✅ Verified up-to-date [Last edited: 3/20/2026]

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Overview (TL;DR)

• Words like “4K,” “HD,” “ultra,” “octane,” “v-ray,” camera settings, etc. do NOT increase resolution or improve rendering quality.
• These terms don’t control the model. They just pull in whatever images were statistically associated with those words (UI screenshots, ads, thumbnails, random renders, etc.).
• Because of that, they can actually:
  • Reduce clarity
  • Introduce blur or weird artifacts
  • Break coherence
• Same problem with phrases like:
  • “trending on ArtStation” / “DeviantArt” → you’re pulling in everything associated with those platforms, including junky low-res images.
• Troubleshooting rule: If your image looks off, remove these terms first. It often fixes quality issues immediately.
• Important nuance (don’t panic): These words do something stylistically, so they’re not “wrong.” Use them intentionally, not as fake quality boosters. </aside>

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About Troublesome Tokens

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A note for beginners about 'rendering' words (4K, insanely, ultra)…

Rendering words include 4k, 6k, 8k, 16k, ultra 4k, octane, unreal, v-ray, lumion, renderman, hd, hdr, hdmi, high-resolution, dp, dpi, ppi, 1080p. Other terms in this problematic category include modifiers like insanely or ultra plus camera terms like numerical focal length and aperture values.

We want to let beginners know that these terms don't make Midjourney produce higher resolutions or render differently.

These words are not changing Midjourney, they're just drawing on correlated items in the data set, which includes help files, spreadsheets, screenshots of the tool's user interface, advertisements, web banners, renders of things that are unrelated to your subject, and more. That said, yes, rendering words do something to your image. They may also be what's breaking your prompt. So, as part of troubleshooting, we recommend removing them. Removing them often fixes issues with blurring, focus, clarity, and coherence.

Similar 'trouble' will come from terms like trending on ArtStation or trending on DeviantArt etc. These words are correlated to images associated with the tokens trending and ArtStation and therefore will include, for example, the *worse-*trending images, and any image at all correlated to the term ArtStation or DeviantArt (or whatever) which includes (for example) a variety of low-resolution thumbnails. So, as part of troubleshooting, we recommend removing them. Removing them often fixes issues with quality and coherence.

That said, artists can and should /imagine using everything in their toolbox that produces the effects that are important to their artistic outcomes! Do not mistake this FAQ as advising against /imagining with these or any other terms. We just want everyone to have a good understanding for when they are circling back to troubleshoot!

Deep Dive: Rendering Words in Midjourney (4K, Ultra, Octane, etc.)

1. What These Words Actually Do

Plain-English version

These words don’t control quality. They don’t make images sharper, bigger, or more detailed.

They just nudge the model toward stuff it has seen before that’s labeled with those words.

Technical version