Make Cartoon Characters Look Like Real People with Midjourney

Putting it all together, your prompt might look something like: "real life Judy Jetson as a beautiful blonde woman in a white and pink dress with a ponytail hairstyle and bangs, natural skin, visible pores, retrofuturistic, hyper realist in the style of National Geographic –ar 3:4 –iw .5 [URL of cartoon image] –v 7.0".

Try Multiple Times

Run your prompt. Midjourney will give you several options. Look at these results. Some will look more like real people. Others might still have more cartoon features. See which ones you like best. Creating great AI art often takes a few tries.

Handling multiple images and prompt variations can be time-consuming. Consider using an automation tool to manage these steps more efficiently. Automating parts of your Midjourney workflow can save you time and help you experiment faster. Learn more about automating your Midjourney process here: Speed up your Midjourney creations with automation.

Improve Using Your Best Result

Pick the most realistic picture you got that you like. Now, use *this* realistic image as your new reference image. You'll use the image parameter (`–iw`) again, but this time, use a much higher weight, like `–iw 1.5`. This high weight tells Midjourney to stay very close to the realistic image you chose while still allowing for small changes. This helps refine the look you want.

Your prompt would now be similar but with the new image reference and weight: "real life Judy Jetson as a beautiful blonde woman in a white and pink dress with a ponytail hairstyle and bangs. natural skin, visible pores, retrofuturistic hyper realist in the style of National Geographic –ar 3:4 –iw 1.5 [URL of your best realistic image] –v 7.0". Run this to get variations on your best picture.

Key to Success: Balance and Experimenting

The trick to making cartoon characters look real is finding the right balance. You need to keep enough of the original character's look so they are recognizable, but add enough realistic human details to make them convincing. This comes from carefully writing your prompt and setting the image weight parameters.

Don't be afraid to try different things. Change the `–iw` value, add or change descriptive words. It often takes testing and trying again until you get the look just right.

Managing all these image references and prompt adjustments can get complex. Tools are available that can help streamline this process, allowing you to manage variations and references more easily. Discover how to make your Midjourney workflow smoother: Explore Midjourney automation tools.

Wrapping Up

Using these steps, you can take any cartoon character and create a believable, lifelike person using Midjourney. It's a fun process that involves careful prompt choices and using image references effectively. Keep experimenting, and enjoy seeing your favorite characters come to life!