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After nearly a year of waiting, the AI art community has something new to be excited about. Midjourney has finally released version 7 of its renowned image generation model, bringing some fascinating changes to the table.
As someone who's been working with AI image generation since its early days, I've spent the past few days thoroughly testing this alpha release. In this article, I'll walk you through everything you need to know about Midjourney 7 – from its notable improvements to its current limitations.
TL;DR: Midjourney 7 was released on April 4, 2025, featuring enhanced text understanding, faster rendering times, improved image quality with beautiful textures, better coherence for hands and other details, and personalisation turned on by default. It introduces a new “Draft Mode” for rapid iteration alongside Turbo and Relax rendering options.
What Makes Midjourney 7 Special?
Midjourney has built its reputation as one of the premier AI image generators available today. It doesn't just have the first-to-market advantage; it really is one of the most powerful tools for image generation.
Version 7 builds on this foundation with several key improvements that might change how you create with AI.
Smarter Text Understanding
One of the most frustrating aspects of earlier AI art models was the need to craft the perfect prompt. A missing word or poorly phrased sentence could radically alter your results. Midjourney 7 is much more intelligent when interpreting your text prompts.
Now you can simply describe what you want in natural language, and the AI will expand and interpret it for you. This makes the creative process feel more conversational and intuitive. During my tests, I found that V7 understands context better than V6.1, giving more consistent results even with simpler prompts.
Beautiful Textures and Details
The image quality in V7 has taken a noticeable leap forward. The textures are more refined and natural-looking, with a level of detail that previously required careful prompt engineering to achieve.
This enhancement is particularly evident in complex surfaces like fabric, skin, and natural elements. Images now carry a richness that feels less artificial and more grounded in reality. Trying my “best prompt formula” with V7, produced outstanding results:
Or even much more complex descriptions:
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The Hand Problem – Finally Addressed
If you've spent any time with AI image generators, you know the struggle with hands. They've been the Achilles' heel of AI art, often resulting in extra fingers, missing joints, or anatomically impossible configurations.
Midjourney 7 makes significant strides in this area, even more than v6. While still imperfect (this is still an alpha release, after all), the hands and bodies generated now have much better coherence and anatomical accuracy. I've found that around 70% of the hands in my tests came out looking natural on the first attempt – a vast improvement over previous versions.
New Features and Modes
Midjourney 7 isn't just about quality improvements – it also introduces new ways to work with the tool.
Personalisation by Default
Version 7 is Midjourney's first model to have personalisation turned on by default. This means the system learns your aesthetic preferences over time, helping it create images more aligned with your personal taste.
To use V7, you'll need to unlock your personalisation profile by ranking approximately 200 image pairs. This takes about 5-6 minutes and helps the model understand your visual preferences. Some might find this step a bit tedious, but it's a one-time process that helps tailor the experience to your taste.
You can create and manage your personalisation profiles on your Personalize page.
Once unlocked, personalisation helps the system better interpret what you're looking for and what you find beautiful. If you prefer, you can toggle personalisation off at any time.
Draft Mode – A Game Changer for Iteration
Perhaps the most exciting addition is “Draft Mode.” This new feature renders images at roughly 10 times the speed of standard generation, albeit at lower quality. This approach is brilliant because it allows for rapid iteration of ideas without waiting for full-quality renders.
Draft Mode costs half as much as standard generation, making it economical to experiment with multiple concepts. When you find something you like, you can simply click “enhance” or “vary” to re-render it at full quality.
What makes Draft Mode particularly interesting is how it changes the user interface on the web version. The prompt bar shifts into a “conversational mode” where you can request changes like “swap the cat with an owl” or “make it night time” and see results almost instantly.
There's even a voice mode option – click the microphone button after enabling Draft Mode, and you can dictate your prompt changes. This creates an incredibly fluid creative process where ideas can flow naturally.
Turbo and Relax Modes
V7 launches with two primary rendering modes: Turbo and Relax.
- Turbo is the premium option, delivering the highest quality results but at twice the cost of a standard V6 job. The rendering time is longer, but the output quality justifies the wait for the final pieces.
- Relax offers a balance between quality and speed. It's less expensive to run and generates images within seconds, though not as quickly as Draft Mode.
The Standard speed mode is still being optimised and should arrive in a future update, according to Midjourney. It is still available in version 6.
