This cheatsheet is designed for prompt engineers, digital artists, and creators looking to master Midjourney's rendering engine. By selecting specific styles, lighting conditions, and camera lenses, you can easily control details and composition. Use the interactive chips below to instantly copy these keywords into your prompt formulas.
Quick start
Pick 1 lighting keyword (e.g. volumetric lighting)
Add 1 style modifier (e.g. retro-futurism)
Define camera parameters & aspect ratio (e.g. --ar 16:9)
A futuristic cyberpunk skyline, retro-futurism style, volumetric lighting, shot on 35mm lens --ar 16:9 --style rawLaunch the Midjourney Prompt Builder
Mix and match these cheatsheet keywords dynamically inside our builder tool.
Aspect Ratios & Dimensions
Parameter Keywords
Lighting Keywords
Style Modifiers
Camera & Lens Terms
Mood & Atmosphere
Color Palette Terms
Texture & Detail
Composition Terms
Artist & Cinema References
Render & Quality Boosters
Negative Prompt Keywords
Download the Free Creator Pack
Get 50+ copy-paste prompts designed for professional photorealism.
Pro tips
Mastering Depth and Focus
Combining a specific lens like 85mm f/1.2 lens with bokeh background isolates your subject perfectly. This generates a professional portrait depth that standard prompts struggle to achieve.
Directing Cinematic Environments
Using director references like directed by Denis Villeneuve and cinematography by Roger Deakins sets a very specific scale, color palette, and atmosphere. This combination is highly effective for moody sci-fi themes.
Controlling Shading via Chiaroscuro
The terms chiaroscuro and rim lighting tell Midjourney to paint with high contrast. This prevents the lighting from looking flat, especially in black and white compositions.
Midjourney V5 vs V6 Prompting
V6 prompts require raw descriptive language rather than listing buzzwords like 'photorealistic, 4k, unreal engine'. Use the '--style raw' parameter if you want less artistic style injection, and specify precise photographic lighting.
Prompt formulas
Headshot of a cybernetic pilot in a space suit, rim lighting, cybernetic surrealism, medium format Hasselblad, shallow depth of field, 8k resolution photorealism --ar 16:9
A lonely lighthouse on a rocky cliffside, dusk blue hour, melancholic isolation, directed by Denis Villeneuve, wide-angle 15mm, god rays --ar 2.39:1
A portrait of an elderly craftsman, golden hour, 85mm f/1.2 lens, weathered wood grain background, award-winning photography, ultra-sharp details --ar 4:5
Unlock PromptLabHub Studio
Upgrade to Premium to save keywords, generate assets, and get advanced analytics.
Related guides
Stable Diffusion Cheatsheet
Compare prompt keywords with Stable Diffusion's open-source architecture.
Leonardo AI Cheatsheet
Explore similar lighting and style presets inside Leonardo AI's web suite.
Runway Video Cheatsheet
Convert your static Midjourney prompts into cinematic video clips.
FLUX Prompt Cheatsheet
Master the state-of-the-art open-weights realism engine with pixel-perfect hands and text rendering.