30 Best Midjourney Prompts: Visual Guide
30 Best Midjourney Prompts: Visual Guide
Some of the best Midjourney prompts need just a single style modifier.
Midjourney creates sharp, detailed, and coherent images even with very simple prompts. This makes the popular practice of “splatterprompting” from the early days of text-to-image art completely unnecessary.
Every month, I share five new Midjourney prompt ideas. So the list below is constantly growing. Check back every now and then…or subscribe to get weekly posts (including monthly Midjourney prompt examples) in your inbox:
Remember that all of the individual prompt modifiers on this list can be combined in any number of ways to create a unique look. Try to experiment!
EDIT (March 19, 2023): Midjourney V5 is out. Sample images generated after this date are using Version 5. Before this, it’s V4.
EDIT (May 25, 2023): Midjourney V5.1 is out. Sample images generated after this date are using Version 5.1.
Best Midjourney prompts: December 2022
Sample images are Midjourney Version 4.
1. “Exploded [subject] by Nychos”
Nychos is an illustrator and urban artist known for visually striking cross-section and X-ray images, often with gory details. Using the word “exploded” adds a sense of motion.
Sample images:
2. “[Subject] as [subject]”
This prompt asks Midjourney to imagine how things or characters would look like if they were something else. Really fun to experiment with.
Sample images:
3. “[Intangible subject or concept]”
Midjourney can try to draw intangibles like general concepts, emotions, or character traits. Exactly what you get depends on how the model interprets the word. Give it a shot!
Sample images:
4. “[Subject], symmetrical, flat icon design”
This prompt generates a flat, square icon based on your subject. You can use it for your website, app, or just have fun transforming random stuff into slick icons.
Sample images:
5. “[Any emoji or combination of emojis]”
Midjourney is surprisingly good at interpreting emojis, especially obvious things like plants, animals, or objects. Combining multiple emojis in different ways generates awesome, often unexpected images.
Sample images:
Best Midjourney prompts: January 2023
Sample images are Midjourney Version 4.
6. “Knolling [subject or scene]”
“Knolling” is a photography term for overhead shots of items on a flat surface, placed in parallel to each other or at 90-degree angles. Midjourney’s really good at mimicking and applying the “knolling” style to any concept.
Sample images:
7. “16-bit [subject or scene]”
Nostalgic for 1990s point-and-click adventures and other PC games of the era? You’ll enjoy this one! It basically makes everything look as if it was made for a 16-bit graphics card.
Sample images:
8. “[Subject or scene] made out of [material]”
This is great for making anything look as if it’s made out of, well, also anything. Experiment making objects out of whatever you can imagine. See what kind of crazy stuff you can come up with.
Sample images:
9. “Layered paper [subject or scene]”
Perfect for getting a traditional “arts and crafts” look. Midjourney tries to replicate the process of placing different paper shapes on top of each other to create a sort of 3D “layered” look.
Sample images:
10. “Isometric [subject or scene]”
Isometric art is all about making 2D illustrations appear like 3D objects. You’ve undoubtedly seen the instantly recognizable 3D look in many city builders and other computer games. Midjourney lets you turn any scene or object into one of those. It’s magic.
Sample images:
Best Midjourney prompts: February 2023
Sample images are Midjourney Version 4.
11. “[Subject 1], [subject 2], double exposure”
Double exposure is a method that layers two images over one another at different exposure levels and with less than full opacity, so you can see both at the same time. In Midjourney, this works best for portrait + scene combos.
Sample images:
12. “Blacklight [subject or scene]”
Popularized by countless crime scene investigation movies, blacklight emits ultraviolet radiation that makes certain things glow while keeping the rest in the dark. The result is a cool rave-party glowstick effect.
Sample images:
13. “ [Subject or scene] cutaway diagram”
Cutaway diagrams peel layers away from 3D objects to illustrate and explain what’s inside. Midjourney knows how to mimic them well, even though the actual internal content and text are typically gibberish.
Sample images:
14. “[Subject or scene] coloring page”
This Midjourney prompt creates a black-and-white outline of your subject that you can print out and color in. You can add optional modifiers like “2D,” “simple,” “for preschoolers,” etc. depending on the complexity you’re going for.
Sample images:
15. “[Subject or scene] naive art”
Naïve art usually describes stuff produced by someone without formal training. In Midjourney, this mostly results in vibrant, colorful scenes full of childlike wonder. And it’s delightful.
