Step 1: Selecting a Prompt Template

The possibilities for structuring a Midjourney prompt are virtually limitless. Depending on your specific needs, you can adapt the templates I've shared or come up with your own.

It’s essential to find a format that ChatGPT can effectively utilize. For this tutorial, we will refer to:

If you're interested in exploring various prompting strategies and their structures, I recommend checking out this article.

Step 2: Crafting a ChatGPT Prompt

(If you're not familiar with how to prompt ChatGPT, no problem; you can catch up here, here, and here.)

Initially, we’ll create a prompt that allows ChatGPT to refine our ideas and generate image prompts accordingly. Keep in mind, this is a fundamental approach. Once you grasp the concept, feel free to explore your own creative applications.

An effective ChatGPT prompt comprises two key components: - an instruction - context

Let’s begin with the context. To start, we’ll describe the prefix, scene, and suffix based on the prompt structure mentioned earlier:

This is the fundamental prompt anatomy for image generation with Midjourney:

/imagine prompt: PREFIX, SCENE, SUFFIX

PREFIX specifies the medium and style of the image. SCENE outlines the content. SUFFIX modifies both PREFIX and SCENE.

In the subsequent step, we will merge this context with an instruction detailing what ChatGPT should do with the information:

This is the basic prompt anatomy for image generation with Midjourney:

/imagine prompt: PREFIX, SCENE, SUFFIX

PREFIX specifies the image's medium and style. SCENE outlines the content. SUFFIX modifies both PREFIX and SCENE.

Create 10 prompts that illustrate the theme "father-son relationship."

(Note: We use “###” to distinguish the context from the instruction, facilitating model comprehension.)

In response, ChatGPT will generate something like this:

1. /imagine prompt: Vintage sepia photograph, A father teaching his son how to ride a bicycle in a park, With a sense of warmth and nostalgia.
2. /imagine prompt: Renaissance oil painting, A king passing his crown to his son in a lavish throne room, With an atmosphere of grandeur and responsibility.
3. /imagine prompt: Animated family movie style, A dad and son building a rocket ship in their backyard, Infused with a sense of adventure and bonding.
4. /imagine prompt: Watercolor sketch, A father and son fishing on a quiet lake as the sun sets, With a serene and tranquil atmosphere.
5. /imagine prompt: Comic book art, A superhero father with his sidekick son saving the day, With dynamic action and a sense of camaraderie.
6. /imagine prompt: Traditional Japanese Ukiyo-e style, A samurai father and his young son practicing martial arts under a cherry blossom tree, With a sense of discipline and tradition.
7. /imagine prompt: 90s sitcom illustration, A dad and son laughing together while attempting to fix a car in a garage, With a vibe of humor and togetherness.
8. /imagine prompt: Modern abstract art, An interpretation of the emotional bond between a father and son, With swirling colors conveying deep connection and love.
9. /imagine prompt: Children’s book illustration, A boy on his father’s shoulders, looking up at the stars, With a sense of wonder and shared curiosity.
10. /imagine prompt: Sci-fi concept art, A father and son in futuristic gear exploring an alien planet, With a sense of discovery and shared adventure.

Now, you can simply copy and paste these prompts into Midjourney. Here are some results:

Step 3: Exploring Ideas

Notice how a single prompt can easily lead to the exploration of ideas and combinations of styles and themes?

Here’s an example of how to take this further with a follow-up prompt:

Keep the theme, set prefix to "modern abstract art," scene should contain metaphors (without explanations), use suffix to implement lens and camera types. List 5 prompts.

Results:

/imagine prompt: Modern abstract art, An anchor and a soaring kite entwined, With a fisheye lens capturing the circular interplay of stability and freedom.

/imagine prompt: Modern abstract art, A torch casting shadows of successive taller figures, With a tilt-shift lens emphasizing the central flame as the source of growth.

/imagine prompt: Modern abstract art, Rivers of color weaving from a storm to a calm sea, With a wide-angle lens to envelop the viewer in the journey.

/imagine prompt: Modern abstract art, A lighthouse beam morphing into a tapestry of music notes, With a telephoto lens bringing focus to the distant harmony.

/imagine prompt: Modern abstract art, Clock gears turning into an unfolding map, With a macro lens capturing the intricacies of time and adventure's intertwinement.

Step 4 (Optional): Optimizing ChatGPT Output for Batch Processing

You might find copying and pasting one prompt after another from ChatGPT into Midjourney tedious. In this case, consider utilizing Midjourney’s permutation feature. Here are two approaches:

Option A: Prompt Permutation

You can adjust your initial prompt to employ permutations by explaining the syntax to ChatGPT as follows:

You can group variations in comma-separated lists like this:

{PREFIX 1, PREFIX 2, PREFIX 3} or {SCENE 1, SCENE 2} or {SUFFIX 1, SUFFIX 2} Important: when using variations, each item in the list must be a single word or a phrase without commas (otherwise we'd break the syntax).

The new prompt will then look like this:

This is the basic prompt anatomy for image generation with Midjourney:

/imagine prompt: PREFIX, SCENE, SUFFIX

PREFIX specifies the image's medium and style. SCENE outlines the content. SUFFIX modifies both PREFIX and SCENE.

You can group variations in comma-separated lists like this:

{PREFIX 1, PREFIX 2, PREFIX 3} or {SCENE 1, SCENE 2} or {SUFFIX 1, SUFFIX 2}

Important: when using variations, each item in the list must be a single word or a phrase without commas (otherwise we'd break the syntax).

Create a prompt that illustrates the theme "father-son relationship." Use 2 variations for prefix and 3 variations for suffix.

ChatGPT will respond with ready-to-use permutation prompts like this:

/imagine prompt: {oil painting, watercolor}, a father teaching his son how to ride a bike in a park, {with a touch of nostalgia, under a warm sunset, captured in a moment of laughter}.

If you copy and paste this prompt into Midjourney and confirm it...

... all possible combinations will be automatically generated:

oil painting, a father teaching his son how to ride a bike in a park, with a touch of nostalgia oil painting, a father teaching his son how to ride a bike in a park, under a warm sunset oil painting, a father teaching his son how to ride a bike in a park, captured in a moment of laughter watercolor, a father teaching his son how to ride a bike in a park, with a touch of nostalgia watercolor, a father teaching his son how to ride a bike in a park, under a warm sunset watercolor, a father teaching his son how to ride a bike in a park, captured in a moment of laughter

Option B: Iterating Over Different Prompt Types

Alternatively, you can take a different approach. I suggest reading through this article to familiarize yourself with common prompt techniques. At the end, you’ll find an example prompt that iterates over various Midjourney prompt types: