Style and Aspect Ratio — AI Art Sellers Masterclass

Summary

The video explains two Midjourney settings that can substantially change the results produced from the same prompt: stylize and aspect ratio. Learning to control them gives creators more influence over an image’s visual character and format.

1. Stylize (--s)

Add --s to a prompt, followed by an integer from 0 to 1,000. The setting controls how much stylistic detail Midjourney adds.

The video demonstrates the setting with a prompt for an oil painting of rolling hills and wildflowers:

• --s 0 produces a relatively restrained result, though it can still have appealing detail.
• --s 100 adds noticeably more definition to flowers, trees, hills, and clouds.
• --s 250 creates more intricate scenes, with details such as especially elaborate clouds or birds.
• --s 500 can shift the look away from a vintage oil painting toward something resembling a high-fidelity movie frame, with vivid colors and dense detail.
• --s 1000 may add substantial detail to areas such as the background, sometimes introducing new scene elements.

A higher stylize value is not always better. The most suitable setting depends on:

1. The subject and desired look: A detailed landscape may benefit from a high value, while a minimalist flower sketch could be overwhelmed by it.
2. The image’s overall size: The narrator notes that size also affects which stylize level works best, though the video moves on to aspect ratio without exploring this point further.

2. Aspect ratio (--ar)

Add --ar to a prompt to control the image’s orientation and proportions. Midjourney’s default is 1:1, a square image. The video gives these examples:

• --ar 3:2 for landscape orientation
• --ar 5:4 for a wider landscape format
• --ar 16:9 for TV-style artwork or desktop wallpapers
• --ar 2:3 for a narrow portrait format
• --ar 4:5 for a wider portrait format

For generating prints, the narrator recommends starting with 4:5 for vertical prints, 5:4 for horizontal prints, and 16:9 for TV-art designs. These source formats can later be cropped into other print ratios, including 5:7, 2:3, 3:4, and 11:14.

When preparing a large batch of prints, the narrator advises sticking to the three recommended starting ratios. He says his automation scripts use them to generate images that can then be cropped into five frame-ready formats.

Speakers and sources

• Video narrator/instructor: Explains the Midjourney settings; not named in the subtitles. The channel metadata identifies the channel as Alec Phelps.