Bye Discord, Midjourney Website Can Now Generate AI Images

Midjourney is moving away from its Discord roots and saying hello to its brand new dedicated website for image generation. For people who hate generating AI images on Discord, rejoice!

There’s a catch, though.

The feature is only available to paid users with over 10,000 generated images. As David Holz, creator of Midjourney, announced on Discord.

We’ve begun testing an alpha version of the website which includes image creation. It’s currently this is only available for people who have made >10,000 images in Midjourney. — David Holz

Image creation on Midjourney website

The new website with image creation support was launched in November 2023, and everyone was excited. It’s faster with a cleaner look and feel.

Since I don’t have access to the image generator yet, I’ll be using screenshots from Twitter user Heather Cooper for illustration.

Those with access to the image generator will notice the “alpha” label next to the “MJ” logo. Once you begin typing your prompt, a menu will appear that lets you control various settings of the final image, including:

• Image size — choose between Portrait, Square, or Landscape.
• Aesthetics — Adjust the Stylization, Weirdness, and Variation.
• Model — Change the Mode and the Version of the image model.
• More options — Change the speed and Stealth of the generation.

Similar to Discord, a preview of the image generation progress will be displayed.

The generation speed is pretty much similar to that of Discord. Once the process is done, you’ll see a preview of the four images.

Click on each image to expand and show more editing controls like Reroll, Upscale, etc.

The outpainting feature is also accessible using the “pan” and “zoom out” controls.

However, the inpainting feature, which allows for editing specific image parts, is currently missing. The user interface looks like this on Discord:

Adapting to the new website for creating AI images may initially feel awkward for those accustomed to Discord’s interface. Nonetheless, integrating this feature into Midjourney’s website is a positive step towards reaching a broader audience, considering Discord’s potentially intimidating nature for average users.

How to check the number of images

To find out how many images you’ve generated, visit the Midjourney chatbot and type the keyword /info.Your total image count is displayed under the “Lifetime Usage” section.

Mine just reached 1K, so I am still far from having access to the image generation feature.

When will it be available to everyone?

While there’s no definitive date for wider availability, David Holz has indicated plans to extend access over the next month.

Don’t worry, we will be making it available to more people over the coming month!

They’re likely limiting access to a few people for now to fix bugs and make the feature stable.

Advantages vs Disadvantages

Midjourney’s gradual shift from Discord to a dedicated website marks a significant step in its evolution. While the website offers several advantages, let’s explore the pros and cons of this move, considering the unique features Discord brings to the table.

Let me share my thoughts on some of the advantages and disadvantages.

Advantages:

• Enhanced User Experience: The website will have a more streamlined workflow, with features like intuitive menus and dedicated editing tools. This can be particularly helpful for users who find Discord’s text-based commands cumbersome.
• Faster shipment of features: Inpainting and outpainting features took a very long time to happen in Midjourney. Perhaps due to the limitations of the user interface available on a Discord chatbot. Things should improve now that they have full control of the dedicated website.
• Scalability and Performance: A dedicated website offers greater control over server resources.
• Global Reach: A website transcends Discord’s platform limitations, potentially attracting a wider audience who might not be familiar with or interested in using Discord.

Disadvantages:

• Loss of community: The platform facilitates collaboration, feedback, and learning through channels dedicated to specific artistic styles and techniques. A website might struggle to replicate this dynamic social experience.
• Reduced accessibility: Migrating to a website might create a barrier for entry for those who don’t have access to a dedicated computer or prefer the convenience of a mobile app.
• Feature trade-offs: While the website offers dedicated image generation tools, it currently lacks some features available on Discord, such as custom server creation and integration with other services. This might be a disadvantage for users who rely on these functionalities for their creative workflow.

Final Thoughts

Overall, I am very happy and excited that Midjourney finally gave the fans what they wanted. I thought they were going to stick to Discord for a longer time because new features kept coming—they even partnered with Discord to create customized UI controls for their inpainting feature.

What’s next? They should bring the rest of the image generation features from Discord to the Midjourney website. Also, I hope they drop the long-awaited API access for developers soon.