Midjourney's New Image Editor and Image Retexturing Features Are Here

Midjourney finally launched its new Image Editor feature.

• The image editor allows you to use AI-generated images with Midjourney or upload an image from your local disk and then expand, crop, repaint, add, or modify things in the scene.
• The image retexture feature lets you retexture images with a depth controlnet, keeping the original shape but repainting textures, colors, and details based on your prompt.

Let’s dive into the details.

New Image Editor

The new image editor is a tool that lets you upload images directly from your computer. You can expand, crop, repaint, add, or modify elements in the scene.

In case you didn’t know it, the previous version of Midjourney does not allow you to use external images.

When you log into the Midjourney website, you’ll notice a new edit option in the left sidebar.

Note that this feature is only available to the following member groups:

• People with yearly memberships
• Members who have been subscribed for the past 12 months
• Members who have made at least 10,000 images

If you’re not part of one of these groups, you won’t be able to use the editor, so it might be worth checking your subscription status or your image count. You can manage your subscription in the accounts page.

Once you’re in, the image editor interface itself is sleek and user-friendly.

Here’s a quick rundown of what you can do in the editor:

• Upload Image or Use URL: You can upload an image from your computer or directly paste an image URL to start editing.
• Move/Resize: Adjust the position and size of elements in your image by dragging and resizing them to fit your desired composition.
• Erase: Remove unwanted parts of the image with the Erase tool.
• Restore: If you accidentally erase something, the Restore tool lets you bring it back with a click.
• Change Aspect Ratio: Modify the dimensions of your image to fit specific formats or platforms.

You can watch a demo of how the image editing works in this tweet.

All image editing actions can be controlled via text prompting and region selection. The editor is compatible with model personalization, style references, character references, and image prompting.

Unlike Midjourney’s older editing tool, which only allowed for basic functions like erasing and restoring parts of an image, this new editor offers more flexibility. From changing entire textures to adding complex elements, the possibilities are much broader now.

I know it’s a bit confusing, so I hope Midjourney will just combine those two editors in the future.

New Image Retexturing

The retexturing feature estimates the shape of the scene and then retextures it, changing the lighting, materials, and surfaces.

Here’s a great example shared by X user Sachin Kamath where he turned his photo into a stone sculpture.

Prompt: Marble stone sculpture of a young man

Prompt: Oil painting of a young man, impressionism

Here’s another example shared by X user Tatiana Tsiguleva where she reimagined a chair made with different materials. I believe this tool will be really helpful for designers and creative professionals in the fashion and design industry.

Here are some notes shared by the Midjourney team:

• If you do a shaded sketch, it should work pretty well
• If you do untextured models, it should also look great
• Try it with interiors as well if you want a total makeover

Known issues

Both the image editor and the retexturing features are still in testing, so there are some limitations:

• If you ask something either extremely out of place or you ask for a tiny region to be changed, it might not give you what you want
• If you put a tiny head in a scene and ask it to outpaint, the body may be too big (so make the head bigger)

How Much Does It Cost?

The easiest way to access the new image editor and retexturing feature is through an annual membership. Here’s a breakdown of the pricing tiers:

• The Basic Plan costs $8 per month when billed annually (20% off). It offers limited generations (around 200 per month), 3 concurrent fast jobs, general commercial usage rights, and access to the member gallery. Yearly subscribers also get access to the Midjourney Editor for editing uploaded images.
• The Standard Plan is priced at $24 per month with annual billing. It includes 15 hours of fast generations and unlimited relaxed generations. Like the Basic Plan, it offers access to the member gallery, general commercial terms, and 3 concurrent fast jobs. Midjourney Editor access is also included for yearly subscribers.
• The Pro Plan costs $48 per month, billed annually. It provides 30 hours of fast generations, unlimited relaxed generations, and stealth image generation. This plan supports 12 concurrent fast jobs, along with the same access to the member gallery, commercial terms, and Midjourney Editor.

Each plan has optional credit top-ups for additional usage if needed.

That’s about it. If you want to stay up to date and see what others are creating with Midjourney, I highly recommend joining their Discord server. Check out the “editor-showcase” channel for some examples shared by the community.

One user used the retexture feature to transform an old drawing into a stunning, realistic image.

There are limitless possibilities for what you can do with these new image editing tools. Feel free to play with it and let me know if you have any questions in the comments section.

Final Thoughts

For me, the new image editor and retexturing features are cool additions, but honestly, they’re not as impactful as I expected. As someone who works on a bunch of AI tools, I was hoping for more.

What bothers me more is that not everyone can access these features, even some paying members like me. I pay monthly but still don’t get access, which is pretty frustrating.

I wouldn’t recommend upgrading to an annual membership just to try these out. Eventually, they’ll open up to more users, so it’s probably better to wait.

Right now, I’m still waiting for some bigger updates—like AI video, 3D generators, or even API access for developers. The image retexturing would fit perfectly into my Flux Labs AI product, so I hope they roll out something more exciting soon.

‍