Introduction

Hello!

This article is aboutAIImage generation serviceMidjourneyis about.
imageThis service, which is attracting a lot of attention among the generation services, will be explained from the outline to the specifics.I summarized how to use it and how to use it.

What is Midjourney

An AI image generation service that can generate images from typed text. The text can be words or sentences. By entering the image of the picture you want to draw and keywords, you can create an image according to that image.

Midjourney is a service developed by a research team founded by David Holtz. He is the founder of LeapMotion and a former NASA researcher.
LeapMotion, which he founded, is a hardware venture company that sells and develops a device called "hand tracking" that recognizes human movements with an infrared sensor. It was founded in 2010 and was acquired by a British company in 2019.

It seems that Midjourney has been developing a closed beta version for some time, but on July 13, 2022, an open beta version was announced to move to release. Since then, various images generated using Midjourney have been shared on SNS such as Twitter, and have been attracting attention.

The beauty of Midjourney is that it's easy to use and anyone can use it, yet it's possible to create art that's as good as human-made art.
A picture drawn using Midjourney has already won an art contest, and an illustration collection containing pictures generated by multiple AI image generation services has been released. has a great impact on the people of

I think it is attracting a lot of attention because more people have realized the reality that “AI will drive out human painters”.

Usage

To start Midjourney, you first need to register an account with "Disocord".

1.What is Discord?

It is one of the communication tools developed in the United States, and like LINE and Skype, you can post text and voice. If you register an account, you can basically use it for free.

2. How to register on Discord

*If you already have a Discord account, just log in.

<Those who do not have an account>
*For the web version
① Access the official Discord site (https://discord.com/).
② Click the "Login" button on the upper right of the page.
③ Click "Register" on the right side of "Do you need an account?" at the bottom of the page.
④ After transitioning to the account creation page, enter the necessary information.
⑤ Click the check Box of "I am human" and log in.
⑥ Log in to Discord.
*Information pages such as "Create your first Discord server" and "Tell us a little more about your server" will appear, but you can skip them for now.
⑦ After logging in to the Discord page, when you receive the verification email again at the registered mail address, click the verification button.
You have now created your Discord account.

3. How to log in to Midjourney

Next, I will explain how to log in to Midjourney.

① Access the Midjourney official website (https://www.midjourney.com/home/).
② Click "Join the Beta" at the bottom right of the TOP page.
③ After transitioning to the page that says "You have been invited to Midjourney", enter your user name and click "Yes".
④ If you move to the Midjourney page on Discord, it will be a success.

4. Image generation method

Next is how to access the location to actually generate the image.

①In the list on the left, enter the Midjourney chat room called "newbibes-●● (●● is a number)". There are multiple rooms, but it doesn't matter where you enter.
②If you enter "/imagine" in the input field at the bottom center of the chat room screen, "imagineprompt" will be displayed at the top, so click it.
③ Enter the image you want to make into an image in text (English) in the part following "prompt". Press Enter when you are done typing. This time, I tried issuing an instruction "AI system-like image". What will be produced? After a while, an image will be generated on the chat as shown below.

An illustration with a cool game feeling was generated.

5. Image quality improvement

Below the generated image, the following 9 buttons are displayed.
・U1
・U2
・U3
・U4
・V1
・V2
・V3
・V4
・⇆
You can use these buttons to improve the quality.

<Meaning of buttons>
・U1 to U4: Increase the resolution of the picture with the specified number
・V1 to V4: Generate 4 pieces with a design similar to the picture with the specified number
・Refresh button: Recreate 4 new pictures again

6. Tips for generating images that are more like what you imagined

Midjourney can generate an image from a single word, but in order to generate an image that is more like your own image, you need to enter keywords that are easy for AI to understand.
Specifically, it is a keyword that refers to the following content.
Example) ・Types of pictures and images
・ About the tone of the picture
・About the painting style... etc.

In addition, if you use keywords that refer to the above content and input it in easier-to-understand sentences, you can generate more accurate images.

7.How to use

<SNS share>
The saved image can be uploaded on SNS. There is no share button for SNS on Midjourney, but there is no problem to share the generated image on SNS.

<What if you want to use a trademark?> ＞
If you want to use a trademark, you must subscribe to one of the paid plans below. There are three plans, but companies with more than $1 million in annual gross revenue should purchase the ProPlan.
(1)BasicPlan ($10/month)
(2) StandardPlan ($30/month)
(3) ProPlan ($60/month)

<Differences by plan>
There are a number of differences between the free and paid plans, but here are two of the most important:

[Number of image generation system]
The free plan has a limit on the number of image generations, up to 25 times per account. Paid plans, on the other hand, have no limit on the number of generations.

[Location of image generation]
In the free plan, image generation is performed on an open chat called "newbibes-●●". On the other hand, paid plans can generate images in DM (closed space).

*The above information is based on the terms of use of the Midjourney official website as of March 15, 2023. The rules are updated from time to time, so please check the official website for the latest information.

About the latest version "V5"

On March 16, 2023, the alpha version of "Midjourney V5" was released. After the prompt, you can enable it by typing "--v5" or selecting "V5" from /setting.

The contents of the new functions are described as follows.

●Improve responsiveness to prompts
Higher image quality (2x higher resolution)
●Even if you reduce the amount of text, you can create more detailed images (increase the possibility of outputting correct images)
● Supports wide images of 2:1 or more

In addition, V5 is basically applied to the "pro" plan. The V5 has more versatile outputs than its predecessors, the V3 and V4, and has been tuned to respond more accurately to input.

However, it may not work well for extremely short sentences, and it is noted that ``try to write longer and clearer sentences about what you want to do''.

Since this is an alpha version, the specifications are subject to change in the future. It also states that "we plan to make major changes when V5 is officially released."

Summary

This time, we have summarized the overview, specific usage, and points to note about the image generation service “Midjourney”, which has been a hot topic recently.
Among the many image generation services, the feature of being relatively easy to use will be a factor that will have a greater impact on the world in the future.

We cannot ignore copyright issues and the impact it has on the work of creators, and it is likely that various discussions will occur, but I hope that this wonderful technology will be used effectively.