The Midjourney team is constantly working on new features that are designed to help users write better prompts more efficiently.
I recently wrote about the amazing describe command in Midjourney, which essentially helps you reverse-engineer an image. Today, I want to focus on an exciting feature that was released this month (April 2023) called permutations.
Permutations are currently only available for subscribers. This is a feature that enables you to quickly create and process multiple prompt variations. Let's talk about why you should be using permutations in Midjourney.
Why Should You Use Midjourney Permutation Prompts?
The most obvious reason you should use permutation prompts would be to reduce the time you spend writing and sending prompts. There is no reason why you should write individual prompts for variations of an image when you can give a single instruction that will generate a batch of images.
But there is a more important reason for using Midjourney permutation prompts - and that's finding the perfect image.
Sometimes, you may start writing a prompt and think about the variations you'd like to make before generating the first image. Perhaps you think of a cool prompt for a summer scene but wonder what it would look like if it was a winter environment. But then you see the first generated image and are so impressed with the result that you disregard any intentions to try out different prompts.
No matter how much I use Midjourney, I'm blown away by the images it generates on a daily basis. I have a habit of just accepting that a certain image is as good as it gets when I really like it even though there would likely be a better result if I were to just tweak my prompt a bit.
Permutations help me realize how important it is to try out different variations. They also make it more fun to pick out that one perfect image. When I look through dozens of images at once, I'm more likely to find one that really stands out.
How to Use Midjourney Permutations
Before I explain how you can use permutation prompts in Midjourney, it's important to highlight a few things. The first is that the maximum number of permutations in a single prompt is 40. In other words, you can generate up to 40 images in one permutation prompt.
Although they'll help you generate a variety of images more quickly, permutation prompts will also consume your purchased GPU minutes faster.
Since permutations allow you to generate multiple sets of images at the same time, you will be able to use this feature in different ways. For instance, you can try out different art styles or movements for the same description. You can also try out different weights or parameters like the stylization value to see which version works best for the result you're trying to achieve.
Now that we got the basics out of the way, I'll discuss how to actually use the permutations feature in Midjourney. You will have to use curly brackets to separate your list of options and create multiple image variations.
An example of a standard prompt in Midjourney looks like this:
/imagine an abstract illustration of a white owl standing on a branch
However, if you use the permutations feature, you can write a prompt like the following:
/imagine an {abstract illustration, photorealistic image} of a {white, brown} owl standing on a branch {--s 125, --s 0}
The permutation prompt above would generate eight different sets of images because it would divide it into eight prompts. Here are the prompts that it packages together in one permutation.
It's important to note that whenever you write a permutation prompt that generates more than five sets of images, the Midjourney bot will ask you whether you are sure you want it to proceed. All you have to do is click the green button to continue.
Once you press the green button, Midjourney will begin generating the images. It will take a bit longer to generate these images than it would for a single ordinary prompt. But if you compare it with eight different normal prompts, one permutation like this will be far more efficient.
I'll now show you the result from the whole permutation prompt, along with the individual prompts.
/imagine an abstract illustration of a white owl standing on a branch --s 125 --v 5
/imagine an abstract illustration of a white owl standing on a branch --s 0 --v 5
/imagine an photorealistic image of a white owl standing on a branch --s 125 --v 5
/imagine an photorealistic image of a white owl standing on a branch --s 0 --v 5
/imagine an abstract illustration of a brown owl standing on a branch --s 125 --v 5
/imagine an abstract illustration of a brown owl standing on a branch --s 0 --v 5
/imagine an photorealistic image of a brown owl standing on a branch --s 125 --v 5
/imagine an photorealistic image of a brown owl standing on a branch --s 0 --v 5
From a single permutation prompt, I was able to generate these eight sets of four images. Note that I gave you a very basic example so that you would understand how this feature works. If you get creative with permutations, you can explore a variety of variations of an image.
Let's say that you wanted to design a superhero using Midjourney and you wanted to explore various superhero suit ideas. You could easily do this with permutation prompts to see how each design would look. Regardless of what you plan to design using Midjourney, you can benefit from using the permutations feature.
Here are two more examples of permutation prompts.
/imagine a comic-book like illustration of a superhero {dog, fox, moose} wearing a {green cape, blue and red superhero suit} flying over a {medieval village, futuristic city, old castle}
This permutation would generate 18 different prompts. It would help you create a variety of scenes quickly that you can later use or build upon. Here are the 18 prompts that would be generated from the permutation.
I'm not going to share the images from these prompts, but you can feel free to try out this permutation for yourself. However, an even better idea would be to come up with a permutation prompt of your own that you can use to test this incredible Midjourney feature.
I'll give you another example of a permutation prompt.
/imagine photorealistic image of a {woman, man} holding a {black umbrella, backpack, walking stick with golden inscriptions}, dressed in a {cyberpunk outfit, thrift store outfit}, located in the middle of a busy city street {--ar 4:3, --ar 16:9} --v 5
This permutation would generate 24 different prompts.
Final Thoughts
It's clear that the team behind Midjourney is focused on building many useful features. In April 2023 they rolled out both the describe command and permutation prompts.
I recommend you use permutations to experiment with different art styles and Midjourney parameters to see which iteration of a prompt would yield the best results. As you can see from the guide I wrote, it's quite easy to start using the permutations feature in Midjourney.
The main thing that you need to remember about permutations is that you should use curly brackets to separate your list of options in a permutation prompt. This feature has its limitations, as it can generate only up to 40 sets of images in a single permutation prompt.
Finally, I want to reiterate that permutations will quickly use up your GPU minutes, so you should use them wisely.
