Text-to-image is easy to demo and hard to steer. People do not know what to type, cannot predict the result, and struggle to iterate toward what they meant.
Midjourney, Figma AI, and Runway won users partly by solving that control problem. Five patterns show up in those products:
1. Variation grid
One image is a starting point. A grid shows several generations at once so people browse instead of judging a single roll. Each image can spawn more variations.
Interactive Demo: Variation Grid
Pick a direction
Midjourney is built on this: four images, pick one, generate four more. The model assumes iteration, not one-shot perfection.
→ Explore the Variation Grid pattern
2. Inpainting
Sometimes the image is almost right. You need to fix hands, change the background, or add one object.
Inpainting lets people mask a region and regenerate only that area while the rest stays locked. That is "fix this part," not "try the whole thing again."
Interactive Demo: Inpainting
→ Explore the Inpainting pattern
3. Image upscaling
Generations often start small. Upscaling adds detail and resolution. A before/after slider lets people check quality before they commit.
Interactive Demo: Image Upscaling
Resolution is often the gap between experiment and usable asset. Upscale can close it without regenerating at slower, costlier settings.
→ Explore the Image Upscaling pattern
4. Style transfer
"Make it cinematic" means a hundred different things in words. Style transfer lets people upload a reference image and apply that look to new generations.
Interactive Demo: Style Transfer
They do not need prompt jargon for a color palette and lighting recipe. They show an example.
→ Explore the Style Transfer pattern
5. Controls beyond the prompt
Prompts are blunt. Pro work needs dials: aspect ratio, strength, composition, style intensity. Put those next to the prompt so people can adjust without rewriting everything.
Interactive Demo: Text-to-Image Controls
Ceramic pour-over set on oak, soft morning light
Casual users can ignore the dials. Power users can lock in settings.
→ Explore the Text-to-Image Controls pattern
A rough ladder of control
These patterns stack as more control:
- Prompt only: type words, get an image
- Variation grid: browse and pick
- Inpainting: fix a region
- Style reference: steer with an example image
- Parameters: dial composition and strength
Plenty of products stop at level one or two. The ones people keep for real work push toward four and five. Ship the controls, not only the model.