MidJourney V7 guide - Advanced prompt engineering in Midjourney

(Huge shout out to Israel Ayliffe for the inspo!)

We’ve played around with basic prompts like "an astronaut drinking bubble tea on Mars" — but what happens when you’re ready to level up and unlock next-level control over your visuals in Midjourney? Version 7 introduces some seriously powerful parameters, and I’m breaking them all down here in the nerdiest, most useful way possible.

And yes, I’m sticking with my trusty astronaut theme so you can see the differences clearly. ✨🧑‍🚀

🎯 --ar (Aspect Ratio)

• What it is: Controls the width and height of your image.

• Format: --ar width:height

• Examples:

  • Square: --ar 1:1

  • Portrait: --ar 2:3

  • Widescreen: --ar 16:9

• Where to place: End of your prompt

• Why use it: To make visuals fit specific frame sizes for banners, social posts, posters, etc.

• Prompt: astronaut dancing under disco lights --ar 16:9

• Result:

💫 --s (Stylize)

• What it is: Controls how strongly the AI applies its artistic flair.

• Range: 0–1000 (default is usually 100)

• Lower value: More literal / raw

• Higher value: More artistic

• Prompt: astronaut painting graffiti on the moon --s 750

• Result:

🎨 --c (Chaos)

• What it is: Controls randomness in the output.

• Range: 0–100

• Lower chaos: More consistent results

• Higher chaos: More unexpected variety

• Prompt: astronaut exploring a haunted spaceship --c 85

• Result:

🔍 --q (Quality)

• What it is: Controls rendering time and detail.

• Options: 1, 2, or .25

• Use lower for drafts, higher for finals

• Prompt: astronaut in a futuristic jungle --q .25

• Result:

🧪 --exp (Experimental)

• What it is: Controls the experimental styling or expressiveness of the render.

• What it does: Adjusts how Midjourney interprets creative or less literal aspects of the prompt, particularly in V7.

• Accepted values: Numeric values only (e.g., 0, 1, 2).

  • --exp 0 – Default; turns off experimental styling.

  • --exp 1 – Enables experimental creative interpretations.

  • --exp 2+ – Amplifies experimental features (can produce more abstract or unexpected results).

    Where to put it: At the end of your prompt like all --flags.

• Prompt: astronaut examining alien fossils --exp 10

• Result:

🔁 --seed

• What it is: Controls the randomness of the image by setting a fixed seed number.

• Why it’s useful: Lets you recreate or slightly tweak results with consistent structure. Perfect for when you want to iterate on a layout without starting from scratch every time.

• How it works: MidJourney uses randomness to generate images. A seed number is like a recipe—use the same one, and you’ll get the same “ingredients” and structure.

• Where to put it: Add at the end of your prompt.

• Prompt: astronaut underwater in a bubble dome --seed 12345

• Result:

🖼️ --sref (Style Reference)

• What it is: Lets you reference a specific image’s style (not content).

• How to use: Upload an image and use its URL as a base for your prompt generation

• Prompt: astronaut in a dreamy forest --sref https://displate.com/displate/6507726

• Result:

🧬 --style

• What it is: Adjusts the artistic tone or rendering style of the image.

  What it does in v7: In MidJourney v7, the only supported style is raw. Other styles (accepted in previous versions like 6.1) like cute, scenic, or expressive will result in an error.

  Why it’s useful: --style raw strips away extra stylization and allows for a more literal interpretation of your prompt—great for photo-realism, technical scenes, or consistent outputs.

• Prompt: astronaut walking through a neon-lit forest --style raw

• Result:

🌀 --weird

• What it is: Adds controlled surrealism

• Range: 0–3000 (The higher the number, the weirder it gets)

• Prompt: astronaut playing chess with a llama --weird 1500

• Result:

🧩 --tile

• What it is: Makes the image tileable (for patterns, textures)

• Prompt: astronaut-themed wallpaper pattern --tile

• Result:

🧠 --v (Model Version)

• What it is: Forces a specific model version

• Example: --v 6.1, --v 5.2

• Prompt: astronaut carved from marble --v 7

• Result:

🧠 Curly Brackets {}

• What it is: Allows multiple variations in a single prompt

• Example: astronaut holding a {flower|cupcake|kitten}

• Result(s):

Final thoughts

Once you get familiar with these, prompting becomes part science, part magic. Pair these parameters like a chef crafting a recipe and you’ll get more out of Midjourney than ever before.

Let’s be real: the more you know how to speak Midjourney’s language, the more it listens — and creates 🔥.