en Extend any image beyond its original borders with seamlessly generated content
Outpainting — called "Zoom Out" in Midjourney — lets you expand any image beyond its original borders. The AI seamlessly generates new content that matches the style, lighting, and composition of the original image. This is invaluable for changing aspect ratios, revealing more of a scene, creating panoramic compositions, or adapting images for different platform requirements.
Outpainting works on upscaled images. Generate your image, select the best from the grid, and upscale it (U1-U4) before using the Zoom Out feature.
Below the upscaled image, click Zoom Out 1.5x for a subtle expansion or Zoom Out 2x for a more dramatic reveal. Use Custom Zoom to specify an exact zoom level or modify the prompt for the expanded area.
Midjourney generates 4 variations of the expanded image. The original image is preserved in the center, with new AI-generated content filling the expanded borders. Select the best result.
You can apply Zoom Out multiple times to progressively expand the scene. Each application generates new content that seamlessly extends the previous expansion.
Expanding a tight portrait to reveal the full environment
Start with a close-up portrait, use Zoom Out 2x to reveal the character's full body and the environment they're standing in — the AI generates a coherent scene that matches the portrait's lighting and mood.
Adapting a square image for a widescreen banner
Take a 1:1 social media image, use Custom Zoom with --ar 16:9 to expand it into a widescreen format for a website banner or YouTube thumbnail without cropping the original content.
Creating a wide panoramic scene from a standard image
Start with a landscape image, apply Zoom Out 2x twice to create a sweeping panoramic view that extends the original scene naturally in both directions.
Custom Zoom lets you modify the prompt for the expanded area. Add context like "revealing a vast mountain range in the background" to guide what the AI generates in the new space.
The Make Square button is perfect for adapting portrait or landscape images to Instagram's square format without cropping. The AI fills the empty space naturally.
Each Zoom Out application can be followed by another. Start with a tight composition and progressively zoom out to reveal more of the world — great for creating a sense of scale and environment.
If your original image has a subject that's too centered or too close to the edge, use Zoom Out to give it more breathing room and improve the overall composition.
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