WHERE TO GET MODELS - CIVITAI

What's CivitAI?

civitai.com - biggest collection of Stable Diffusion models, embeddings, and LoRAs out there. Think of it like an app store for AI art stuff.

What You'll Find

Checkpoints

The actual models. These are the engines that make images.
Download these first. Usually 2-7GB, .safetensors format.

LoRAs (Low-Rank Adaptations)

Small add-on files that tweak how a model behaves.
Want a model to nail a specific style or look? There's probably
a LoRA for that. Way smaller than checkpoints.

Embeddings (Textual Inversions)

Trained concepts you can call up with a keyword.
Smallest files of the bunch.

Reading a Model Page

Every model has a page with the stuff you need to know:

Base Model

What it's built on - SDXL, Illustrious, Pony, etc.
Pay attention to this. It matters.

Trigger Words

Special tags that activate what the model was trained to do.
Like "VERY AWA, COMICBOOK STYLE" for Bridgetoons.

Recommended Settings

CFG scale, sampler, steps, resolution.
These aren't suggestions - they make a real difference.

Sample Images

Shows you what the model actually produces.

Version History

Updates and changes over time.

Fair Warning

Not every model on CivitAI works with every setup. Most are built and tested in A1111, ComfyUI, or Forge - they might act different elsewhere.

Read the model page before downloading. The creator's settings are there for a reason.