Sample images:
Best Midjourney prompts: March 2023
Photography edition. Sample images are Midjourney Version 5.
16. “[Subject or scene], vintage photo”
“Vintage” is an incredibly broad term, so the results you get usually depend on the subject and the setting. Similarly, the prompt will often change the subject itself to make it era-appropriate (see the smartphone example)
Sample images:
17. “[Subject or scene], tilt-shift”
The tilt-shift lens lets you change its position relative to the camera’s image sensor by tilting or shifting it. This allows for several cool effects. One of these is making the world appear like a miniature model of itself. And that’s exactly what Midjourney does.
Sample images:
18. “[Subject or scene], (super) macro”
This should be familiar to most. A macro lens lets you take detailed close-up shots of things. Super macro takes this a step further and brings you even closer to the subject.
Sample images:
19. “[Subject or scene], satellite photo”
As you’d guess, this places the camera onto an imaginary satellite looking down on the scene or subject below. Works especially great for large landmarks.
Sample images:
20. “[Subject or scene], fisheye lens”
If you’ve ever used a peephole, you already know what this does. Fisheye lenses have an extremely wide field of view, squeezing lots of stuff into a tiny circle. This necessarily creates distortion, with a neat effect.
Sample images:
Best Midjourney prompts: April 2023
Sample images are Midjourney Version 5.
21. “Synthwave [subject]”
Synthwave is a sub-genre of electronic music inspired largely by the 80s’ film and video game culture. It’s closely associated with instantly recognizable visual elements like neon colors, simple geometric shapes, and dark backgrounds. Now you can inject that vibe directly into your images.
Sample images:
22. “Needlepoint [subject]”
Needlepoint is all about stitching patterns into a rigid canvas with rows of openings spaced at regular intervals. It’s a bit like painting a picture pixel by pixel. Midjourney mimics this look with whatever subject you choose.
Sample images:
23. “Ukiyo-e [subject]”
Ukiyo-e (“pictures of the floating world”) had its heyday in Japan from the 17th to the 19th century. Ukiyo-e artists depicted scenes of everyday life and nature in a distinct, cartoonish style. In Midjourney, the modifier is powerful enough to generate that traditional Japanese aesthetic without any additional descriptors.
Sample images:
24. “[Subject], caricature”
You know what a caricature is. Exaggerated features. Funny expressions. Cartoonish depictions mocking your mortal enemy. The lot. This modifier should mostly be used for people, creatures, and characters. You can try applying it to inanimate objects, but Midjourney might just give them a face instead.
Sample images:
25. “Monochrome [subject], [color]”
Monochrome images rely on just one dominant color. Using “monochrome” combined with your color of choice is how you create that effect in Midjourney. Cool for branding purposes or just seeing if you can turn tomatoes purple and cucumbers red. It’s your life.
Sample images:
Best Midjourney prompts: May 2023
This edition has wacky terms with a strong effect. Sample images are Midjourney V5.1.
26. “Creepypasta [subject]”
Creepypasta is the online equivalent of spooky stories told around a campfire. Using just this single modifier in your Midjourney prompt is powerful enough to horror up the entire scene. Really fun for setting an eerie mood.
Sample images:
27. “Maximalist [subject]”
Maximalism, as the name would suggest, is a counter-minimalist movement. In art, it’s usually associated with an excess of decorative details, eclectic colors, etc. The way Midjourney treats this prompt is by cramming as many related items into your image as it can get away with. Realistic? Nope. Fun? You bet!
Sample images:
28. “Kurzgesagt [subject]”
Kurzgesagt – In a Nutshell is one of my all-time favorite YouTube channels. They do science-based deep dives into all sorts of topics and are known for their unique visual style. With this prompt, Midjourney mimics the style impressively well and can kurzgesagtify any scene of your choosing.
Sample images:
29. “Kaleidoscopic [subject]”
I find kaleidoscopes quite fascinating. They’re just simple plastic tubes with mirrors and a bunch of cheap colored materials inside, yet the resulting patterns are always fresh, vibrant, and mesmerizing. Midjourney runs your subjects through a virtual kaleidoscope, with awesome results.
Sample images:
30. “Discombobulate [subject]”
Despite sounding like a knock-off Harry Potter spell, “discombobulate” is a legit term. It means to disorient or cause confusion. In Midjourney, this prompt adds all sorts of over-the-top, surreal details to your subject, giving it a Dr. Seussian feel. (See Shane McGeehan’s advanced tips for using it with stronger prompt weights.)
Sample images:
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