AI Art Tutorials, AI Image Prompts, Styles, Techniques, Artists, Tips & Tricks and more...

AI Art Tutorials > Understanding SREF Styles in Midjourney Prompts: How They Shape Image Themes, Aesthetics, Colors, and Mood

Understanding SREF Styles in Midjourney Prompts: How They Shape Image Themes, Aesthetics, Colors, and Mood

We’re all fascinated by the vast array of SREF styles in Midjourney, collecting their codes to use in our AI image prompts. However, most people misuse SREF codes because they don’t know how each SREF style works or what it's natively designed for.

Don’t get me wrong, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with experimenting and using any codes for any images, and sometimes this results in incredibly creative combinations and stunning images. But using SREF codes entirely at random doesn’t always make sense, and you could end up wasting a lot of time with unsuitable styles for specific projects.

You can find a catalog of hundreds of SREF styles here:
- Midjourney SREF Styles For AI Image Prompts

So, how do you find out what a given SREF style is for? Why does a particular style behave in a certain way? Why do some styles work well with an image, while others don’t and create bizarre results?

Exactly! You’re starting to understand that each SREF style has its own defining characteristics, which can include color scheme, theme, mood, artistic style, composition, medium and drawing style, lighting, framing, effects, details, and form. The list of attributes could go on and on.

That’s why, if you use a horror style, it probably won’t work for creating friendly illustrations for kids. If you use a photographic style, it won’t perform well in a comic context. A fantasy style won’t accurately depict reality, and so on.

Before revealing how to identify what a particular style was created for and how to use it, let me show you an example that illustrates this point perfectly.

A friend found an SREF style dominated by yellow and blue, so he thought it would be great for drawing a yellow submarine in the ocean. That’s exactly what he entered into the prompt, but the result was far from what he expected:

yellow submarine --sref 2660650608

What the heck is this? It looks weird—flowers are popping up, there are some walls, and the submarine doesn’t look very underwater; it seems more like a plastic gadget. He added more keywords, but the result was still disappointing. Just take a look:

yellow submarine, underwater, coral reef, fish --sref 2660650608

It still looks like a plastic toy in an aquarium, and the effect is terrible. Only the yellow and blue colors match, while the rest is way off.

And here we get to the heart of the story. My friend used a random style intended for something completely different. He couldn’t determine what this style was created for or what its basic features and applications are.

So, whenever you find an SREF style for Midjourney, test it to reveal all its unique features and properties. To do this, use a prompt like this:

--[ more content after logging in ]--

Full tutorials and articles are available for paid members supporting AI-Art-Tutorials.com on Patreon. The service is ad-free and is growing thanks to your support, for which I SINCERELY THANK YOU!:-)

Join my AI art community on Patreon and gain access to exclusive content related to creating AI images, including tutorials, AI image prompts, 2000+ styles, artists, mediums, techniques, tips & tricks, and more!

Learn from the beginning how to create images for various purposes, including commercial use. Create stunning content for blogs, social media (Instagram, Facebook, TikTok), presentations, newspapers, or books. Monetize your art by selling it on stock photo banks and offering products with AI images like posters or shirts.

Resource for everyone, from novice AI artists to advanced graphic designers, marketers, PR professionals, and business owners.