The Ultimate Guide to Midjourney Style Reference (--sref): Create a Consistent Visual Identity
Advantages and limitations
Quick tradeoff checkAdvantages
- Strong style consistency across sets
- Easy to reuse a visual identity
- Good for series and branding
Limitations
- Requires reference setup
- Style can overpower subject detail
- Works best on a paid plan
Your Guide to Midjourney's Style Reference (--sref): Finally Get the Consistent Look You Want
We’ve all been there. You spend forever crafting the perfect prompt, and Midjourney gives you a masterpiece. The lighting, the texture, the color palette—it's exactly what you had in your head. But then you try to make a second image for the same series, and... it looks like it came from a completely different universe. The vibe is just... gone.
This struggle for visual consistency is one of the biggest headaches for anyone using AI art seriously, whether you're an artist, a designer, or trying to build a brand. How do you create a whole set of images that actually look like they belong together?
The secret to fixing this? It’s one of Midjourney’s most powerful, and often misunderstood, tools: Style Reference, or --sref.
Think of --sref as your way of copying the artistic DNA from one image and injecting it into a new one. It’s not about ripping off the subject matter; it’s about borrowing the soul. It looks at the vibe, the colors, the lighting, and the overall aesthetic of a reference image and applies all of that to your new creation. This tool is the key to leveling up from making random, beautiful images to curating a deliberate, consistent visual identity.
In this guide, I'll walk you through everything from the simple basics to blending multiple styles, and we'll even do a practical case study together. Let's get you in control of your Midjourney aesthetic.
1. Getting Started: The Basic Syntax of Using --sref
The best part is, getting started with Style Reference is incredibly simple. You just need two things: your new prompt and the URL of an image with the style you love.
Here’s how it works:- Find or Create Your Style Image: This can be literally any image. One of your own Midjourney creations, a classical painting, a photo, anything you admire.
- Get the Image URL: Just upload your chosen image to Discord. A direct message to the Midjourney Bot is a great place to do this. Once it's sent, click the image to open it, then right-click (or long-press on mobile) and choose "Copy Link." Quick tip from experience: Make sure you use "Copy Link" and not "Copy Message Link." You need the direct URL that ends in something like
.pngor.jpg. - Build Your Prompt: At the very end of your prompt, add
--sref, a space, and then paste in the URL you just copied.
The basic structure looks like this:/imagine prompt: [your new subject] --sref [image URL]
Let's try a simple example. Say we love the look of a vintage botanical print—the yellowed paper, faded ink, and delicate lines. We have a picture of a single fern leaf with this exact style, and now we want to create an image of a mushroom that looks like it came from the same book.
Here's our style reference image URL (just a hypothetical one): https://s.mj.run/fern_style.png
/imagine prompt: a single chanterelle mushroom, scientific illustration --sref https://s.mj.run/fern_style.pngMidjourney won't draw another fern. It will look at our fern_style.png image and soak up its vibe: the creamy background, the fine linework, the muted colors, and the old-school texture. Then, it applies that whole aesthetic to our new subject, "a single chanterelle mushroom." What you get is a new image that feels like it was torn from the very same antique textbook as our reference. 🍄
That, right there, is the fundamental magic of --sref.
2. Choosing Your 'Style Bible': What Makes a Killer Reference Image?
The quality of your results really comes down to the quality of your reference image. Not all images are created equal here. A great --sref image—what I like to call a "Style Bible"—is clear, focused, and has a strong point of view.
Here’s what I look for when picking one:
A Cohesive Vibe: The best reference images have one, strong artistic style. If you use an image that's a chaotic mix of different styles, colors, and lighting, you're just going to confuse Midjourney. A picture with a clearly defined aesthetic (like high-contrast black and white, vibrant watercolor, or grainy 70s film) will give you much more predictable and consistent results. Lean into Textures and Abstract Images: While any image works, I've found that some of my best style references are super abstract. A close-up of cracked paint, iridescent metal, or wood grain can transfer its texture and color palette beautifully without confusing Midjourney with an unwanted subject. If your reference is a "red car," Midjourney might try to sneak red cars into your "blue forest" prompt. A Strong and Deliberate Color Palette: If your main goal is to nail a specific color scheme, make sure your reference image is a perfect example of it. An image with a tight, harmonious color palette of blues and greens is perfect for creating a whole series with a serene, aquatic feel. Clear Lighting and Composition: Midjourney is smart enough to pick up on lighting (soft and dreamy vs. hard and dramatic) and even compositional habits (minimalist, centered, rule-of-thirds). If you want to replicate a certain photographic style, choose a reference that is a textbook example of that style's lighting and framing. Let's imagine a scenario: You want to create a series of images with a "liquid iridescent" style. A bad reference: A photo of a busy street fair at night. Sure, it has neon lights, but it also has deep shadows, crowds of people, and a dozen different textures. It’s just too noisy. *A good reference: A macro photo of a soap bubble or a bismuth crystal. This image is all about the aesthetic you want: swirling iridescent colors, smooth gradients, and shiny highlights, with no distracting subject to get in the way.Let's use a reference of a bismuth crystal (https://s.mj.run/bismuth_crystal.png) to make something new.
