San Francisco based generative AI research lab Midjourney has released the new feature called “Character Reference” that claims to generate consistent characters across multiple reference images, a struggle users have been going through for a while now. 

Source: Dogan Ural on X

How it Works

• Type “–cref URL” after your prompt with a character image URL.
• Modify reference ‘strength’ using “–cw” from 100 to 0.
  • Default strength 100 (–cw 100) considers face, hair, and clothes.
  • Strength 0 (–cw 0) focuses only on the face (ideal for changing outfits/hair).
• Blend information from multiple images using “–cref URL1 URL2” (similar to multiple image or style prompts).

Generate Character Image

• Retrieve or generate the character image URL through Midjourney.
• Use “–cref” followed by the URL to generate the character in various settings.

Adjust Image Variance

• Control how closely the new image reproduces the original character.
• Use “–cw” followed by a number (1 to 100) to adjust the variance.
  • Lower numbers provide more variation.
  • Higher numbers closely follow the original reference.

Advanced Options and Considerations

• Use multiple “–cref” tags with respective URLs to blend information from multiple images.
• In Midjourney’s web alpha version, users can drag or paste an image, selecting it as a prompt, style reference, or character reference.

Several users have taken to social media to appreciate the new feature.

Source: Deedy (X)