# Midjourney Prompts That Actually Work

> Midjourney prompt structure: subject, style, details, then parameters last. --raw has replaced --style raw, and --ar still sets the aspect ratio.

- Canonical: https://guides-ai.pages.dev/guides/midjourney-prompts-that-work/
- Plate 12.02 · Topic: AI images (https://guides-ai.pages.dev/topics/image/)
- Published: 10 Jun 2026 · Updated: 06 Sept 2026 · 3 min read
- Source site: guides-ai — https://guides-ai.pages.dev/

Random adjectives give random images. Use one order every time — **subject, then style, then details, then parameters** — because parameters must come last: Midjourney reads everything after your text as flags, so a stray `--ar` mid-sentence breaks the prompt.

## 1. The structure

```text
[subject], [medium or style], [lighting, mood, framing] --ar 16:9 --raw
```

The skeleton every prompt below fills in. Note the space before the dashes: Midjourney needs it to separate prompt text from parameters.

## 2. A worked example

```text
a ceramic coffee mug on a weathered oak table, product photography,
soft morning window light, shallow depth of field --ar 4:5 --raw
```

Copy this and swap only the subject first — changing one variable at a time is how you learn what each phrase is doing.

## 3. What moves the needle

- **Concrete nouns beat adjectives.** "Ceramic mug on oak" gives the [diffusion model](/glossary/#diffusion-model) something to anchor on; "beautiful" gives it nothing.
- **Name exactly one medium.** "Product photography", "watercolour", "isometric 3D". Two competing styles average into mush.
- **Say the light.** Lighting changes an image more than almost any other word.
- **Vary, don't restart.** Re-roll or vary your best result rather than writing a fresh prompt; you keep the parts that worked.

## 4. The parameters that changed

`--ar #:#` sets aspect ratio — `1:1`, `16:9`, `2:3` cover most needs. The stylization override is now **`--raw`**, not the older `--style raw`; it turns off Midjourney's automatic aesthetic pass, so simple prompts look more photographic and detailed prompts get followed more literally.

Versions move fast: V7 was default from 17 June 2025 to 9 June 2026, V8.1 from 10 June to 23 July 2026, and V8.2 is the newest. Anything you need to reproduce months later should pin the model explicitly:

```text
a ceramic coffee mug on a weathered oak table, product photography --ar 4:5 --v 8.2
```

Locks the model version so the same prompt keeps rendering the same way after the default moves on.

## If it looks wrong

A prompt that ignores your parameters usually has them in the middle, or is missing the space before `--`. An image that looks over-styled wants `--raw`. Check the [official parameter list](https://docs.midjourney.com/hc/en-us/articles/32859204029709-Parameter-List) before inventing a flag. The same structure carries over to local tools — see [your first ComfyUI workflow](/guides/comfyui-first-workflow/) — and the general framework is in [write better AI prompts](/guides/write-better-ai-prompts/).