/imagine prompt: a hyper-detailed portrait of an owl, geometric feathers --sref https://s.mj.run/bismuth_crystal.png --style rawThis prompt will give us an owl, but its feathers, lighting, and overall feel will take on that metallic, rainbow-sheen and geometric structure from the crystal. That's the power of choosing a great Style Bible.
3. Going Deeper: Blending Multiple Styles and Adjusting the Weight (--sw)
Okay, once you've got the basics down, this is where things get
really fun. You can start mixing, matching, and fine-tuning styles for some incredible creative control.#### Using Multiple Style References
You're not stuck with just one style reference. You can feed Midjourney multiple URLs to blend their aesthetics. It will try its best to combine the artistic DNA from all the images you give it.
The setup is easy—just list the URLs one after another./imagine prompt: [your subject] --sref [URL A] [URL B]
This feels a bit like being a creative mad scientist, blending styles that would never meet in the real world. What do you get when you combine the clean lines of a technical blueprint with the organic, flowing chaos of marbled paper? Let's see.
URL A:https://s.mj.run/blueprint.png (Clean, white lines on a blue background, precise angles)
URL B: https://s.mj.run/marbled_paper.png (Organic, swirling colors, soft gradients)
/imagine prompt: anatomical heart, intricate clockwork gears inside --sref https://s.mj.run/blueprint.png https://s.mj.run/marbled_paper.pngThe result would be a fascinating hybrid: a heart drawn with the precision of a blueprint, but with its colors and textures filled in by the beautiful, chaotic swirls of marbled paper. 🎨
#### Controlling the Style Weight (--sw)
But what if you want one style to dominate? Or what if you just want a
hint of a style reference, like a subtle whisper instead of a loud shout? That’s what Style Weight (--sw) is for.
Think of --sw as the volume knob for your style. It takes a number from 0 to 1000, and the default is 100.
--sw 0: Turns the style reference off completely.
--sw 100: The default setting, a balanced influence.
--sw 1000: Maximum power. The style reference will heavily take over the image, sometimes even ignoring parts of your text prompt.
Let's test this out. Imagine our --sref is a URL for a bold, graphic, screen-printed poster with heavy textures and just a few colors (https://s.mj.run/screenprint.png). Our subject is a "serene mountain landscape."
/imagine prompt: serene mountain landscape at dawn --sref https://s.mj.run/screenprint.png --sw 50The result will still look like a mountain landscape, but maybe the colors are a bit flatter and there's a subtle texture in the sky. It’s a gentle nod to the screen-print style.
High Style Weight (total takeover):/imagine prompt: serene mountain landscape at dawn --sref https://s.mj.run/screenprint.png --sw 950Here, the screen-print aesthetic will completely dominate. The mountain might be simplified into bold, graphic shapes, the color palette will be severely limited, and the whole image will look much more like the reference poster than a realistic photo. It's an amazing way to dial in exactly how much style you want to borrow.
4. Putting It All Together: A 'Cyber-Noir' Case Study
Alright, let's walk through a real-world project from start to finish. Our mission is to create a series of four images for a project with a 'Cyber-Noir' theme—a mix of futuristic tech and classic film noir. Visual consistency is everything.
Step 1: Create the 'Style Bible'First, we need our master reference. We'll generate an image that perfectly captures the look we're after. We want high contrast, deep shadows, neon highlights (especially cyan and magenta), a feeling of constant rain, and a grainy, cinematic texture.
/imagine prompt: cinematic still, extreme close up on a rain-drenched chrome android face, neon signs of a futuristic city reflected in its eyes, high contrast, grainy film texture, cyber-noir aesthetic --ar 16:9After a few tries, we get the one. It has everything. We upload it to Discord and grab its URL: https://s.mj.run/cybernoir_bible.png. This is now our single source of truth for the whole series.
