Are you looking to produce amazing AI-based images?
Have you seen the fantastic quality of some of the work produced and want to be able to recreate it yourself? Have you recently started playing with AI image creation software and are not getting the results you wanted? If so, you’re in the right place.
My name is Garry Walker and I am the creator of digitalandaiart.com. My AI artwork has been liked and shared over a million times on social media. Here I will discuss the techniques I have used to produce, promote, and share my works, so you could hopefully learn from the hours I’ve put into this endeavor.
In this article we are going to focus on Midjourney because it is the best AI art generator so far, however, the principles are similar across all AI image software packages and should hold up regardless of the software you use.
If it’s your first time, I recommend you check out our 10-minute Midjourney beginners guide first.
Should you wish to have a similar experience to Midjourney but your free trial has run out and you cannot pay for a monthly subscription? BlueWIllow.ai offers free image generation tools that work 99% as well as Midjourney without a fee.
Which Midjourney Package?
Of all the AI software packages on the market, Midjourney seems to produce the most beautiful, artistic work and you can get approximately25 images for free using its Discord server.
The $10 package only provides limited images and the $60 package only provides the added benefit of privacy. There are some additional image processing hours you can use to generate images fast. However, Midjourney’s “relaxed” mode is fine for most people’s needs. For $30 a month, You can have unlimited access to Midjourney images. The only real limits are your imagination.
Looking for Inspiration / Picking a theme
You may have noticed the recent trend whereby almost everything was remixed as an 80s TV show. I personally did not get on this bandwagon, however, I did copy some of the photography and lighting effects that I will cover later.
Going viral, in my opinion, really requires you to piggyback on an existing idea. To present something familiar in a new, funny, or different light. Whether it be the X-men as children, the rich and famous sweeping the floor at Mcdonald’s, or Star Wars scenes in the style of a famous artist.
Whilst there is some success to be had by copying others, for the best results you want to find something that hasn’t been done before. Looking at Google Trends and Twitter trending hashtags can give you some ideas about what is currently hot.
Another great way of getting ideas is to look in the comments of existing AI posts. See what people are asking for.
When a series of images with a theme is presented as a story or as a series of images you are much more likely to get better engagement. This is a technique I have used consistently on digitalandaiart.com with great results.
Going Viral
If you are stuck looking for a theme it always helps to have a look at large Facebook groups such as Midjourney Official and AI Art Universe. With over half a million followers and posts every few minutes it is a great source of inspiration. These pages are also key to going viral.
Other places you can look for ideas and share your art include YouTube, Twitter, Reddit, Instagram and some of the smaller web3 social networks such as Minds and DeSo where you can actually sell your art as an NFT for crypto.
Cross-posting and linking to your various profiles is a great way to get new subs, likes, and followers. Keep posting quality material and you will soon find that you have a consistently growing audience.
Using the various site analytics tools can help you with what is the best time of day to post. Monitor your progress, keep an eye on what hashtags do well and your following should soon grow.
You may find that your chosen subject is difficult to produce quality images for. Unfortunately, Midjourney does not produce equally good images for all subjects. If there is a lack of training data or something’s appearance has changed significantly over time Midjourney may struggle to produce what you want.
I for example recently struggled to create:
/imagine: prompt: a gorilla with a TV for a head.
We will go on to discuss workarounds for things that Midjourney does badly, however, if you are just starting out I recommend you find something that Midjourney can do well off the bat. This will keep down the amount of time you spend on creating your work and also reduce the need for additional software skills.
Making Money from AI Art
Many traditional artists complain that AI art will destroy artists’ careers. However, I see things quite differently. The landscape is changing and those who adapt can prosper. With a website and viral content, there are multiple opportunities to generate income from your AI art.
Many people who do not have access to or are unfamiliar with AI art tools are willing to commission a prompt artist to do this work on their behalf. These services can be sold on a site like Fiverr, Freelancer, or Upwork. Gigs on Fiverr start at around $20 and go up to over $100. Here is my Fiverr AI gig.
