All Midjourney comparisons in this guide reference Midjourney v7 (Oct 2025) features and behavior.
Use v7âs speed/personalization for discovery, then refine on a structured Firefly Board with references.
If you're reading this, you're likely a master of the Midjourney grid. You thrive on the magic of the `/imagine` command, skillfully navigating chaos and style parameters to unearth visual gems from the digital ether. You love the spark of surprise, but you've also felt the frustration of losing context, struggling with consistency, and hitting a wall when it's time to refine, share, and collaborate. Midjourney is an artist's dream lab; Firefly Boards is the design studio that turns those dreams into shareable moodboards. This guide is your bridge. We'll show you how to translate your hard-won prompting skills into a new, persistent, and collaborative visual workspace where you can compose, remix, and direct your AI creations with unprecedented control.
Boards feel infinite. The best teams donât fight the chaosâthey frame it. Use these fieldâtested practices to make your board a system, not a scrapbook.
Pin two anchorsâReference image (style) for mood/lighting/texture and Structure reference for layout/proportion. New generations will stay coherent around these two guides.
Howâto: Select image â right panel â set as Reference image (style) / Structure reference.
Create columns like Characters, Environments, UI, FX, Promo. Grow each lane with Generate similar to avoid random drift.
Tip: Add emoji headers or subtle background tints so teammates find lanes fast.
Drop color tiles, gradients, and texture snippets under your hero art. Use Prompt from image on swatches to codify palette language for newcomers.
Add frames for phone/tablet/desktop; test icons at 64â128 px on the board. If it reads at thumbnail, itâs ready.
Lay out idle â hover â pressed â disabled in one row. Use your Structure reference to keep pixelâalignment consistent and compare legibility.
Start with rough silhouettes and grey boxes; align early. Then apply generative polish. Building feel before finish saves reârenders later.
Name frames clearly (icon64_idle), add export sizes/DPI notes, and preserve Content Credentials where supported.
Before diving in, it's crucial to understand the fundamental mindset shift. Midjourney is a "slot machine" of creativityâyou pull the lever with a prompt and get four results. Firefly Boards is an infinite canvas where every generated image stays, influences the next, and becomes part of a larger visual conversation.
| Concept | Midjourney (The "Dream Lab") | Firefly Boards (The "Design Studio") |
|---|---|---|
| Generation Logic | Prompt â 4 random outputs (seeds, `--chaos`) | Canvas â Multiple prompts, visual + textual references |
| Iteration Method | "V1-V4" buttons, re-rolls, Vary (Region) | Remix, Generate Similar, Describe Image |
| Style Control | `--style`, `--sref`, `--cref`, `--ar`, `--stylize` | Style Reference, Composition Reference, Visual Intensity slider |
| Editing Ability | Limited (Vary Region, Pan/Zoom) | Built-in Generative Fill and precise Generative Text Edit |
| Collaboration | Individual (Discord share) | Real-time, multi-user shared workspace |
| Output Handling | Export individual images | Move seamlessly to Photoshop, Illustrator, Express |
Let's get hands-on. Creating your first board is about setting up your thinking space.
Navigate to firefly.adobe.com, sign in, and select the Boards tab. Click "New Board" to open a blank, infinite canvas. This is your personal studio.
A board is most powerful when you seed it with inspiration. You can:
Start with 6-10 "anchor visuals"âa mix of your best Midjourney art, a color palette image, and a few real-world photos. This creates a grounded and versatile direction for the AI to follow.
Text-to-image generation happens right on your board, not in a separate chat window. At the bottom of the screen is your prompt bar. Type your prompt (e.g., "a minimalist logo for a coffee shop, vector art, owl mascot"), and on the right, you can adjust settings before you hit "Generate."
Think of Reference strength like a combined --stylize and --chaos slider. Lower values suggest a lighter influence; higher values apply a stronger stylistic push.
Always save 2-3 outputs from each prompt. Unlike Midjourney's grid, these images persist on your board. Don't delete early versions; they can be used as references later, creating a visible "thought trail."
Blend / Generate Similar are the core tools for exploration. They combine cues from one or more reference images to produce new candidates. Labels and placement may vary by release; look for actions like Generate similar, Blend, or Use as reference in the UI.
"make it more futuristic".Try a "Blend â Prompt from image â Blend again" loop. Blend two images, pick the best result, use Prompt from image/Describe to view a suggested prompt, tweak it, and blend that with one of your originals. This creates an organic evolution akin to long iterative sessions.
This is where you gain true directorial control. Firefly has two distinct reference modes that guide all subsequent generations on your board until you clear them.
Select an image and apply it as a reference image for style. Firefly will borrow that image's color palette, lighting, texture, and overall mood for new generations. (In Midjourney terms, this acts like --sref.)
Select an image as a structure reference to guide layout and perspective while filling with your prompt content. Labeling may appear as âStructureâ or "Reference image (structure)" depending on the release.
Reference image (style) â --sref. Structure reference locks layout cues. Reference strength controls how strongly references are applied.
Ever see a great Midjourney image and wonder what prompt created it? Firefly includes Prompt from image (also surfaced as Describe in some contexts). It suggests a prompt based on the selected image.
Use 'Describe' on your favorite Midjourney outputs to learn how Firefly's model interprets them. This helps you align your prompting vocabulary between the two tools for better results.
Firefly provides text-related features, but precise pixelâlevel text replacement inside arbitrary images may be limited or evolving. Check current labels such as Text Effects or inâapp text editing tools for availability in your region and release.
Example Prompts (for Text Effects/overlays):
"Change the text 'Grand Opening' to 'Summer Fest 2025' and keep the same font, color, and lighting.""Replace the word 'Explore' with 'Discover' while preserving the 3D embossing effect."A Firefly Board is more than a generator; itâs a thinking space. Use its organizational tools to turn your creative chaos into a clear presentation.
Name your boards after the creative intent, not the project name (e.g., "Moody Interiors - Warm Light" instead of "Client Project X"). This helps you find and reuse aesthetic threads across different projects later.
This is where Firefly Boards truly leaves the solo world of Midjourney behind.
Click the "Invite" button to share your board link. You can set permissions for "View" or "Edit." Team members or clients can then add comments, upload their own references, and generate new images in real-time alongside you.
When you have a final asset, you can export or send to other Adobe apps where supported. Look for actions like Open in Photoshop, Open in Illustrator, or Open in Express; availability and fidelity (e.g., layers/masks) can vary by feature, format, and release. Adobe embeds Content Credentials to provide provenance for many AIâassisted assets.
Ready to level up? Try these pro strategies:
The journey from Midjourney to Firefly Boards is a shift in philosophy. One rewards surprise; the other rewards synthesis. One reveals stunning possibilities; the other makes them tangible, editable, and collaborative.
Don't abandon the Midjourney dream lab. Instead, bring its most potent creations into the Firefly design studio. Use Describe and Remix to understand and evolve them. Treat your boards not as static galleries, but as living design surfaces where your ideas, your references, and your team can finally coexist. Midjourney gives you sparks. Firefly Boards gives you structure to build a fire.