How to DIY: Midjourney / AI Art Creator
Stunning AI-generated images — for social media, marketing, product mockups, illustrations, or personal projects
Tools used in this guide
2How to DIY: Midjourney / AI Art Creator
A step-by-step guide to doing this yourself — honestly.
What you're really trying to do
Stunning AI-generated images — for social media, marketing, product mockups, illustrations, or personal projects
DIY Cost
$0-$10/mo
1-2 hours to learn
Hire Cost
$10-$200
Done for you
You could save $10-$200 by doing it yourself
Step-by-Step Guide
Follow along at your own pace. Most people finish in 1-2 hours.
Sign up for Midjourney
~15 minMidjourney produces the highest quality AI art. Join via midjourney.com, subscribe ($10/mo basic), and use it through their website. Type a description of what you want and it generates 4 options in about 60 seconds.
Or use Leonardo.ai for free
~20 minLeonardo.ai gives you 150 free tokens per day, which is about 30-50 images. Quality is close to Midjourney and it has more control options (ControlNet, image-to-image). Great if you don't want to pay.
Learn basic prompting structure
~25 minFormat: '[subject], [style], [details], [lighting], [quality tags]'. Example: 'a cozy coffee shop interior, watercolor illustration, warm lighting, morning sunlight through windows, detailed, 4k'. Adding style and lighting details massively improves results.
Use reference images for consistency
~30 minBoth Midjourney and Leonardo let you upload reference images. This is key for getting consistent styles across multiple images. Upload an image you like and ask the AI to generate something similar.
When to hire instead
You need highly specific brand-consistent images, complex compositions with exact layouts, or images that combine AI generation with manual editing and retouching. Also useful if you need someone who already knows the perfect prompts for your niche.
No time? Skip to hiringReal talk
AI art is the ultimate DIY category. Type words, get images. The learning curve is maybe 30 minutes. Hiring someone to type prompts into Midjourney for you is like hiring someone to Google things for you. Just learn the basics — you'll be generating great images by lunchtime.
Tools You'll Need
Hand-picked for this project. We only recommend tools we'd actually use.
Essential Tools
You need these to get started.
Midjourney
$10/mo
The highest-quality AI image generator. Creates stunning photorealistic and artistic images from text descriptions with remarkable consistency.
Why we recommend it
Midjourney produces the best AI art quality, period. The $10/mo basic plan gives you 200 images — more than enough to start.
Leonardo AI
Free
Generate AI images for free with 150 daily tokens. More control than Midjourney with ControlNet, image-to-image, and fine-tuned models.
Why we recommend it
Leonardo gives you 30-50 free images per day with more control options than Midjourney — the best free AI art generator.
Nice-to-Have Tools
Not required, but they make the job easier.
Canva Pro
$12.99/mo
Edit and refine your AI-generated images, remove backgrounds, resize for different platforms, and add text overlays for marketing use.
Why we recommend it
AI generates the raw image, Canva turns it into a marketing asset — add text, resize, and export for every platform in seconds.
Some links are affiliate links — we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you.
Our Verdict
Difficulty
easy
Learning time
1-2 hours
DIY cost
$0-$10/mo
Hire cost
$10-$200
Choose DIY if...
- The process is straightforward
- You can spare 1-2 hours
- 2 of 3 tools are free
- You want to learn a new skill
Choose Hire if...
- Your time is worth more than the cost
- You have a tight deadline
- Experience matters for this task
Learn from video tutorials
Sometimes watching is easier than reading. Search for tutorials:
Join the conversation
See what other people are saying about doing this yourself:
Prefer to hire a pro?
No shame in that. Sometimes your time is worth more than the money you'd save. These top-rated freelancers specialize in Midjourney / AI Art Creator and can get it done fast.
AI Lani
@ai_lani · Fiverr Pro + Top Rated
Cy (Diane)
@dianeofmusgrave · Top Rated
Mazhar
@mazharhussai152 · Level 1
Elena (NeuroVisions)
@neurovisions_ai · Top Rated
Frequently Asked Questions
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Find a Midjourney / AI Art Creator pro on Fiverr
Skip the learning curve. Top-rated Midjourney / AI Art Creator freelancers start at $10-$200.
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