Websites such as Etsy allow you to sell your digital artwork quite easily. By using POD or print-on-demand services you can advertise products that you do not have to hold in stock. They are printed when they are sold and as a result, you can start selling with zero investment and zero risk.
My website often generates over 1000 page views per day. 1000 page views translate roughly into around $5 from the Google Adsense program alone.
Amazon affiliates also offer a range of tools to get a commission from sales generated on amazon sites globally.
You can also find stock image sites that still accept AI-generated art submissions that can be resold although I recommend you look closely at the terms and conditions as many are becoming less receptive to AI-generated submissions.
My Workflow
If you do not have a specific idea in mind and just want to see what the AI image generation software is capable of there are a few quick “hacks” that you can use to start creating amazing images straight away.
When you use a single word you give Midjourney maximum freedom. The software is designed to produce great works. You will find that terms like “fantasy”, “dream” and “magical” produce fantastic works.
If you have something more specific in mind and Midjourney does not produce it how you want it or you simply want to see how specific terms modify an image. It can help to work iteratively to see what specific parts of a prompt to add or remove.
For example, try the following:
/imagine prompt: a mountainside
/imagine prompt: a mountainside covered in trees
/imagine prompt: a mountainside covered in trees. dslr photo
When prompting, it is best to focus on what you want rather than what you don’t want. In the event that there are unwanted items in the scene, it is quite often better to re-roll than attempt to remove them. However, if you find an item persistently appearing in a scene or are absolutely in love with a certain image but just need one thing removed, you can use a combination of remixing and negative prompting to achieve your results.
By typing /settings in a Discord channel containing the Midjourney bot you will bring up the settings panel. Here you can enable remix mode.
Remix mode enables you to modify an image prompt without changing the seed. From here you can add things or remove things. If something unwanted appears you can use negative prompting to achieve your goals.
Here are some examples:
Initial prompt:
/imagine prompt: romantic, blue moon, kingdom, castle, blue night sky with tinge of pale pink, starry –ar 16:9
Let’s assume we like image four, but unfortunately, the picture contains unwanted trees. We can either craft a new prompt or by pressing the V4 button and modifying the prompt to this we can produce the following:
/imagine prompt: romantic, blue moon, kingdom, castle, blue night sky withtinge of pale pink, starry –ar 16:9 –no trees
Limitations of AI-generated Art
Many new prompters are unaware of the limitations of current AI image generation, nor the nuances that make prompt crafting as much an art as it is a science. You will soon learn that Midjourney can have major problems crafting text, displaying fingers correctly, or getting the number of legs on a group of horses correct.
This can be solved by simply re-requesting the same images again and again until the AI produces one that is satisfactory. However, there are some techniques you can use to minimize these problems.
Many people also struggle with the fact that it initially seems near on impossible to be able to maintain character consistency over a range of images.
Using Reference Images
Prompters have the ability to use reference images to help keep an item or character consistent across a range of images. Midjourney allows you to upload a reference image which you can then add a prompt to. After getting a range of poses or angles that are suitable they can then be resubmitted to Midjourney to make your final work(s).
The chances of getting this right with the first prompt are somewhat minimal. However, if you are on the $ 30-a-month package you are able to do unlimited “re-rolls”. There is a large amount of trial and error to this. Sometimes these things just take time.
- Check out our FREE 200 Midjourney Art Styles template.
For example, say your reference image is of a person standing up and you want to re-imagine them flying horizontally. This can be hard to achieve just through the prompt. However, with the help of Photoshop, you can cut out the characters, rotate them, and place them back in the reference image horizontally. This will have a greater chance of achieving what you want in the final images.
Referencing Celebrities
If you are making, for example, a comic book and need multiple images of your character in differing scenarios I found that it was also easier to use a celebrities name. For example :
/imagine prompt: Brad Pitt in a long black trenchcoat standing under a streetlamp in the rain. Comic book style.
/imagine prompt: Brad Pitt in a long black trenchcoat walking past a nightclub, looking in the window. Comic book style.
