ANDREI KOVALEV'S
MIDJOURNEY
GUIDE

TECHNICAL
PARAMETERS
There are two main technical parameters that I use with my prompts: Aspect Ratio (--ar) and Stylization (--stylize). Let's take a closer look at how they work.

--AR ASPECT RATIO

Your prompt's aspect ratio will define how MJ renders the picture. If there is no room for something that should typically have room, MJ will squeeze it into whatever space is left.

For example, let's take the prompt "Japanese folk theatre wolf mask" and give it the 9:16 aspect ratio.
Japanese folk theatre wolf mask --ar 9:16
The 9:16 aspect ratio makes MJ stretch the mask, looking for ways to fill the "unnecessary" space, which it does by generating a second (sometimes even third!) pair of eyes or ears.

Changing the --ar to 4:5 will generally render a more normal mask with (mostly) only one set of eyes.
Japanese folk theatre wolf mask --ar 4:5
This happens because 4:5 aspect ratio is closer to the typical mask's format than 9:16. But this may sometimes introduce the opposite effect. 4:5 might not be enough for a normal-size mask, and MJ will often crop the picture, cutting the top and bottom sides.

In this case, the "ideal" value will be 2:3.
Japanese folk theatre wolf mask --ar 2:3
Changing the aspect ratio to a horizontal one in the wolf mask example might result in extreme cropping, unconventional compositions, or even a second muzzle filling the excessive space.
Japanese folk theatre wolf mask --ar 3:2
The aspect ratio will define how the scene develops with less predetermined prompts. For instance, masks are generally supposed to be vertical, whereas industrial photography can be either.

With a prompt like "photograph of a factory," both portrait and vertical orientations will render naturally looking compositions. But the way the frame is filled in both cases might be quite different.
photograph of a factory --ar 9:16
photograph of a factory --ar 16:9
In some cases, Midjourney will use excessive space added by an aspect ratio to expand and show context around the main subject. In this portrait of an old man by Anton Corbijn, making --ar horizontal not only changes the cropping to a tighter one but also introduces the specific context in one of four generations.
portrait of an old man by Anton Corbijn --ar 2:3
portrait of an old man by Anton Corbijn --ar 3:2
That effect is even more apparent if you specify the context explicitly in your prompt.
portrait of an old man in misty forest by Anton Corbijn --ar 2:3
Midjourney will try to fill all the excessive space with the environment you asked for.
portrait of an old man in misty forest by Anton Corbijn --ar 3:2

--STYLIZE STYLIZATION

The stylization value defines how far MJ will deviate from your initial prompt. In Version 3 of Midjourney, this value ranges from 625 to 60000 (if you do not set it explicitly, the default stylize value is 1500).

The minimum number will result in MJ trying to render your prompt as literally as possible. This may sometimes lead to glitches that MJ tends to correct with higher --stylize values. Let's take portrait of a homeless old man with curly beard as an example. This is what the prompt with the minimal stylization looks like:
portrait of a homeless old man with curly beard --ar 2:3 --stylize 625
Note some distortion in facial features and even the double beard glitch. The same prompt with default --stylize value (1500) looks more correct:
portrait of a homeless old man with curly beard --ar 2:3 --stylize 1500
Increasing stylization gives Midjourney more freedom in interpreting the prompt. And with higher numbers it tends to try and make the results more "beautiful." In this example, this happens through adding complimenting colors, a more dramatic lighting, glowing highlights, background blur (at 3000), and a shallower depth of field (at 7000).
portrait of a homeless old man with curly beard --ar 2:3 --stylize 3000
portrait of a homeless old man with curly beard --ar 2:3 --stylize 7000
Note how MJ refined the appearance of our homeless man: brushed his hair and trimmed his beard up to the point where he stops looking homeless.

When the number is too high, you lose control over your prompt. It results in a very recognizable Midjourney makeover and often even overrides your prompt with typical MJ subjects (like Miss Journey, Midjourney valley and mountains, or Midjourneyville, etc.).
portrait of a homeless old man with curly beard --ar 2:3 --stylize 15000
Note the two men in the middle: they have a very typical Midjourney appearance that pops up often in various non-specific generations.

