How to Use Midjourney: A Beginner’s Guide (2026)

Midjourney turns a sentence into a picture. You type a short description, and a few seconds later you get four images to pick from. This guide shows how to use Midjourney from scratch: how to sign up, which plan to pick, how to write a prompt that works, and what to do with the images you make.

What Is Midjourney?

Midjourney is a paid AI image tool made by an independent research lab. You describe what you want in plain words, and it creates images from that text. It runs on its website, midjourney.com, and you can also use it through Discord if you prefer.

People use it for blog images, social media posts, book covers, product mockups, posters, and concept art. It is strong at art-style images and photo-style images, but it is not a photo editor. You cannot upload a photo and ask it to fix small details the way you would in Photoshop, though its built-in editor can change parts of an image you made.

The current default model is V8.2, which became the default in July 2026. You do not need to pick a model version as a beginner. The default is fine.

What You Need Before You Start

Three things:

1. A paid plan. Midjourney has no free plan and no standing free trial. You cannot create images until you subscribe.
2. A Google or Discord account to sign in with.
3. A clear first project. Pick one thing to make first, like a blog header image or a poster. It is much easier to learn with a real task than by testing random prompts.

Step 1: Sign Up and Pick a Plan

Go to midjourney.com, sign in, and choose a plan. Prices below were checked in November 2026. Midjourney changes prices from time to time, so check the official plans page before you pay.

Two terms in that table matter:

Fast GPU time is the fast queue. Each image job uses some of it. When it runs out on Basic, you have to buy more at $4 an hour or wait for next month.

Relax mode is a slower queue with no monthly limit on images. It comes with Standard and higher. If you can wait a bit longer for each image, Standard gives you far more room to practice than Basic.

For most beginners, Basic is enough for the first month. Move to Standard if you run out of Fast hours or want to practice without counting minutes. Pro is worth it only if you want Stealth Mode, which keeps your images private. On Basic and Standard, your images are public by default and can show up on the site.

Step 2: Make Your First Image

Once you are subscribed, open the Create page on the website. You will see an Imagine bar at the top of the page. Type your description there and press Enter.

Try this as your first prompt: a cozy bookshop on a rainy street in Paris at night, warm light in the windows, photorealistic –ar 3:2

Midjourney will show a progress bar, then a grid of four images. That is one job. Every prompt you send makes four images, so you always get options.

Everything you create is saved on the Organize page, where you can download images and sort them into folders. Set up one folder per project on day one. It saves a lot of searching later.

Step 3: Pick, Upscale, or Change an Image

Click any image in the grid to open it. From there you can:

• Upscale it to a larger, sharper version for download.
• Vary it to get four new images based on that one. Use this when an image is close but not quite right.
• Edit it to change part of the image, such as swapping an object or fixing a detail. On V8.2, the Edit model handles this job.
• Download it once you are happy with it.

A good habit: upscale only the images you actually plan to use. Upscaling everything eats your Fast hours for no reason.

If you do not like any of the four images, just run the prompt again or change a few words. Small changes often beat long rewrites. Change one thing at a time so you learn what each change does.

How to Write a Prompt That Works

A strong Midjourney prompt follows a simple order: subject first, then setting, then style, then technical details at the end.

Subject + setting + style + parameters

Here are three prompts that follow that order:

• a cozy bookshop on a rainy street in Paris at night, warm light in the windows, photorealistic –ar 3:2
• flat illustration of a morning routine checklist, soft colors, minimal style –ar 16:9
• portrait of a jazz musician in New York, 1962, black and white film photo, soft window light –ar 3:4

Three rules that help more than any long list of tricks:

1. Be specific, not long. Ten clear words beat fifty vague adjectives. Name the subject, the place, and the look you want.
2. Write in English. Midjourney works best with English prompts.
3. Keep the full prompt of every image you like. When an image turns out well, save its exact words and settings next to it. That is how you repeat a style later.

6 Settings Worth Learning First

Parameters go at the very end of your prompt, each starting with two dashes. Learn these six and you can control most results:

• –ar (aspect ratio): Sets the shape of the image. Use –ar 16:9 for wide blog headers, –ar 3:2 for standard photos, –ar 1:1 for square social posts, and –ar 9:16 for vertical phone screens.
• –stylize or –s: Controls how much of Midjourney’s own artistic touch is added. The default is 100. Lower values (like –s 50) stay closer to your words. Higher values look more artistic but drift further from your description.
• –style raw or –raw: Makes results more plain and literal, with less artistic flair. Good for product shots and photos that need to look real.
• –chaos: Adds variety, from 0 to 100. A low value gives four similar images. A higher value, like –chaos 50, gives four very different takes on the same prompt.
• –no: Tells Midjourney what to leave out. For example, –no text keeps words out of the image. Note that each word after –no counts on its own, so –no cars people means no cars and no people.
• –sref (style reference): Copies the look of another image. Paste an image link or a style code after –sref, and Midjourney matches that style. Use your own images or images you have rights to use, not someone else’s art.

