Character Consistency (--cref) & Style References (--sref)
Historically, the biggest obstacle in generative AI was randomness: every prompt produced a completely different face and color palette. Midjourney solved this with two breakthrough flags:Character Reference (--cref) and Style Reference (--sref).
1. Character Reference: --cref [URL]
The --cref parameter allows you to upload or link an image of a character and generate that exact same person across different environments, poses, emotional expressions, and camera angles:
How to Obtain Image URLs:
- In Discord: Send an image to any Discord channel, click it, right-click and select "Copy Link". Paste the URL after
--cref. - In Web Alpha: Drag and drop your character image directly into the "Character Reference" slot in the web prompt bar.
2. Changing Outfits: Character Weight (--cw 0 vs --cw 100)
The --cw (Character Weight) parameter controls which attributes of the reference image are cloned:
Clones Face, Hair & Outfits
Copies the entire character including their clothing, jacket, jewelry, and hairstyle. Ideal for comic books or video game characters who maintain a signature costume across scenes.
Clones Face ONLY (New Clothes)
Isolates the facial features, eyes, and bone structure while completely ignoring the clothing. Allows you to dress the character in a tuxedo, astronaut suit, or medieval armor in your prompt:/imagine prompt: man wearing a space suit on Mars --cref [URL] --cw 0
3. Style Reference: --sref [URL]
While --cref focuses on characters, --sref (Style Reference)clones the aesthetic soul of an image—its color palette, lighting mood, brush stroke texture, and medium:
Style Weight: --sw [0–1000]
Default is 100. Lower values (--sw 25) apply a subtle aesthetic hint; higher values (--sw 800) heavily enforce the visual style.
Style Random: --sref random
Generates a random aesthetic code (e.g. --sref 284910492). You can bookmark these numeric seeds to apply consistent branding across all future images.
Style Versions: --sv [1–4]
Controls the Style Reference algorithm. --sv 4 provides the highest visual fidelity and nuanced color harmony.
4. The Storyboard Holy Grail: Combining --cref and --sref
You can combine both parameters in a single command to maintain a consistent character inside a consistent artistic visual world:
Production Storyboarding Workflow:
- Generate your initial protagonist against a plain neutral background. Upscale your favorite render.
- Copy the URL of this master portrait to use as your universal
--cref [Master_URL]. - Find or generate a master style moodboard image to use as your universal
--sref [Style_URL]. - Now script your entire narrative sequence: changing settings, emotions, and outfits with
--cw 0while preserving 100% brand consistency!
Consistency Key Takeaways
- Use
--cref [URL]to lock facial features and character identity across multiple scenes. - Always set
--cw 0when you want your character to wear different clothes in different scenes. - Use
--sref [URL]to clone color grading, painterly textures, and artistic aesthetics. - Combine
--crefand--sreftogether to build professional graphic novels and commercial brand campaigns.
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