The more descriptive you can be about the celebrity’s clothing and appearance the more consistent the results will be in your final image.
Removing Unwanted Text
Many images produce unwanted text on otherwise decent images. This can be removed using the “Heal” tool in Photoshop. Not everyone can afford Adobe’s flagship digital art product but fortunately, Gimp which is open source also has a similar facility.
Other Uses for Healing
The healing tool in Photoshop is very versatile and can be used to remove additional legs and arms that animals sometimes are given when Midjourney gets a little bit confused. Unfortunately, this isn’t such a help when people are missing digits – sometimes the best solution is just to re-roll until you get the right results.
Getting that Photorealistic Feel
You would think that adding the word “photorealistic” to a prompt would produce a photo-like quality in it. However, often it does not. The reason is that photorealism is a style of painting. To get what you need it is best to specify a camera. I personally tend to use the words “DSLR photo” to get that lovely depth of field and photograph-like quality. Conduct your own experiments and maybe try some other terms like “Polaroid” too.
Founder’s Edit: With Midjourney V5, most images on MJ now come out photorealistic.
Using Additional Software
To take Midjourney work to the next level you can animate it. This works particularly well on YouTube and Instagram. Making you stand out from the competition.
Using Adobe After Effects built-in 3d scene-building tools you will be able to create the illusion of a dynamic depth of field in animated videos. With the addition of stock footage with alpha channels, you can add effects such as rain, smoke, and mist.
Using software from Voice.ai you can reasonably recreate the voices of a range of celebrities. Here is an example of a Midjournet animation with an AI voiceover:
Images can also be mapped as textures to 3D models using software such as Blender although that is beyond the scope of this article.
The Future
At the moment achieving the results you want requires a combination of technical skills and a degree of compromise. You simply have to work with the images you are given and the scope to modify them is somewhat limited.
Animation and video effects take a long time to create and the overall process is disjointed with no single unified software solution.
However, in the not-too-distant future, we will have unified tools for complete movie creation. No longer will be limited to still frames. ChatGPT will be able to produce full movie scripts. Midjourneys descendants will be able to produce videos of similar quality to Hollywood visual effects studios.
Recent strides in text-to-music AI suggest to me that very very soon most visual and audio-based media will be created by machines. Not by man. We truly do live in exciting times.
Also check out: 16 Use Cases of AI-Generated Art in 2023
Join our newsletter as we build a community of AI and web3 pioneers.
The next 3-5 years is when new industry titans will emerge, and we want you to be one of them.
Benefits include:
- Receive updates on the most significant trends
- Receive crucial insights that will help you stay ahead in the tech world
- The chance to be part of our OG community, which will have exclusive membership perks
FAQs
How do I create an AI image in Midjourney? ›
- Sign up for Discord.
- Sign up for Midjourney, and accept the invitation to the Midjourney Discord channel.
- Go to a #newbies channel, and type /subscribe .
- Pick your Midjourney plan.
- Head back to Discord, and start generating images.
- Be Concise.
- Use a Midjourney Prompt Generator.
- Try out the Creative Tag.
- Stylize Tag.
- Add Negative Keywords.
- Midjourney Multiprompt.
- Add Weighting to Your Prompt.
- Try Out Different Aspect Ratios.
Midjourney generates images from natural language descriptions, called "prompts", similar to OpenAI's DALL-E and Stable Diffusion. A "mechanical dove" created with the latest iteration of Midjourney's algorithm. Midjourney, Inc. The tool is currently in open beta, which it entered on July 12, 2022.
What is the best AI image generator? ›| AI art generator | Price | Output speed |
|---|---|---|
| Bing Image Creator | Free | Fast |
| DALL-E 2 by OpenAI | Free + Credits (depends on sign up date) | Fast |
| Dream by WOMBO | Free + Subscription | Fast |
| Craiyon | Free | Slower |
Craiyon is a popular AI art generator app, formerly called Dall-e mini, which generates images in seconds based on your input prompts in the text box. And it will generate multiple AI images at the same time for you to choose the style you want most.