How to Use Midjourney 7
Getting started with V7 is straightforward, though there are a few prerequisites to be aware of.
Accessing V7
To use Midjourney 7, you'll need:
- A paid Midjourney subscription (starting at $10/month billed monthly or $8/month billed annually)
- Having unlocked your V7 Global Personalization Profile by ranking image pairs (takes about 5-6 minutes, see above)
Once these requirements are met, you can access V7 by adding --v 7 to your prompts. Note the space between “v” and “7” – using --v7 without the space will result in an error.
Basic Commands and Syntax
The core Midjourney commands remain largely unchanged in V7. Here are the essentials:
- Standard prompt:
[your description] --v 7 - Using Draft Mode:
[your description] --v 7 --draft - Adjusting aspect ratio:
[your description] --v 7 --ar 16:9 - Using style references:
[your description] --v 7 --sref [code]
The good news is that most parameters from previous versions remain compatible with V7, so your favourite prompting techniques should still work.
Tips for Optimal Results
Based on my testing, here are some recommendations for getting the best results from Midjourney 7:
- Start with Draft Mode for rapid experimentation, then enhance your favourites
- Be more conversational in your prompts – V7 handles natural language better than previous versions
- Try voice prompting for a more intuitive and creative flow
- Use personalisation to your advantage – the more you use the system, the better it adapts to your preferences
- Experiment with different prompt structures – V7 might require different approaches than what worked best with V6
Real-World Applications and Examples
Midjourney 7 excels in several areas compared to previous versions:
Creative Concept Development
The speed of Draft Mode makes V7 exceptional for rapid concept development. Designers and creative professionals can now iterate through dozens of ideas in minutes rather than hours, making it an invaluable tool for brainstorming sessions.
Character Design
With improved handling of anatomy and details, V7 is much more capable when it comes to character design. The enhanced coherence means characters appear more plausible and consistent, reducing the need for extensive post-processing.
Architectural and Interior Visualisation
The improved textures and spatial understanding in V7 make it particularly well-suited for architectural visualization. Interior spaces feel more realistic, with better handling of lighting, materials, and perspective.
Current Limitations and Mixed Reception
It's worth noting that V7 is still in alpha, and community reception has been mixed. If you scroll through the posts on the official Reddit community board, some users absolutely love the improvements, while others have encountered limitations that make them prefer V6.1 for certain tasks.
What I noticed is that many of those who are unhappy about the update tend to compare it with the latest OpenAI release, rather than v6.
Variable Success Rate
Some users report being happy with only 1 out of 8 images generated by V7, compared to 6 out of 8 with V6.1. This suggests that while V7 can produce exceptional results, it might be less consistent in its current state.
Compatibility Issues
At launch, some features like upscaling, editing, and retexturing still fall back to V6 models. Midjourney plans to update these in future releases, but for now, the workflow might feel a bit disjointed when using these features.
What's Coming Next?
Midjourney has outlined an ambitious roadmap for V7, promising new features every week or two over the next 60 days. The biggest upcoming feature will be a new V7 character and object reference system, which should further enhance the ability to create consistent characters across multiple images.
Other planned improvements include:
- Updates to upscaling and editing features
- Improved SREF and Moodboard performance
- Expanded personalization capabilities
- Better text rendering (hopefully)
Is Midjourney 7 Worth It?
Whether V7 is worth using right now depends on your specific needs and workflow.
If you value speed of iteration and creative exploration, Draft Mode alone makes V7 worth trying. The ability to rapidly visualize ideas creates a much more fluid creative process.
If you rely heavily on consistent results and text rendering, you might want to wait for further updates before making V7 your primary tool.
For most users, I'd recommend a hybrid approach – use V7 for concepting and exploration, then switch to V6.1 for finalization if you encounter any limitations.
So…
Midjourney 7 represents an exciting step forward for AI image generation, particularly in its approach to user interaction. Draft Mode transforms the creative process from a series of patient waits into a flowing conversation with your ideas. The personalization system adds a layer of individual taste that makes the tool feel more like a creative partner than a black box.
While there are still rough edges to be smoothed out, the alpha release of V7 gives us a glimpse of where AI image generation is heading – towards more intuitive, conversational, and personalized creative tools.
Have you tried Midjourney 7 yet? I'd love to hear about your experiences in the comments below. What do you love about it? What do you think needs improvement? Let's share our discoveries as we explore this new creative frontier together.
