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How to use the new Midjourney /describe command.

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Just when you thought AI, and Midjourney in particular, couldn’t get any more mind blowing, they turn around and deliver another tool to fuel your creative journey.

How do you use the /describe command feature?

I was excited to see the introduction of this new command. I will be using an image that Midjourney created from my own prompt. Then, I will use the new /describe command feature to see what results it will return.

Here are the THREE easy steps to get you going.

Step 1

First you will need access to Midjourney. There’s a fantastic Midjourney Bot you can connect with Discord too.

Learn How To Connect the Midjourney Bot to your Discord account here.

Once you have that set up you can chat directly with the Midjourney Bot via Direct Message which is awesome.

You can learn about the free and paid options available to you, by visiting the Midjourney Website.

Step 2

Next up, find an image. This can be anything from photos stored on your computer, images already generated by Midjourney, or your AI of choice and anything in between.

Here’s the image I used to demonstrate the new Midjourney /describe command.

Image created using Midjourney
How I asked Midjourney to create the original image – it even ignored my typo. Clever Bot!

What a cute design. I generated this image using Midjourney but I’m struggling to describe what I’m looking at. Well, that’s not strictly true. I did provide Midjourney with the prompt to create this image. However, I’m now interested to see how the Midjourney Bot will /describe this image back to me. It did create it after all, so it should know right?

Step 3

the Midjourney /describe command

Add the /describe command to the text field and use the image URL of the image you want to use in the prompt box.

add an image for Midjourney to /describe

Attach an image file by dragging and dropping it inside the box or clicking to upload a file from your computer. When you’ve found the perfect image, hit enter and wait to see the results.

After a few seconds, here are the four prompt descriptions Midjourney provided after analyzing the image.

Midjourney’s prompts using the new /describe feature

Click on any of the numbers to generate a brand new image based on the prompts it made from the image provided.

Let’s go crazy and see what the new results are from all of these prompts.

At this point you can also change the aspect ratio or add any other details before hitting Submit. The new pop-up safety reminder and asking you to confirm you want to Imagine This!

Click Submit and wait for the magic to happen. Here’s what Midjourney delivered.

Prompt 1

Prompt 1 – Color Monsters and Stars

Prompt 2

Prompt 2 – Color Monsters and Stars

Prompt 3

Prompt 3 – Color Monsters and Starsure

Prompt 4

Prompt 4 – Color Monsters and Stars

Result

Whoosh…I now have 16 new images! Looking at the prompts Midjourney returned, I see new interesting words, artist names, and descriptions. Learning how Midjourney sees images this way will help improve our own vocabulary to better communicate with our AI friends.

A few words in the prompts stood out to me…I want to find out more!

What, for example, is a bunnycore? or furaffinity? an angura kei?

Midjourney also picked up on the styles of various Artists in the original image.
Julio Shimamoto, Victor Nizovtsev, Ryan Stegman, James Jean, and Alena Aenami.

Find out more about their styles and work by clicking on the names above.

  • Do you see any of the artist’s styles reflected in the original image?
  • Which is your favorite remix of the original image or do you prefer the starting image?
  • Do you find Midjourney’s new /describe feature helpful in learning how to feed better prompts to the AI, to achieve the results you are looking for?

Let me know your thoughts in the comments below.

I know…you need to know!

According to urbandictionary.com here are the definitions of those interesting prompts:

bunnycore – this is a quite rare aesthetic that is centered around bunnies, obviously. The visuals include bunnies, vegetable gardens (or gardens in general)

furaffinity or Fur Affinity – a art community of furry artists.

angura-kei – a movement who influenced many manga artists

You can learn more about using images and prompt commands in my article:
How do you use an image as part of a prompt in Midjourney?

How to use Midjourney to get the same Character image again?

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Over the last few articles, we’ve created some awesome-looking characters. We have given them each a backstory and from those stories created further photos of them living that text.

Our five characters were created using ChatGPT and Midjourney. You can check out how we arrived at this stage here.

Let’s take a deeper look at two of the Characters ChatGPT created and the images that Midjourney brought to life, Scarlett Chang, Interpol Agent and Aiden Black, Former Navy Seal.

Scarlett Chang

ChatGpt gave Scarlett Chang the following backstory.

I pulled information from this section of the ChatGPT backstory
for Midjourney to focus on Scarlett’s martial art skills.

