Midjourney’s --no parameter tells the image generator which elements you want it to avoid. Add it at the end of a prompt, followed by the things you want to leave out. It is useful when a scene keeps picking up distracting objects or lettering.
On this page
A prompt you can try
ceramic jug on a wooden table, soft window light --no flowers, fruit, lettering
The first part describes the image you want. The parameter at the end asks Midjourney to avoid flowers, fruit and lettering. Separate unwanted items with commas, as in the Midjourney documentation. Midjourney’s own example, a still life without fruit, is in our library as the still life gouache painting without fruit prompt.
Start with a clear positive description. If you want a plain background, describe it as a plain background before adding exclusions. A long list of things you do not want gives the model less useful direction about the scene itself.
How Midjourney reads the words
Midjourney says it considers words in a --no phrase independently. For example, --no red cars may discourage both red and cars, rather than only red cars. If a particular colour belongs elsewhere in the image, choose the exclusion carefully and compare the results.
The documentation also describes --no as equivalent to assigning a negative weight of -0.5 to the unwanted concept. You do not need to learn weighted prompts to use the parameter, but that equivalence helps explain why it is a direction to the model rather than a precise cutout tool. It also explains the error covered in our guide to the sum of all prompt weights must be positive.
When an unwanted object remains
An exclusion is not a guarantee that every generated image will be free of the item. Try a simpler positive prompt and remove unnecessary exclusions. If lettering remains, check whether the rest of the prompt asks for a poster, label or sign, since those concepts can invite text.
Compare a few generations and adjust one part of the prompt at a time. That makes it easier to see whether the exclusion helped or whether a clearer description of the scene made the difference.
