business-ecomm_clubhouse/_subsections/02-source_and_choose/S02|L12 - midjourney pt3 - make ai image with reference prompts.org

#+title: S02|L12 - midjourney pt3 - make ai image with reference prompts
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* Links
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- [[../../toc.org][TOC - ecomm clubhouse]]
- [[https://jellyfin.ronnyabraham.com/web/index.html#/details?id=44219ee1aad759c73033d0af72f346b4&serverId=99488804638e465693eed17924c57b60][video]]

* Notes
- you want to create a lot of images to create a lot of takes

** midjourney discord
*** import
- upload image into the chat
- click on it
- right click on popup
- get image address

*** using
- paste the address into prompt /imagine
- then add the rest of the prompt
- midjourney will use the image as a reference guide

** image weight
- ~-iw [0-3]~
- specifies that the reference is to be maximized
- default is 1
- maximum is 3

** other purpose
- you can use the reference as way to determine the pose


* Review - Using Reference Images in Midjourney

** Summary
This lesson explains how to use reference images in Midjourney to get closer to the image you want faster.

Reference images help Midjourney understand:
- pose
- composition
- structure
- style direction
- what should or should not appear

** Core Idea
Reference images reduce wasted generations.

Instead of relying only on text prompts, you give Midjourney a visual example.

This helps it skip many wrong outputs.

** Why Reference Images Help
Text prompts can be vague.

Example:
#+begin_example
minimalist black line art of a sunflower top down on a white background
#+end_example

Problem:
Midjourney may still add:
- stems
- leaves
- extra angles
- details you did not want

A reference image can show:
- only petals
- no stem
- no leaves
- top-down composition

** Basic Reference Image Workflow [0/5]
- [ ] upload reference image into Midjourney / Discord
- [ ] open the uploaded image
- [ ] right-click and copy image address
- [ ] start a new =/imagine= prompt
- [ ] paste image URL before the text prompt

** Example Prompt
#+begin_example
[image URL] minimalist black line art of a sunflower top down on a white background
#+end_example

** Important Point
Midjourney does not simply copy the reference image.

It uses the image as guidance while also following your text prompt.

So the result is influenced by:
- the uploaded image
- the written prompt
- Midjourney’s own generation process

** Flower Example
Without reference image:
- many outputs had stems
- many outputs had leaves
- several images were not close enough

With reference image:
- outputs stayed closer to the petal-only flower
- no unwanted stems
- no unwanted leaves
- fewer wasted generations

** Using Internet Images as References
A reference image can be:
- something you generated earlier
- a public domain image
- a product/design reference
- an image found online

Warning:
Use reference images carefully.

Do not copy protected artwork directly. Use them for structure, style direction, or composition, not pixel-copying.

** Corgi Example
The tutorial uses a corgi image as a pose/style reference.

Goal:
Create a new corgi image in a specific artist/style direction while keeping the pose closer to the reference.

** Image Weight

Image weight controls how strongly Midjourney follows the reference image.

Format:
#+begin_example
--iw 2
#+end_example

In the tutorial:
- =--iw 2= was used
- this was the maximum image weight in that Midjourney version

** Image Weight Effect

*** With High Image Weight
Midjourney prioritizes the reference image.

Result:
- closer pose
- closer structure
- closer overall composition
- less reinterpretation

*** Without Image Weight
Midjourney uses the reference more loosely.

Result:
- more influence from the written style prompt
- more freedom
- less resemblance to the reference image
- more reinterpretation

** Example With Image Weight
#+begin_example
[image URL] corgi character by [artist name] --iw 2
#+end_example

** Example Without Image Weight
#+begin_example
[image URL] corgi character by [artist name]
#+end_example

** Practical Difference
With =--iw 2=:
- “make something close to this image, but in this style”

Without image weight:
- “use this image as loose inspiration, but interpret it more freely”

** When To Use High Image Weight
Use high image weight when you care about:
- pose
- shape
- layout
- composition
- specific object arrangement

** When To Avoid High Image Weight
Avoid or lower image weight when you want:
- more creative interpretation
- stronger style transformation
- more variation
- less dependence on the original image

** Reference Image Checklist [0/6]
- [ ] choose image close to desired structure
- [ ] upload image
- [ ] copy image address
- [ ] paste image URL into prompt
- [ ] add clear text instruction
- [ ] decide whether to use image weight

** Key Insight
Reference images are especially useful when words are not enough.

They help Midjourney understand what you mean visually.

