Midjourney, the widely popular image-generating AI service utilized by millions of users on the messaging app Discord, has recently launched an “alpha” version of its website, midjourney.com. This new website provides users with the ability to generate imagery directly on the site, eliminating the need to rely solely on Discord. The announcement of this alpha version came after avid users, such as Nick St. Pierre, shared screenshots and videos of the website’s AI image generation field on X.
Midjourney has confirmed the testing of its alpha website in its Discord announcements channel, stating that it includes image creation features. However, at this stage, the alpha release is limited to users who have generated over 10,000 images in Midjourney. The company has assured its users that the website will become available to a broader audience in the coming month.
In order to determine their image generation count and ascertain whether they have surpassed the 10,000 image threshold, users can log into Midjourney on Discord and utilize the slash command “/info” in any of the channels or directly to the Midjourney Discord bot for an updated count. Despite having only generated 8,383 images in my lifetime usage and 5,041 images in Midjourney’s slower “relaxed” mode, I was still able to access the Midjourney Alpha website and test its functionalities.
A User-Friendly Interface
The website’s interface is designed to be minimalistic and clean, incorporating ample white space. Upon launching the website, users are presented with an “Explore” tab that showcases public image generations from other users. At the top of the page, a blank rectangular text bar labeled “Imagine” with a plus sign allows eligible users to enter a prompt directly.
Notably, the web interface diverges from the current Discord version of Midjourney, which requires users to type various jargon text commands into their prompts. With the new web interface, users can effortlessly adjust their prompt settings by clicking on an icon of horizontal lines and circles, representing dials. This visual interface streamlines the prompt customization process. For instance, instead of typing “–ar 4:3” for a landscape image, users can simply select the “Landscape” option from the prompt settings menu, which applies the setting without adding any visible text to their prompt.
Additionally, the left side rail of the website features buttons that enable users to access an aggregated view of all their generations, organized in a grid and grouped by date, by tapping on the “Photo” icon. This view also displays the user’s ongoing image generation jobs. The layout bears a striking resemblance to Visual Electric, a competing image generation web service that caters to professional designers and operates on the open-source Stable Diffusion model. However, Midjourney stands out with its highly regarded image generation model, and its Alpha website includes a dedicated “Likes” tab, allowing users to view previously “hearted” images from Discord.
Moreover, the website incorporates a prompt search bar below the image generation bar, enabling users to search for public imagery generated by other users using specific prompt keywords. For example, by typing “steampunk” in the search bar, users can discover all images related to that prompt. The lower left corner of the website features a “sun/moon” icon button that toggles between light and dark mode, as well as a “thumbs up” button allowing users to participate in a crowdsourced image ranking project. This project assists the Midjourney team in further enhancing the quality of their AI model.
Although one limitation observed is that images generated using the web interface do not appear in my Midjourney Discord Bot chat, the web interface remains the sole source for accessing all image generations from both platforms. Nonetheless, the alpha release of the website is undeniably impressive and significantly broadens Midjourney’s accessibility to a larger potential audience. However, it is crucial to note that users are still required to sign in with their Discord usernames. Midjourney, like other AI image generation services and AI companies in general, also faces lawsuits from artists and creators alleging copyright infringement due to the use of publicly available imagery to train their models.
As a Midjourney power user, St. Pierre has noted the existence of an iOS app and web-based folders that complement the service.