Going higher with --stylize will multiply this effect and strip your generation of any distinct features. At 25000 there is only one old man, and some variants start to show surreal glitches.
portrait of a homeless old man with curly beard --ar 2:3 --stylize 25000
In my experience, the most efficient range for the stylize is between 900 and 7000, with the sweet spot being 1200 to 3200.

Let’s see how --stylize works with an image prompt. I fed one of my portraits to Midjourney without any additional prompt text. This means that MJ only had to reinterpret the original picture.
Original image
One thing that changed from generation to generation was --stylize value. Note how with higher stylization, MJ starts playing around with framing, colors, and optical effects. After some point, it goes more and more abstract, loses the subject, and ends up rendering generic stuff with standard "beautiful" MJ colors. Even Miss Journey makes an appearance towards the end.
--stylize 625

--stylize 3000

--stylize 5000

--stylize 10000

--stylize 12000

--stylize 20000

To sum it up: generations with the lowest stylize value tend to be more unique and have more character. But they can also introduce more glitches and weird moments. Raising the --stylize will generally smoothen the details and help eliminate glitches. But going too high will strip your generations of character and make them more generic. Say hello to Miss Journey!
Hello, Miss Journey!

--TEST
--TESTP
--CREATIVE

As the official Midjourney documentation states, --test and --testp modes make your generations more aesthetically appealing and coherent. --test is a general-purpose artistic mode, whereas --testp renders more photorealistic results. Finally, the --creative parameter adds "more creativity" to your prompts.
iridescent bird --ar 2:3 --v 3
iridescent bird --ar 2:3 --test
iridescent bird --ar 2:3 --test --creative
iridescent bird --ar 2:3 --testp
Unfortunately, while adding diversity and creative fun to Midjourney, both --test and --testp modes now suffer from a couple of issues. Firstly, they would oftentimes fail to interpret even non complex prompts that --v 3 renders easily.
goddess of wildlife and nature in misty mountains --ar 2:3 --v 3
goddess of wildlife and nature in misty mountains --ar 2:3 --test
goddess of wildlife and nature in misty mountains --ar 2:3 --test --creative
goddess of wildlife and nature in misty mountains --ar 2:3 --testp
Then, these modes seem to "know" fewer artists and styles than the now-default --v 3 version.

But to me, the main issue is not the interpretation or the style recognition. The current version of Midjourney is full of magic that kind of disappears when using --test and --testp as is. While more coherent and correct, their results are often too direct, literal, and even dull.
futuristic urban ninja outfit by Rick Owens --ar 2x3 --v 3
futuristic urban ninja outfit by Rick Owens --ar 2x3 --test
futuristic urban ninja outfit by Rick Owens --ar 2x3 --test --creative
futuristic urban ninja outfit by Rick Owens --ar 2x3 --testp
However, Remaster feature that adds --test --creative to an existing --v 3 generation is a whole different thing. It doesn’t produce an image directly from your prompt but reinterprets the original picture instead.
[ORIGINAL]
futuristic urban ninja outfit by Rick Owens --ar 2x3 --v 3
[REMASTER]
futuristic urban ninja outfit by Rick Owens --ar 2x3 --test --creative
To conclude, I generate most of my pictures in --v 3 and then Remaster some of them. That is a personal preference, of course, and you may find --test and --testp modes more appealing to your taste and appropriate for your vision.
Midjourney AI. Prompt: Miss Journey --ar 2:3 --testp
Miss Journey --ar 2:3 --testp

OTHER PARAMETERS

There are other parameters that can affect your generations: --quality, --seed and --sameseed, --fast and --stop, --no and Advanced Text Weights, etc.

Even though I rarely use those in my practice, I encourage you to explore and experiment with them to determine if they work for you, and use them to develop your own workflow and personal style.

A good place to start is the official Midjourney User Manual ↗.

ANDREI KOVALEV'S
MIDJOURNEY
GUIDE

A comprehensive short guide to Midjourney workflow based on personal observations and experimentations

ANDREI KOVALEV'S
MIDLIBRARY V3

Curated collection of Midjourney AI V4, V3, and niji artistic styles, techniques, genres, art movements, and titles.
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