Are there any free AI art generators? ›starryai is an AI art generator app. You simply enter a text prompt and our AI transforms your words into works of art. AI Art generation is usually a laborious process that requires technical expertise, we make that process simple and intuitive. starryai is available for free on iOS and Android.
Can I sell Midjourney art? ›If you're using Midjourney for free or a trial account, you can use the images for personal use only and must give credit to Midjourney. You aren't allowed to sell the generated images or make money off them. But if you have a paid account, you can use the images however you want, including commercially.
What does Midjourney cost? ›You have probably seen some amazing AI-generated images and are wondering how much does Midjourney cost? Midjourney costs between $10 to $60 per month, depending on which plan you need. There is also a free trial which is good for 25 image generations.
How do you make a good AI art prompt? ›To write a good text-to-image prompt, it's recommended to be clear with the main idea and to define the details and styles you want to replicate. A prompt with at least 3 to 7 words is ideal, as it provides the AI with a clear context, and using multiple adjectives can infuse multiple feelings into the artwork.
What is Midjourney good at? ›Midjourney prompts are helpful in producing quality, realistic-looking images that professionals and business owners can use in their content, website, and landing pages. If you can create and illustrate images, you can build something unique out of it. But everyone is not good at it.
Can you use Midjourney for NSFW? ›
Some well-known AI art generators like Midjourney, stable diffusion and dalle 2 have NSFW content filter. However, there are still some creative ones which generate adult art and images as you wish.
What artists are against Midjourney? ›A group of San Francisco artists, including cartoonist Sarah Andersen and illustrator Karla Ortiz, are taking legal action to reclaim copyright and consent by filing a class-action lawsuit against DreamUp, Midjourney, and Stable Diffusion.
Do I own my images from Midjourney? ›So, you can't copyright your Midjourney images, but do you have any right to your creations? The answer is no, and Midjourney is super clear on this topic in their Terms of Services. As a Midjourney user, you forfeit any exclusive claim on works that you generate on the platform, as well as the works of others.
What is the best realistic AI art generator? ›- GetIMG. GetIMG offers a suite of AI tools that sets it apart from most image generators. ...
- NightCafe. NightCafe is one of the big names in the world of AI art generators. ...
- Shutterstock. ...
- DALL-E 2. ...
- Deep Dream Generator. ...
- Artbreeder. ...
- Stablecog. ...
- DeepAI.
Lensa is the AI photo editing app everyone is using on Instagram!
What AI generator is everyone using on Tiktok? ›The rendered images are created by a software called Lensa which was created by Prisma AI.
Is Midjourney the best AI? ›Midjourney is the most advanced AI image generator that we tested.
What is the limit of Midjourney free trial? ›The Midjourney free trial provides you with 25 free images to generate. In order to create a Midjourney trial, you must create or log into a Discord account. While the free trial consists of 25 images, you actually get 100 images because Midjourney generates jobs in a 4-image grid.
Will Midjourney be free? ›Midjourney stops its free trials due to 'extraordinary abuse' days ago, but there are lots of alternatives to the AI art generator you can consider now. Midjourney AI has recently announced that they are ending free trials for new users.
Do AI art generators make money? ›As for how you can make money from an AI art generator, there are several potential ways: Selling prints or digital copies of AI-generated art online or in galleries. Offering commissions to create AI-generated art for clients. Licensing AI-generated art for use in advertising, design, or other commercial applications.
Can I use AI-generated art as my own? ›
US law states that intellectual property can be copyrighted only if it was the product of human creativity, and the USCO only acknowledges work authored by humans at present. Machines and generative AI algorithms, therefore, cannot be authors, and their outputs are not copyrightable.
Which AI art generator has no restrictions? ›Dream By Wombo
Unlike other AI image generators, Dream By Wombo offers unlimited image creation without any restrictions on its features and without any cost.
Step 2: Use Midjourney to create the art
We can use Midjourney to create stunning graphics that can be sold as Clip Art on Etsy. If you don't know how to use Midjourney, then check out this Midjourney guide.
