean lines, flat design, vector art"

Use Lighting Descriptions

• "golden hour lighting"
• "dramatic chiaroscuro"
• "soft diffused light"
• "neon glow, cyberpunk lighting"
• "studio lighting, rim light"

Specify Camera Angles

• "bird's eye view"
• "low angle shot"
• "close-up portrait"
• "wide establishing shot"
• "macro photography"

Advanced Techniques

Negative Prompting

Use --no to exclude elements:

/imagine a serene forest --no people, buildings, text

Image Prompting

Upload a reference image and Midjourney will use it as inspiration:

/imagine [uploaded image URL] a similar scene in winter

Remix Mode

Enable Remix to modify prompts between variations. Generate an image, then change the prompt when creating variations to evolve your creation.

Multi-Prompts

Use :: to separate concepts with different weights:

/imagine hot::2 dog::1 (emphasizes "hot" over "dog")

Best Practices for Different Use Cases

Social Media Content

• Use vibrant colors and bold compositions
• Match aspect ratios to platforms (1:1 for Instagram, 16:9 for YouTube thumbnails)
• Include text-friendly negative space

Blog & Article Headers

• Use --ar 16:9 for standard blog headers
• Keep compositions simple and not too busy
• Consider how text will overlay the image

Product Mockups

• Describe specific product details
• Use "product photography, studio lighting, white background"
• Add "commercial, advertising, high-end" for polished looks

Wallpapers & Backgrounds

• Use high aspect ratios matching your screen
• Focus on atmospheric, immersive scenes
• Add "4K, high resolution, detailed" to prompts

Common Mistakes to Avoid

• Too many competing concepts — Keep prompts focused
• Ignoring aspect ratios — Match output to intended use
• Not iterating — Use variations and remix to refine
• Over-describing — Sometimes less is more
• Forgetting lighting — Lighting makes or breaks an image

Midjourney vs DALL-E vs Stable Diffusion

• Midjourney: Best overall quality, most artistic
• DALL-E: Best for following precise instructions, built into ChatGPT
• Stable Diffusion: Best for free/open-source, maximum control

For most users, Midjourney produces the most consistently beautiful results with the least effort.