What does --style raw actually do?

It tells Midjourney to apply much less of its trained "house aesthetic" — the automatic color grading, lighting, and compositional polish it adds by default. The result follows your wording more literally, which is ideal for technical, design, or reference work.

When should I use the default style instead of raw?

Use the default when you want beautiful, gallery-ready output and don't mind Midjourney making artistic decisions for you. Default mode is better for moody concept art and atmospheric scenes; raw is better for precise, literal results.

Can I use --style raw with --stylize together?

Yes. Raw reduces the baseline house look, and --stylize then controls how much flourish is layered back on. Pairing raw with a low stylize value (around 0–100) gives the most literal, controllable output.

Does --style raw work on all model versions?

Raw is supported on recent Midjourney models (v5.1 and later, including v6 and niji). On older versions the parameter is ignored. Always confirm against your current model in Discord or the web app.

Midjourney --style raw Guide

Midjourney —style raw

By default, Midjourney layers a strong, recognizable “house aesthetic” onto everything it makes — flattering light, rich color grading, and tasteful composition, whether you asked for it or not. The --style raw parameter turns most of that down, so the model follows your prompt far more literally. It’s the parameter you reach for when you need control rather than automatic beauty.

How it works

Raw mode changes the baseline interpretation of your prompt. Instead of nudging the image toward Midjourney’s trained sense of “good”, it renders closer to what you actually wrote. That makes it the right choice for product shots, diagrams, UI mockups, logos, and any work where literal accuracy matters more than mood. Raw still respects --stylize: a low stylize value keeps things plain and faithful, while a higher value adds artistic flourish back on top of the raw baseline. Use this guide to pick the combination that matches your goal and copy the parameter string onto the end of your prompt.

Tips and notes

Raw for precision, default for atmosphere. If a scene needs to feel cinematic, leave raw off. If you need exactly the object you described, turn it on.
Pair raw with low stylize. --style raw --stylize 50 is a strong starting point for literal, controllable images.
Write fuller prompts in raw. Because Midjourney adds less on its own, raw rewards detailed prompts — spell out lighting, angle, and background yourself.
It’s a per-prompt suffix. Append the parameters at the very end; order among parameters doesn’t matter to Midjourney.