Is Midjourney worth it? Starting at just $8 per month, Midjourney is a worthy investment whether you just want to mess around with it or create images for your business or personal projects.
Is it legal to sell AI generated art on Etsy? ›Does Etsy Allow Me to Sell AI Art? Currently, you can sell any art or designs created with the assistance of artificial intelligence on the Etsy platform as long as you have the right to use that image.
Can you legally use AI generated images? ›Getty Images Bans AI-Generated Images Due To Copyright Worries. Since companies like OpenAI and StabilityAI began releasing AI-enabled text and image generators in late 2022 and early this year, requests to copyright works with AI have increased dramatically.
How to use Midjourney for free forever? ›Look for a bot (click on the two guys in the top right corner), and click on it with LMB. To make an invitation link that never expires, right-click “Invite people” in the list of text channels, select “Change invitation link,” set the field labeled “Expires in” to “Forever,” and then construct a new link. Done!
How to generate AI images for free? ›- Open Picsart photo editor. In the photo editor find the AI Image Generator tool and enter your text prompt. ...
- Generate AI image. Click the Generate image button to begin the AI image creation process. ...
- Customize image. Customize your image any way you see fit. ...
- Download design.
It's difficult to say whether Midjourney or DALL-E 2 is better, as both are highly skilled models that can produce some impressive results in the field of art and design. Midjourney can be accessed via Discord, whereas DALL-E 2 is only available via OpenAI's website.
How much does Midjourney AI cost? ›| Free Trial | Basic Plan | |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly Subscription Cost | - | $10 |
| Annual Subscription Cost | - | $96 ($8 / month) |
| Fast GPU Time | 0.4 hr/lifetime | 3.3 hr/month |
| Relax GPU Time Per Month | - | - |
How do you become a paid member of Midjourney? ›
- Step 1: Join the Midjourney Discord Server.
- Step 2: Open Midjourney Subscription Page.
- Step 3: Choose a Subscription Plan and Pay.
- Step 4: Confirm Subscription and Create AI Art.
An AI art prompt should contain at least three to seven words and usually follows this structure: (Subject), (Action/Scene), (Mood), (Artist), (Filters). For example: “Tom Cruise, watercolour, in the style of Vincent van Gogh” “Cat sitting on a chair, melancholic, photography, film noir, bokeh”
What is the best prompt for AI generated art? ›- In the Style of a Well-Known Artist. Referencing the masters of art history is a great place to begin if you are stuck for ideas. ...
- Pop Culture Icons. Another extremely fun prompt to try is using a pop culture icon as the subject. ...
- Art Styles. ...
- Portraits. ...
- Fantasy Landscapes.
Go to the Midjourney web page, click “Join Beta,” and join the Midjourney Discord server. Enter one of the newcomer rooms and type /prompt (your prompt here) to generate an image using AI. AI-based image generators like DALL-E 2 have boomed in popularity.
Why is Midjourney so much better than Stable Diffusion? ›Because of the way Midjourney is accessed through Discord and is cloud-based only, it's arguably easier to use and get into than Stable Diffusion, but once both tools are up and running, they are equally easy to use.
What is the difference between Midjourney and DALL-E? ›Midjourney differs from Dall-E 2 when you want to adjust images in variations and upscaling. OpenAI's art generator provides only variations. In Midjourney, you can use suffixes in your prompt to create further variations. Try the Niji mode if you want the image to look more like an anime version.
How do I unlock NSFW Subreddits? ›Select “User Settings” from the dropdown menu. Go to the “Privacy & Security” section. Scroll down to the “NSFW Content” section. Toggle the switch next to “Allow NSFW Content” to turn it on.
Does Midjourney use Stable Diffusion? ›Midjourney's models are limited in comparisons.
They offer v1 to v5 models, plus a few special models like niji, test, testp and HD. There is an additional parameter you can “stylize” the image. But the overall offerings dwarf Stable Diffusion.
- It is limited by the Discord platform, which may not be convenient for everyone.
