Midjourney Alpha — The New Web Interface for Midjourney

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thereach.ai

8 min readFeb 14, 2024

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Ladies and gentlemen, Midjourney 2.0 has arrived! For those who found accessing Midjourney through Discord confusing, complicated, and frustrating, rejoice — the web version is now available. Discord, though a powerful tool, has posed challenges as a gatekeeper hindering mass adoption of Midjourney.

The Midjourney Alpha is currently accessible to users who have generated over 1000 images (soon to be available to everyone). No need to worry; everyone will have access soon enough.

Let me guide you through the Midjourney website’s appearance, functionality, and exciting new features.

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Midjourney Alpha Interface Guide

The website is structured into three main sections:

Explore:

Get Inspiration: Browse through images categorized under Random, Hot, Top, and Likes to spark your creativity.
Images Created by Other Users: Easily reuse prompts or images as prompts for your own creations. Further details on this functionality will be covered in a later section.

Create:

Image Creation: Effortlessly generate images and reuse prompts. The textbox, conveniently located at the top of the Midjourney website, allows you to generate images seamlessly.

Archive:

Organize: Group and arrange images effortlessly for efficient management.
View Customization: Customize the layout and image size according to your preferences.
Filters: Streamline image searches with various filter options such as image size, version, type, and more.

Midjourney Now Remembers Faces — Character Reference Feature

Generate images with the same people with Midjourney

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Midjourney Alpha website — Let’s create an image guide

Image Generation:

Creating images on the website is now a straightforward process with the “Imagine” textbox located at the top of the page. Press the 3 filters icon in the right side of the “Imagine” textbox.

How to Generate an Image on the Midjourney Website:

Step 1: Navigate to the “Imagine” textbox.
Step 2: Input words that describe the image you wish to create. You can provide a general description or be more specific by adding styles and details. More on that later.
Step 3: Adjust parameters to fine-tune your image.
Step 4: Press “Enter,” and your images will be generated.

Midjourney Alpha, Image Creation Page, Parameter Adjustment Panel:

The website facilitates easy parameter adjustments like we had to do with /settings in Discord, or using --parameters , including:

Aspect Ratio: Customize the image size to your preference.
Mode: Choose between Standard and Raw.
Version: Select the Midjourney version.
Stylization: Apply Midjourney’s default aesthetic style.
Weirdness: Introduce unusual aesthetics for a unique touch.
Variety (Chaos): Achieve unexpected and unconventional results.
Speed: Choose from Relax, Fast, or Turbo options.

The images you create will then be displayed below as they are generated.

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Midjourney Alpha website — customize images

If you go back to any of the pictures in your archive, you can search for them (as you could in the past as well) and then click on them. You now have a few options available.

Clicking on the image provides you with several options without the need to upscale it.

Lightbox Functionalities: When you enter the lightbox, additional functionalities become accessible.

Vary (Subtle & Strong): Add subtle or strong variations to your image.
Upscale (2x/4x/Subtle/Creative): Enhance image resolution with options for 2x, 4x, subtle, or creative upscaling.
Remix (Subtle/Strong): Apply subtle or strong remixing effects to your image.
Pan (Up/Down/Left/Right): Adjust the viewing perspective by panning up, down, left, or right.
Inpainting (Vary Region): Vary specific regions of the image using inpainting techniques.
Rerun or Use: Prompt: Regenerate the image or use the original prompt.
Change AR (Aspect Ratio): Modify the aspect ratio for a different visual presentation.

A very useful and amazing new feature allows you to go back in time to your previous creations and expand them. “Change AR” allows you to easily change the asepct ratio with the dragging bar on the Midjourney website.

Here’s what we got while. I don’t want to remember how many times I created an image and forgot to specify the aspect ratio I wanted and had to redo it and sometimes didn’t get the result I wanted. Now you just expand it.

Image Prompting with Blend on Midjourney Website:

The Midjourney website offers convenient image prompting through the blend feature, allowing you to seamlessly merge aesthetics using 2–5 images.

How to Upload a Photo for Blending:

Step 1: Press the “+” icon.
Step 2: Choose a file or simply drag and drop a file onto the Midjourney website.

Alternatively: You can directly drag and drop images you’ve created into the “Imagine” textbox.

Press enter.

Result of Blending Two Images:

If you’ve been playing along at the same time, you might have noticed another feature that the website has exclusively. You still get 4 images back from your prompt, but now you don’t have to upscale any of them. The classic bloc of 4 images stuck together is gone. Each version is already its own image and you can click and download it skipping a step.

Style References on Midjourney Alpha:

You can now enhance your creations with Midjourney V6’s new feature, “Style References,” by incorporating a URL or dragging an image.

How to Use Style References:

Step 1: Copy the URL of the Image.

Upon generating a new image, right-click to access the URL of the image or copy the Image URL from the lightbox. This part is a bit tricky to find, you have to click on an image, top right you find the options button:

Step 2: Include the URL with the parameter “ — sref”

Add the URL after the command “ — sref” like this

--sref https://example.com/your-image.jpg

We got into depth with this in our editorial, check it out here:

Prompt Engineering Is Dead

Midjourney recently released a new feature to use style reference in its image generation AI based on your inputs and…

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👉🏻 How to Identify Image Prompt or Style References: Look for a pin 📌 to determine if an image is used as “Style References,” adding an extra layer of visual insight to your creations.

This was the result of the style reference:

Archive Management on Midjourney Alpha Website:

Batch Download and More:

Select multiple images simultaneously and perform actions such as batch downloading or managing them with options like “Like,” “Hide,” or “Add to Folder.”

Create a Folder for Organization:

Step 1: Navigate to “Archive.”
Step 2: Click on “Organise” at the top right corner.
Step 3: Choose “Folder” and click “Create Folder.”
Step 4: Alternatively, select “Smart Folder.”
Step 5: Input keywords used in your prompts in “Search Terms” (e.g., “Photography”).
Step 6: Provide a title and create the folder.

This enables efficient categorization of images for better organization. And the beauty here is that you can organize all your image creations. Most people that use Midjourney have thousands of images generated and it was always very tricky to manage all these files.

This is an amazing next step for Midjourney. This is further proof that prompt engineering is becoming less important as the future of image generation will be via a dashboard and by using buttons and sliders.

Let’s see what this change will mean for Midjourney’s user base — my bet is that it will increase dramatically.

If you want a list of prompts that covers more artistic styles and lighting prompts, check out our guide on Etsy. With PHOTO20 you get a 20% discount.

I appreciate your time and attention to my latest article. Here at Medium and at LinkedIn I regularly write about AI, workplace, business and technology trends. If you enjoyed this article, you can also find it on www.thereach.ai, a website dedicated to showcasing AI applications and innovations.