Midjourney

Midjourney is the gold standard for AI image generation. The images it produces are stunning: photorealistic, artistic, detailed, and consistent in quality in a way that other image generators cannot match. For businesses that need high-quality visuals without a photography budget, it is transformative.

How it works

Midjourney currently works primarily through Discord. You join the Midjourney server (or create a private server and add the Midjourney bot), type a text description of the image you want, and within about a minute you receive four image options.

You can then choose the best one, create variations, or upscale it to a higher resolution. The whole process takes a few minutes per image.

What to use it for

Social media visuals: Background images, lifestyle shots, seasonal content, anything that complements your text without requiring a photoshoot.

Marketing materials: Hero images for email newsletters, banner images for campaigns, visuals for ads.

Product concepts: If you are designing something, Midjourney can generate photorealistic visualisations of concepts before they exist.

Branding exploration: Generate options for brand imagery, colour palette exploration, and visual style direction.

Getting good results

The quality of the output depends heavily on the description you provide. A vague prompt gives a vague result. A specific, detailed prompt gives something remarkable.

Example of a strong prompt: "A professional photograph of a modern commercial kitchen in a London restaurant, stainless steel surfaces, warm overhead lighting, chef preparing food in the background, bokeh depth of field, editorial food photography style, 4k"

The more you describe: subject, style, lighting, mood, camera style, the closer the result will be to what you had in mind.

The honest limitation

Midjourney requires Discord, which adds a step for people unfamiliar with it. A web interface is available for subscribers but Discord remains the primary workflow. It is not free: plans start at $10/month.

If you just need occasional images and want something simpler, ChatGPT Plus has DALL-E built in. But for image quality, Midjourney is in a different league.

How to get set up

1. You will need a Discord account first. If you do not have one, go to discord.com and sign up free.
2. Go to midjourney.com and click Sign In, then connect your Discord account
3. Subscribe to a plan (from $10 per month) and you will be taken into the Midjourney workspace
4. Click New Image and type a description of what you want, for example: "A professional photo of a cosy coffee shop interior, warm lighting, busy but welcoming"

Time to get started: About 10 minutes Do you need a credit card? Yes — paid plans from $10/month, no free tier