Midjourney 5.2 – Zoom-out, Make Square and Shorten Prompt Explained

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Boom! Midjourney just released its new 5.2 version.

If you’ve read my previous post about Midjourney’s evolution since 2022, you’ll already know that each update resulted in a quantum leap in its capabilities. In less than a year, Midjourney has transformed from creating strange AI collages to generating hyperrealistic photographs.

So, what is new in Midjourney 5.2?

Let’s compare its results with the previous 5.1 version.

Comparison of the results between Midjourney V 5.1 and Midjourney V 5.2
Midjourney Prompt: A sad astronaut, walking lost in space
Comparison of the results between Midjourney V 5.1 and Midjourney V 5.2
Midjourney Prompt: Lao Tzu eating Lasagne, hyperrealistic, shining color
Comparison of the results between Midjourney V 5.1 and Midjourney V 5.2
Midjourney Prompt: bride in red dress, outside a door, youthful, smilecore, edgy, confessional, italianate

Each update of Midjourney has continuously made it more realistic and creative. This is true for the 5.2 version as well. However, you might not notice as drastic changes as you did in the previous updates, because the 5.1 version produced already quite impressive outcomes. With the newest update, the results appear slightly more lifelike and natural, but also carry a darker tone compared to the previous 5.1 version.

So, let’s have a look at the new features that are introduced with this version.

Zoom Out feature

This is one of the most discussed new features. It works similarly to Adobe’s “Generative Fill” feature.

Using zoom-out or regenerative fill, it’s possible to expand the frame of an image, as AI attempts to invent additional, consistent content around the image. The online community has used this technology to expand classic works like the Mona Lisa or well-known album covers.

While Adobe refers to this feature as “Generative Fill”, Midjourney has named this feature “Zoom-Out”.

So, how does it work in Midjourney?

After upscaling an image, simply click on “Zoom Out”. You have 3 options: 2x, 1,5x, or custom.

This is for example my lady in red with a 2x zoom-out:Example of the Zoom-Out feature of Midjourney V 5.2

It gets even more interesting when you use the custom zoom-out. Only keep in mind, that at the moment you are limited to zooms between 1 and 2. If you input a command like – – zoom 3 Midjourney would return an error message. However, you could upscale your images and continuously reapply the Zoom Out feature in order to zoom out further.

If you use the custom feature, you could also alter the prompt text during the zoom-out. Here I have changed the aspect ratio from Square to 16:9 during the zoom-out.

Example of the Zoom-Out feature of Midjourney V 5.2 - altering the aspect ratio from 1:1 to 16:9

If we zoom out with 1 and change the aspect ratio, we would only expand the sides of the images with the altered ratio. If we are now adding a keyword like “Vespa” to the prompt, we keep the original core image but can place a Vespa in the expanded parts of the image.

Example of the Zoom-Out feature of Midjourney V 5.2 - adding a Vespa to the prompt

Make Square feature

This is a variety of the zoom-out feature. If you have used any aspect ratio other than square in your prompt, you can use this feature to make it a square again.

This way, we can easily transform this 16:9 image…

…into a 1:1 square image.

Shorten commands in Midjourney

When creating prompts, less is more.

If you’re like me and have purchased dozens of prompts from platforms like Promptbase or Promptflat, you’ll have noticed that many prompt engineers often overlook this crucial concept.

In fact, it’s a bad practice, to inflate the text inside of prompts. But it’s done to make users believe that they bought some highly elaborate prompt that they couldn’t have figured out on their own.

In reality, many components of your prompts are likely unnecessary. The recently introduced /shorten command can be a game-changer here, helping you zoom in on the essential keywords by highlighting important tokens and proposing five shorter alternatives.

Let’s take this prompt for example:

“bride in red dress standing outside a door opening, in the style of youthful energy, smilecore, urban and edgy, confessional, staged photography, human connection, italianate flair”

Midjourney would suggest the following commands instead:

  1. bride in red dress, outside a door, youthful, smilecore, edgy, confessional, italianat
  2. bride in red dress, outside a door, youthful, smilecore, italianate
  3. bride in red dress, outside a door, italianate
  4. bride in red, outside a door
  5. red, door

Using these options can help you as a prompt engineer in shortening your prompt. Additionally, as a user, it can guide you in refining your ideas for greater clarity and conciseness.

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