--sref
Now for the easy part. We'll create the rest of our images, just changing the subject each time while keeping our --sref URL exactly the same. This forces them all to speak the same visual language.
/imagine prompt: a world-weary detective in a trench coat, standing in a dark alleyway, illuminated by a flickering holographic advertisement --sref https://s.mj.run/cybernoir_bible.png --ar 16:9/imagine prompt: a flying spinner vehicle hovering above a rain-slicked street, its headlights cutting through the dense smog of a futuristic metropolis --sref https://s.mj.run/cybernoir_bible.png --ar 16:9/imagine prompt: interior of a shadowy data broker's den, glowing computer terminals and cables everywhere, a single empty chair in the center --sref https://s.mj.run/cybernoir_bible.png --ar 16:9/imagine prompt: a close-up of a robotic hand placing a mysterious data chip on a wet metallic surface, neon light reflecting off the chrome fingers --sref https://s.mj.run/cybernoir_bible.png --ar 16:9The result? A set of four images that are without a doubt from the same world. The colors, the lighting, the texture, and the mood are all perfectly locked in. This is how you build a brand, a cohesive art series, or a set of illustrations for a story. The difference is night and day. You've gone from rolling the dice to being the art director. That's the whole game. 🚀
Feeling inspired? Crafting complex prompts with multiple parameters can be tricky. Try our Free AI Prompt Maker to easily build, organize, and refine your most creative ideas!
5. Fixing Common Headaches: A Quick Troubleshooting Guide
Even with a tool this powerful, things can sometimes go sideways. We've all been there. Here are a few common problems and how I fix them.
*Problem: "Midjourney is copying the subject of my reference, not just the style."
This usually happens when your reference image has a really obvious subject.
Solution 1: Use a More Abstract Reference. Like we talked about, a close-up texture or a gradient often works better for pure style transfer than a picture of a person or a car. Solution 2: Lower the Style Weight. Dial back the--sw value. A lower number tells Midjourney to pay more attention to your text prompt and less to what's actually in the reference image.
Solution 3: Use Negative Prompts. If your reference image is a "golden retriever in a field," and you keep getting dogs, just add --no golden retriever, dog, field to your prompt.
Problem: "The style isn't strong enough or isn't coming through at all."
Solution 1: Increase the Style Weight. This is the easiest fix. Crank that --sw up towards 1000 and force Midjourney to listen to the style reference.
Solution 2: Choose a Bolder Reference. Your reference style might just be too shy. A minimalist, beige-on-beige photo won't make a huge impact. A vibrant, high-contrast comic book panel will. Make sure your Style Bible is stylistically loud and proud.
Solution 3: Simplify Your Text Prompt. Sometimes, a really long and detailed text prompt can fight with the --sref command for control. Try shortening your prompt to give the style more room to breathe.
Problem: "My results look muddy and weird, especially when I use multiple references."
This is a classic case of clashing styles.
Solution: Find a Better Blend. Your two style references might be actively fighting each other. Trying to combine a clean, minimalist vector style with a messy, grunge oil painting is a recipe for a muddy mess. Look for styles that have something in common, like a blueprint and an ink wash (which both care about linework). Or, when in doubt, just stick to one, powerful Style Bible.By understanding how to pick the right reference, blend and weigh your styles, and fix these common issues, you can take your AI art from a collection of one-offs to a cohesive, professional-grade portfolio. The --sref parameter is your key to unlocking true visual consistency in Midjourney, turning your unique vision into a style that is truly your own.
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Go →FAQ
What is "The Ultimate Guide to Midjourney Style Reference (--sref): Create a Consistent Visual Identity" about?
midjourney style reference, midjourney sref, consistent style ai art - A comprehensive guide
How do I apply this guide to my prompts?
Pick one or two tips from the article and test them inside the Visual Prompt Generator, then iterate with small tweaks.
Where can I create and save my prompts?
Use the Visual Prompt Generator to build, copy, and save prompts for Midjourney, DALL-E, and Stable Diffusion.
Do these tips work for Midjourney, DALL-E, and Stable Diffusion?
Yes. The prompt patterns work across all three; just adapt syntax for each model (aspect ratio, stylize/chaos, negative prompts).
How can I keep my outputs consistent across a series?
Use a stable style reference (sref), fix aspect ratio, repeat key descriptors, and re-use seeds/model presets when available.
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