** Bottom Line
Use reference images when you already have:
- a pose you like
- a composition you like
- a style direction you like
- a previous generation that is close but not perfect

Then use text prompts and image weight to guide Midjourney toward the final result.


* Transcript
#+begin_example
00:00
Okay. In this video, we are gonna talk about how

00:03
you can use reference images

00:06
to help you

00:08
quickly generate the images

00:10
that you want.

00:12
So reference images allow MidJourney

00:15
to skip a lot of,

00:17
the process

00:18
of,

00:19
creating images that don't match what you want because it

00:22
can use a reference

00:23
to help better create,

00:25
what you are looking for. So let me show you

00:27
an example of this. So I've got 2 reference images

00:31
here that I'm gonna be using as part of this

00:32
tutorial video.

00:34
Let's start out with this flower. So,

00:38
if we come here remember how earlier

00:42
we generated a bunch of minimalist

00:45
flowers.

00:47
And,

00:48
these were fine,

00:49
but they weren't quite, you know, what these ones here

00:53
looked like. Well, I've actually,

00:56
prior to this already done a lot

00:58
of generations of this. And I was able to create

01:02
a flower which was much more closer through doing through

01:05
repeating this a lot of times because that is really

01:07
what you wanna use my journey to do. You wanna

01:09
create images a lot of times. For these tutorial videos,

01:12
I only do it a couple of times.

01:15
But really, I should be doing it a lot of

01:16
different times to get a lot of different takes.

01:19
And so,

01:20
I did that for this and I got something much

01:23
closer to what I wanted.

01:25
And so,

01:26
so I got I made this through Midjourney but let's

01:28
say for example that you found this on the Internet,

01:30
you could save this.

01:31
And then what we do

01:34
is we're gonna upload it

01:37
to MidJourney.

01:39
Come and drag it in.

01:41
Click enter.

01:45
Now it has been uploaded.

01:47
So what we can do is we can click on

01:49
it

01:51
and then,

01:52
we can right click it and we can copy image

01:55
address.

01:56
And now we can go imagine

02:00
and we can paste in

02:03
the code for it.

02:05
And then we can come in and type in what

02:07
we want.

02:08
So minimalist

02:11
black line art of

02:14
a sunflower

02:15
top down on a white

02:18
background.

02:22
So now what it's doing

02:24
is it's using this

02:26
image that I uploaded

02:28
as a reference

02:30
while also

02:32
applying

02:34
my prompt request.

02:36
So,

02:38
it's not just generating different versions of this. It is

02:41
taking,

02:43
the prompt text that I gave it, but it's using

02:45
this image as a reference guide.

02:49
And we're gonna see

02:51
why that is very helpful in a minute once it

02:56
has finished,

02:57
using it

02:58
and once it has generated for us the images.

03:03
And you'll see why this can save you

03:06
a lot of time.

03:19
Almost there.

03:22
Okay.

03:23
Here is why it's so helpful.

03:25
So

03:27
you look at this

03:29
because the reference image that I gave for it through

03:32
that I had generated by doing a lot of different

03:34
generations on the journey, but again, you know, if I

03:37
found this on the internet. So this here,

03:41
it's a sun you come here.

03:44
There are no there is no stem.

03:46
There are no leaves. There's just, you know, the petals.

03:50
I managed to generate something similar to that here with

03:53
Midjourney.

03:54
Now

03:55
and I saved it.

03:57
And so you come back here. When I did it

04:00
before, when I was generating these before, a lot of

04:02
these had,

04:03
you know, had the stems, it had the leaves.

04:06
And so we were essentially kind of, you could say,

04:09
wasting time by not wasting time because it's still good

04:11
to do it, but you have to generate lots of

04:13
images. But it was frustrating because a lot of the

04:16
images we were getting were not what we wanted because

04:18
even though it was on a top down, it was

04:19
including the leads and it was including the stem. But

04:22
by adding in a reference image that doesn't have those

04:26
for my journey

04:28
to use as a reference, then it didn't generate those

04:31
for me. And instead it generated

04:34
versions of it that matched,

04:37
what I wanted so much more closely.

04:40
And so that

04:41
is how you can use reference images

04:44
to save you a lot of time.

04:46
You can also use reference images in another very fun

04:50
way too.

04:52
So

04:53
let's come and take our next image.

04:55
So this is another image that I generated earlier using

04:59
Midjourney.

05:01
A cookie. What would you expect?

05:03
Anything less from me. Absolutely

05:06
love dogs. Adore cookies.

