Midjourney Broke Your Style? How to Fix Inconsistency After the v7 Update

TL;DR: It’s not your fault — v7 changed how prompts and styles are interpreted. But there are ways to bring consistency back.

If your go-to prompts suddenly stopped producing the same artistic results in Midjourney, you’re not imagining things.
You’re likely experiencing one of the most common side effects of the v7 update: a shift in how style, character identity, and visual tone are interpreted.

The good news? While the system has changed, there are specific techniques — many confirmed by Midjourney’s own documentation — that can help you recover stylistic consistency in your generations.

What Changed: Why Your Prompts Behave Differently Now

Here’s what Midjourney v7 has altered under the hood:

1. A Shift Toward Photorealism by Default

The model now tends to interpret prompts with a bias toward realism, unless otherwise specified.
Stylized or “soft” illustration styles (like watercolor or anime) may be overwritten by v7’s new realism-first architecture.

2. Rewritten Prompt & Reference Interpretation Logic

Parameters like --sref (style reference) and --stylize now behave differently than before.
A prompt that used to preserve a specific aesthetic may now result in something more literal, or abstracted in unintended ways.

3. Amplified Randomness and Parameter Sensitivity

Values like --sw (style weight) and the new --exp (experimental stylization) now exert more influence, making slight changes in values lead to large visual shifts.

Result: Users are reporting “style collapse” — the same prompt yielding different characters, colors, or visual textures.

Fix #1: Use --sv 4 to Restore Older Style Reference Behavior

Midjourney’s official docs confirm that you can invoke legacy-style behavior using --sv 4.

📌 Example:

/imagine prompt "pastel fantasy girl" --sref https://yourimage.jpg --sv 4  

This reverts how the system interprets your reference style to match previous model generations (v5-v6 behavior).
It’s the most direct way to reverse the v7 “personality shift.”

Fix #2: Tune --sw (Style Weight) Carefully

Style weight now plays a major role in how much your reference image affects the final result.

• --sw 0: Prompt dominates
• --sw 1000: Style reference dominates
• ✅ Recommended: Start around --sw 150–300 and adjust upward if needed

Overusing --sw may result in “stiff” or awkward outputs — especially if paired with strong lighting or cinematic modifiers.

Fix #3: Adjust --exp to Control Artistic Chaos

The new --exp parameter controls how much stylization freedom the model introduces.

• --exp 0: Conservative, faithful to prompt
• --exp 100: Highly experimental and expressive
• ⚖️ Sweet spot: --exp 30–60 for semi-consistent but still creative results

This is a critical parameter if you feel like your images vary too wildly even when you haven’t changed the prompt.

Fix #4: Trim or Rebalance Prompt Descriptors

Prompt vocabulary has more impact than before. Words like:

• ultra-realistic
• dramatic lighting
• cinematic or epic

…can introduce strong visual biases that override both prompt and reference image intent.

💡 Solution: Simplify the phrasing and reduce redundant or overly strong descriptors.

Instead of:

/anime girl, ultra realistic, dramatic lighting, high detail  

Try:

/anime girl, soft lighting, pastel colors, simplified background  

Fix #5: Use Multiple Reference Images for Better Character Consistency

Many users report that a single face or character reference isn’t enough in v7.
The model tends to “abstract” more now, meaning you should feed it more context.

📌 Example:

--cw 10 --cref https://img1.jpg https://img2.jpg  

Combining several images (different angles, expressions) helps the model form a more stable internal representation of your character or style.

Bonus Tip: Midjourney Acknowledges the Inconsistency

In their own v7 update announcement, the Midjourney team states:

“This update significantly improves hand and body coherence, but may cause prompts to behave differently than previous versions.”

So yes — even the developers admit that prompt behavior has changed and may require adjustments.
Parameters like --sv, --sw, and --exp are not just enhancements — they are critical tools for restoring lost consistency.

Summary: You Didn’t Lose Your Style — You Just Need to Reroute It

🔑 The takeaway? Style consistency is still possible — it just requires more surgical control.
With the right parameters and prompt tuning, you can regain creative control over your visuals.

🔗 Sources & References

• Style Reference — Midjourney Docs
• Midjourney v7 Update: EXP + Prompt Changes
• Midjourney V7 Prompt Bugs (The Coders Blog)
• Character Consistency Issue – Reddit
• V7 Review – Medium Article by John Walter