Midjourney – the popular AI image generation tool – has been in beta since its launch, which was only available for image generation from the Discord server.

How to Use Midjourney to Create AI Art
Unlock your inner artist with Midjourney
All Things HowSakshi Garg

But things are finally pacing up for the AI art creation tool. The company has started to move ahead of the Discord server. Midjourney is now testing an alpha version of its website, which will allow image generation directly from the web without requiring you to jump the hoops and go to the Discord server. So, if you've always hated going to Discord to generate images using this amazing tool, you're in for a treat.

However, there's a catch. (When isn't there a catch?) The alpha version of the website is currently only accessible to users who have generated more than 10,000 images in Midjourney.

Using Midjourney Alpha

The web app offers a radically different experience for using Midjourney, which is easier to use than the Discord server. No one could deny that Discord did complicate and confuse things a bit for many users.

  1. Before trying the website, you can check your stats by going to the Midjourney Discord server and using the /info command in the message bar.
  1. You'll get the stats for your account, including the total number of images you've generated.
  1. If you have generated more than 10,000 images, go to alpha.midjourney.com, and you should have access. The website is similar to the beta website, except for the fact that there is a prompt bar now for image creation.

Generate an Image

  1. To create an image, go to the 'imagine' bar and type in your prompt.
  1. You'll notice that, unlike Discord, you don't need to type '/imagine' to fire up your prompts.
  1. By default, you'll be on the 'Explore' page. But when an image is being created, the 'Create' tab will have a little indicator next to it. Click on it to see your images.
  1. Just like Discord, you'll get a set of 4 images for your prompt. By default, it generates images in the 9:16 ratio.
  1. Click on an image to open it, and you'll get the additional options in the bottom right corner.

    These options include 'Reroll', 'Vary Strong', Upscale, and More options (Panning and Zooming). With Vary Strong, there's no option for varying the region, which means you won't be able to inpaint on the website yet.

    There are also two more options: 'Use Prompt', and 'Use Image'. Use Prompt loads your prompt into the prompt bar so you can easily make any changes to it. Use Image loads the image into the prompt bar so you can use it as a reference.

Changing the Parameters

Parameters are one of the most loved features of Midjourney. And, of course, you can use them on the alpha version, too. But the process is different than Discord.

  1. To change the parameters, click the 'Slider' button on the right of the prompt bar.
  1. In the expanding menu, you'll find options for changing the image size, aesthetics, and model with sliders to change the parameters.
  2. You can change the size of the generated image. There are three presets for aspect ratio: Portrait, Landscape, and Square. You can choose other orientations by dragging the slider.
  1. Next, under aesthetics, you'll find options for 'Stylization' (--stylize), 'Weirdness' (--weird), and 'Variety' (--chaos). You can drag the slider to set them to a desired value.
  1. In the Model section, you can switch between 'Standard' and 'Raw' modes, change the Midjourney version, as well as choose the model speed.
  1. You can also use parameters directly by adding them to the prompt, just like in Discord.

Using Describe Command

You can also use the Describe command on the Midjourney Alpha website, even if it's not evident right away, as it's gotten a little overhaul.

  1. First, click on the '+' button on the left of the prompt bar.
  1. Then, choose an image or drag and drop it into the space provided.
  1. Wait for it to upload. Once it uploads, go to the image thumbnail and hover over it.
  1. An 'i' button will appear. Click on it, and you'll get the description of the image just like the 'Describe' command.
  1. You can click on any of the tags from the description, and they'll appear in the prompt bar.

With the Midjourney Alpha website being launched, Midjourney is finally becoming an AI art tool in its own right where users won't have to rely on Discord to generate images. However, it's still going to take some time before all the features become available on the web app itself.