05:10
So we now have this cookie.

05:12
We can use this as a reference

05:15
to help us get

05:17
the

05:19
type of cookie that we want, but in a particular

05:21
style.

05:22
So I've uploaded this version of a Corgi and it's

05:24
in this particular pose.

05:26
Now remember earlier,

05:27
we generated Corgis,

05:29
using Elsa,

05:31
or

05:32
I don't know if I pronounced her name right. I'm

05:34
sorry if I didn't.

05:36
And we got

05:37
what a cute little 1 with a little hat.

05:40
We got them in different poses.

05:42
We didn't specify to be fair what pose we wanted

05:44
it in. So we just got a bunch of different

05:47
poses. Well,

05:49
what we're gonna do,

05:51
click this, right click it,

05:53
copy image address,

05:57
imagine

06:01
character

06:02
by

06:13
and

06:14
we're gonna add in something else.

06:18
Image, weight,

06:19
and we're gonna do

06:21
2.

06:25
So

06:27
what we have done

06:28
is we have asked

06:30
Midjourney

06:32
to,

06:34
draw us,

06:36
a picture

06:41
using this cookie as a reference guide,

06:45
And we've asked it to do it in

06:48
the style

06:50
of,

06:51
this incredible artist.

06:54
And we've also given it an image weight of 2,

06:57
which is the maximum that you can give it right

06:59
now on the journey version 5. It could change in

07:02
different versions.

07:03
But the image weight is

07:06
us saying that we want it to look as closer

07:09
to this

07:10
as possible.

07:11
If we'd given it a lower image weight of 1

07:13
you don't have to give it an image weight, by

07:15
the way, and we'll we'll do it again without giving

07:16
it an image weight. But by giving it an image

07:19
weight,

07:20
of 2, it means then that,

07:23
Midjourney is prioritizing

07:25
making it

07:26
as close to the reference image as possible.

07:29
And so this is what we've been able to achieve.

07:32
Now, let's

07:34
come

07:35
and we'll do this again. We'll copy this.

07:38
This, by the way, is just

07:40
MidJourney,

07:41
has

07:42
URL shortened it,

07:44
which is fine. We can use the URL shortened version

07:47
of it.

07:51
And we're not gonna add an image weight.

07:56
So it's using our reference image again.

08:03
And,

08:05
this time it's got free rein

08:07
to,

08:09
use this image, but create its own,

08:12
pictures

08:13
based upon

08:15
her art style.

08:17
And you'll see that we'll get,

08:19
different results again.

08:25
Loading.

08:35
And they're gonna be quite different

08:37
and I'll explain why they're quite different.

08:41
You can already see that they're very different.

08:47
And we're almost there.

08:55
Okay. So very, very different.

09:00
This is what we got by not giving it an

09:02
image weight,

09:03
And

09:04
this is what we got by doing it.

09:07
As you can see, this is much, much closer

09:10
to our original image than this 1 here. This 1

09:14
here

09:15
takes our original image but redoes it quite substantially.

09:20
And it adds a lot more of the artist

09:23
and how she would have interpreted it,

09:28
than, this 1 here, where this 1 here takes the

09:31
image and

09:32
makes a version of it that's inspired

09:35
by her, whereas this 1 here takes more of her

09:38
art and then uses the image.

09:41
But,

09:42
but rather than you know, that's what I mean. Like,

09:44
this is focused more on the artist herself. This 1

09:47
here is focused more on the image

09:49
itself.

09:51
And so,

09:53
if you want to just see what the artist themselves

09:57
would create, then you don't have to add in an

09:59
image weight and you can do this.

10:01
Or you can do this here and you can add

10:04
in the image weight and get a very different image.

10:08
As you can see, it can save you a lot

10:10
of time because you can imagine

10:12
that if you found a pose that you like

10:16
that by adding in a reference image, then you're gonna

10:18
save a lot of time

10:20
by skipping the generation process

10:23
of,

10:25
of having to, like, find

10:27
to get images that match that pose.

10:30
You can just tell MidJourney the pose that you already

10:34
like.

10:35
So, yes,

10:37
in this video series, we're also gonna discuss how to

10:39
save these images. That's not something that I've discussed, but

10:42
it's very, very important because once you've got your image,

10:45
you then need to save it. So,

10:48
that

10:50
is the next video that I'm going to create. Whether

10:52
that's the next video you watch in the series or

10:54
not, I'm not sure. But either way, I hope that

10:57
you enjoy it and I will see you on the

10:59
next video.
#+end_example