- It may take some time to get familiar with the commands and keywords.
Artistic ambition
In his 1925 autobiography Mein Kampf, Adolf Hitler described how, in his youth, he wanted to become a professional artist, but his dreams were ruined because he failed the entrance exam of the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna. Hitler was rejected twice by the institute, once in 1907 and again in 1908.
Which artist got expelled from art school? ›
Dalí was expelled from the same art school not just once, but twice. While studying at the Academia de San Fernando, he was accused of inciting a student protest when the painter Daniel Vásquez Díaz was passed over for a professorship and expelled in 1923.
What are the legal issues with Midjourney AI? ›The U.S. Copyright Office has ruled that illustrations in a new comic book that were created with the AI program Midjourney are not protected by copyright law, according to a letter issued by the Copyright Office. News of the decision, first reported by Reuters, comes as internet users become accustomed to a new world ...
Is Midjourney legal? ›Midjourney offers its premium subscribers the freedom to use their generated images commercially for any business purpose, such as for marketing material and cover art. However, it's important to note that free users are not granted permission to use the generated images commercially.
Does AI break copyright? ›AI programs might also infringe copyright by generating outputs that resemble existing works. Under U.S. case law, copyright owners may be able to show that such outputs infringe their copyrights if the AI program both (1) had access to their works and (2) created “substantially similar” outputs.
How do I make an image AI format? ›- Launch Illustrator and choose File > New.
- Choose your document type, like Mobile, Web, Print, or Film & Video.
- Click a document pre-set to select your size.
- Click Create to open a new document.
- Once you've finished creating, save your design as a . AI file type.
Try Fotor AI image generator to create free AI avatar if you have specific ideas even if doesn't exist in reality. Simply enter the text description of your creative avatar images, select the image style and photo number, and you'll have perfect AI avatar photos that matches the prompt in seconds!
Is there a free AI image generator? ›Craiyon (Web, Android)
Craiyon, formerly Dall-e mini, is a powerful and user-friendly AI image generator that offers a wide range of features to create visually stunning images. It uses StyleGAN2 to generate high-quality images that are ideal for social media, websites, and other platforms.
starryai is an AI art generator app. You simply enter a text prompt and our AI transforms your words into works of art. AI Art generation is usually a laborious process that requires technical expertise, we make that process simple and intuitive. starryai is available for free on iOS and Android.
Can you legally use AI-generated images? ›Getty Images Bans AI-Generated Images Due To Copyright Worries. Since companies like OpenAI and StabilityAI began releasing AI-enabled text and image generators in late 2022 and early this year, requests to copyright works with AI have increased dramatically.
How do I turn an image into a vector? ›- Open Adobe Illustrator. ...
- Insert the JPG image you want to convert. ...
- Select a "tracing" workspace. ...
- Select the JPG. ...
- Adjust the color complexity. ...
- Adjust the pixels. ...
- Change settings to adjust the edges. ...
- View your changes.
Can you turn a JPEG into a AI File? ›
Open the file inside Illustrator. Then, using 'File', select 'Export' then select the desired format. Then select 'Save'. Remember that this option allows for editing of the image inside Illustrator as well.
What is the AI profile picture generator? ›The #1 AI Profile Picture Maker and Generator
Your profile picture is the first thing people see when they look at your profile. We use artificial intelligence to generate a pfps of you that looks perfect and captures who you are. You can be anything or anyone! Over 350 styles to choose from.
Create your Profile Pic
So the prompt will be <image url> photo of a man/woman, attributes, styles you can then keep feeding desired variations prompts to Midjourney to create multiple stylised AI images of yourself.
These depictions, called magic avatars, are images made by an app called Lensa. Owned by Prisma Labs, Lensa allows users to upload photos of themselves, pay a fee, and within minutes, download photos of themselves in all kinds of whimsical settings.
What app are people using to make avatars? ›Bitmoji is a popular avatar app that allows users to create their cartoon avatars. You can use Bitmoji on Snapchat, iMessage, and other messaging apps.