Scarlett now operates outside the law, using her martial artist and acrobat skills to take down criminals and unravel the conspiracy that cost her so much. Though haunted by her tragic past, Scarlett’s fierce determination and unbreakable will make her a formidable opponent to anyone who crosses her.
Scarlett Chang grew up in a wealthy family in Hong Kong, but her idyllic childhood was shattered when her parents were brutally murdered by a group of international criminals. Scarred by the tragedy, Scarlett dedicated her life to fighting crime and seeking justice.
After graduating from university with top honors, Scarlett joined Interpol, determined to use her skills and resources to bring down the very criminals responsible for her parent’s deaths. She quickly rose through the ranks, becoming a respected agent known for her bravery and resourcefulness.

However, Scarlett’s obsession with revenge often put her at odds with her colleagues, who saw her as reckless and unpredictable. After a botched mission nearly resulted in the death of her partner, Scarlett was given a final warning and sent on a mission to track down a notorious criminal organization.

But when Scarlett’s investigation uncovered a shocking conspiracy involving her own agency, she found herself at a crossroads. Faced with a choice between her loyalty to Interpol and her personal quest for justice, Scarlett made the difficult decision to go rogue and take matters into her own hands.

Now, Scarlett operates outside the law, using her skills as a martial artist and acrobat to take down criminals and unravel the conspiracy that cost her so much. Though haunted by her tragic past, Scarlett’s fierce determination and unbreakable will make her a formidable opponent to anyone who crosses her.

The original photo, from a selection of four that Midjourney generated, looked like this:

Scarlett Chang

ChatGPT made short work of providing a backstory for Aiden Black.

I pulled information from this section of the ChatGPT backstory
for Midjourney to focus on Aiden’s military family.

Aiden Black grew up in a military family, with both his father and grandfather serving in the Navy. From a young age, he knew he wanted to follow in their footsteps and become a Navy SEAL. After years of intense training, Aiden achieved his dream and joined the elite special forces unit.
Aiden Black grew up in a military family, with both his father and grandfather serving in the Navy. From a young age, he knew he wanted to follow in their footsteps and become a Navy SEAL. After years of intense training, Aiden achieved his dream and joined the elite special forces unit.

During his time in the SEALs, Aiden formed close bonds with his fellow soldiers, considering them to be his family. But one mission changed everything. Aiden and his team were sent to extract a high-value target from a terrorist compound, but the operation went wrong. Several of Aiden’s teammates were killed, and Aiden was injured and forced to flee.

After recovering from his injuries, Aiden learned that the mission had been compromised by corrupt government officials, who had leaked the team’s location to the terrorists. Consumed by rage and a desire for vengeance, Aiden left the military and embarked on a personal mission to track down the officials responsible and bring them to justice.

Now, Aiden is a lone wolf, using his skills as a highly-trained soldier to take on dangerous missions and bring down those who threaten the safety of others. Though his past has left him brooding and distant, Aiden’s loyalty to his fallen comrades and dedication to his cause make him a force to be reckoned with.

The original photo generated by Midjourney of the Character, Aiden Black. Again, it was one of four choices.

Aiden Black

If you’ve used Midjourney before you will know that it will generate completely new characters even if you feed the same information into your request.

As I wanted to create further photos of our Character’s lives from the backstory ChatGPT had provided, I needed Midjourney to use the same facial features and bodies of our original Characters.

Let’s check out how to do that next.

How do you use an image as part of a prompt in Midjourney?

There are THREE ways to use an image as part of a prompt.

Option 1

You can use an image that you have on your computer and upload it into your private direct messages that you are having with your friendly Midjourney Bot on Discord.

Next select Upload a File, and find your image. Send the message.

To add this image to a prompt, type /imagine in the usual way.

After the prompt box appears, drag the image file into the prompt box to add the image’s URL.

Alternatively, right-click the image, select Copy Link, and then paste the link inside the prompt box.

Option 2

After typing /imagine, find the image you want to use online and type or paste the URL inside the prompt box. Note, Midjourney will only accept links to those addresses that end in .png, .gif or .jpg

After adding the image address, you can then add any additional text or parameters to complete the prompt request.

Option 3

Once you have selected the image you would like to use

Click on the upscaled version of the image. In the bottom left hand side
there is an option to open the image in the Browser.