You do not need to memorize more than this to start. Add one new setting per week as you practice.

Using Midjourney on Discord (Optional)

You do not need Discord anymore. The website is the easier route for most people. But if you already live on Discord, you can still use Midjourney there: join the Midjourney server, go to a newbie channel, and type /imagine followed by your prompt. The same plans, prompts, and settings apply.

One tip for Discord: your images appear in a public channel, so other people can see them. Use the website or a private channel if that bothers you.

What You Can Do With Your Images

If you have a paid subscription, you own the images you create and can use them in just about any way you want, including client work and products you sell. There is one exception to know: companies making more than $1 million a year in gross revenue must be on the Pro or Mega plan for commercial use.

A few limits still apply:

• Do not pass AI images off as real photos in news, reviews, or any place where people would be misled. Label AI images where it matters.
• Be careful with real people and famous characters. Images of real people and well-known characters can raise legal and ethical problems, even if the tool lets you make them.
• Check the content rules. Midjourney blocks adult content, gore, and some other topics. If a prompt is refused, reword it rather than trying to sneak past the filter.
• Remember the privacy point. Your images are public by default unless you pay for Stealth Mode on Pro or Mega. Do not create anything private or sensitive on a Basic or Standard plan.

Paid plans can also turn an image into a short video clip. Treat video as a bonus feature, not the reason to subscribe, unless you already know you need it.

7 Beginner Mistakes to Avoid

1. Writing a wall of adjectives. A prompt packed with every style word you know usually gives a messy image. Start short, then add one detail at a time.
2. Forgetting the aspect ratio. An image made square cannot be cleanly stretched into a wide blog header later. Set –ar before you run the prompt.
3. Expecting a free trial. There is none. Budget for at least one month of Basic before you start.
4. Upscaling all four images. Upscale only the winner. The rest just cost GPU time.
5. Copying other people’s prompts word for word. A prompt that worked for someone else’s style may not fit your project. Use it as a starting point, then adjust it.
6. Running out of Fast hours on day one. Relax mode on Standard, or slower pacing on Basic, beats a week of waiting for the next month.
7. Ignoring the Organize page. Download and file your best images right away. A month later you will not remember which grid they came from.

A Simple 7-Day Practice Plan

• Day 1: Sign up, pick Basic, and make your first 10 images on one project.
• Day 2: Practice aspect ratios. Make the same prompt at –ar 16:9, 1:1, and 9:16 and compare.
• Day 3: Practice style. Run one subject as a photo, a flat illustration, and an oil painting.
• Day 4: Practice –stylize and –style raw. See how the same prompt changes at –s 0, –s 100, and –raw.
• Day 5: Practice –sref with one of your own images as the style source.
• Day 6: Practice fixing images. Take a good-but-flawed image and use Vary and Edit on it.
• Day 7: Pick your three best images, upscale them, and use one in a real post. That is the test that matters.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Midjourney free? No. Midjourney has no free plan and no standing free trial. The cheapest way in is the Basic plan at $10 a month.

Do I need Discord to use Midjourney? No. You can use the full tool on the Midjourney website. Discord is an optional extra for people who already use it.

Which Midjourney plan should a beginner pick? Basic at $10 a month is the right start for most people. Switch to Standard at $30 a month if you run out of Fast hours or want unlimited Relax images for practice.

Can I sell images I make with Midjourney? Yes, paid subscribers own their images and can use them commercially, including products for sale. Companies with over $1 million a year in gross revenue need the Pro or Mega plan.

Why do my images look different every time I run the same prompt? Midjourney adds random variation to every job, so the same words give different images each run. If you want a closer match, use the Vary button on an image you like, or add –sref with that image as a style reference.

Is Midjourney better than the image tool inside ChatGPT? They suit different jobs. Midjourney is stronger for artistic and stylized images with fine control over style and ratio. The image tool inside ChatGPT is easier for quick edits to a specific picture and for text inside images. Many creators use both.

Can Midjourney make videos? Yes, paid plans can animate an image into a short video clip. Video uses GPU time too, so try it after you are comfortable with still images.

Last updated: November 2026. Prices and plan details were checked in November 2026 and can change; confirm the current plans on Midjourney’s official site before you subscribe.