Type | Workflows |
Stats | 2,074 0 |
Reviews | (134) |
Published | Mar 23, 2025 |
Base Model | |
Hash | AutoV2 552679D37A |
Pony/Illustrious models are cool. SDXL is cool. But each has its own limitations. What if we could combine their strengths, taking the best of both worlds? With this workflow, you can produce really believable pictures of unrealistic concepts.
COYOTTE'S REFINER
That workflow used to be a full article for a really long time (7 months). But it's just now I've realised that this whole time it WASN'T WORKING THE WAY IT SHOULD, thanks @v33tay for pointing me to the righ direction. In fact, he helped to develop the OG version, so be sure to show him some appreciation. By default the workflow runs in the new, proper mode. But I've decided to also leave that "wrong way", so if you want to use it - switch "LEGACY REFINE" node to "true". Sometimes one gives better results than the other.
This update also includes some improvements to make the workflow easier to use, so it was long overdue.
Pony-based and Illustrious-based checkpoints are known for the excellent prompt understanding and good NSFW capabilities. These models, however, often struggle with realism. Even those Pony/Illustrious models that are finetuned to be realistic, still tend to have a cartoonish aesthetic. This workflow utilizes an advanced refining method to enhance Pony/Illustrious models output with SDXL models, so that we can get the best of both worlds - highly coherent SFW/NSFW art with the realism of the best SDXL models.
In this workflow, Pony/Illustrious models serve as the foundational layer, taking advantage of their strong NSFW capabilities, while SDXL models are applied slightly later in the diffusion process to enhance the realism.
I strongly recomend you to use my checkpoint LUSTIFY! Endgame or OLT as the refiner, because both this workflow AND the checkpoint were designed around each other. Also, LUSTIFY! is just really good at this point, if I can say so about my own creation.
GUIDE:
1) One of the key elements of this workflow is "Seed Base" and "Seed Refine". By changing "Seed Base" you're changing the overall composition. Got a composition you like, but the details from SDXL checkpoint are kinda 'meh'? Change the "Seed Refine" - the composition stays the same while the details are completely new.
Another important aspect is the "Refine At Steps" setting. A good range to start with is 10-13. The later the refinement begins, the more influence the Pony checkpoint will have. Feel free to experiment with this to see what works best for your needs.
2) You can find the highres fix, tiled upscale and facedetailer nodes lower in the workflow window. By default they're bypassed. You should unbypass them when you've created a pic you like in the first part.
And the good thing is that you have complete control over these parts as well. Don't like the way highres fix looks? Change the seed and/or denoising! Don't like the face "facedetailer" inpainted? Change the seed and/or denoising.