Click on the upscaled version within Midjourney. You will see an option to Open the Image inside a Browser window. From there you can copy the URL and follow the same instructions in Option 2 above.

For my Character images, I used Option 3. Once I added the URL, I grabbed a section of the backstory for each of my 5 Characters and Midjourney did the rest. Here are the results:

Aiden Black came from a military family background
Scarlett Chang Skilled in Martial Arts
Aiden Black and Scarlett Chang’s Backstory Images

Give it a go and see what characters, backstories, and photo album history you can come up with for your new Characters.

Have you tried creating different Characters using Midjourney? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below.

Freedom’s Price

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It was a dimly lit room with walls that seemed to go up endlessly. The only sounds were the soft hum of machinery and the occasional rustle of paper. Inside a small cage sat a brown rat, its beady eyes darting around the room, searching for a way out.

This was not the first time the rat had found itself trapped in such a situation. It had been bred in a laboratory, where it was used for experiments and tested with various chemicals. It had seen its fellow rats die, either from the experiments or from neglect.

But this rat was different. It was smarter than the others. It had observed the humans and their routines, and it had learned. It knew how to open the cage door and escape, but it also knew that the real challenge was not escaping the cage but escaping the laboratory.

One day, the rat decided it was time to make its move. The humans had left the room, and the rat had a small window of opportunity. It quickly opened the cage door and scurried out, making its way through the maze of corridors and rooms.

As the rat ventured deeper into the laboratory, it encountered obstacles at every turn. There were security cameras and locked doors, and the rat had to use all of its wits to evade detection. It knew that if it was caught, it would be taken back to its cage, or worse, subjected to more experiments.

But the rat was determined to escape. It had tasted freedom, and it knew it was worth any risk. It scurried through vents, crawled under desks, and dodged the scientists who roamed the halls.

After what seemed like an eternity, the rat finally reached the exit. It pushed open the door and saw the outside world for the first time. The sun was shining, the grass was green, and the air was fresh. The rat felt a surge of excitement and joy.

But the rat’s joy was short-lived. It soon realized that the outside world was not as welcoming as it had imagined. There were predators lurking around every corner, and food and shelter were hard to come by.

The rat’s instinct for survival kicked in, and it started to search for a safe place to hide. It found a small hole in the ground and crawled inside. There, it huddled, alone and afraid.

Days turned into weeks, and the rat grew weaker and weaker. It had not found enough food, and its body was starting to fail. It wondered if freedom was worth the price it had paid.

Just as the rat was about to give up, it heard a rustling outside its hole. It poked its head out and saw a group of rats, just like itself, scavenging for food. They welcomed the rat with open arms, and soon it found itself part of a community.

The community was not perfect. There were fights over food and territory, and some of the rats were aggressive and mean. But the rat felt a sense of belonging that it had never felt before. It realized that freedom was not just about escaping captivity, but about finding a place where it could be itself.

As time passed, the rat became an integral part of the community. It had proven its worth by finding new sources of food and helping to defend the community against predators.

But even though the rat had found a sense of belonging, it never forgot the horrors of the laboratory. It knew that there were still other rats trapped inside, suffering through the same experiments that it had endured.

One day, the rat decided to take action. It gathered a group of brave rats and led them on a daring mission to free their fellow rats from the laboratory.

It was a risky move, and they encountered many obstacles along the way. But the rat was determined to succeed, and its courage and determination inspired the other rats to keep going.

Finally, they reached the laboratory, and the rat used its knowledge of the facility to guide them to the cages where the other rats were held. With skill and determination, they freed the trapped rats and led them to safety.

As they emerged from the laboratory, the rat looked around at its fellow rats, all of them now free. It felt a sense of pride and accomplishment, knowing that it had played a key role in their liberation.

From that day on, the rat was known as a hero among the community. Its courage and determination had not only led to its own freedom but had also given hope to others who were still trapped in captivity.

Epilogue

The rat lived the rest of its life in the community, content and happy. It knew that it had paid a high price for its freedom, but it also knew that it had found something that was worth even more: a sense of belonging and purpose. It had learned that freedom was not just about physical escape but about finding a place where it could truly be free.

As the rat watched the sun set over the horizon, it knew that it had truly found its place in the world. It had discovered that freedom was not just about personal escape but about helping others to find their own path to freedom as well. And it had done so, at great personal risk and cost, but with a heart full of hope and love.