THE MODELS
Four Illustrious-based SDXL models, all tested on Apple Silicon. Same foundation, totally different looks.
Settings at a Glance
+----------------+-------------+--------------+-------------+-------------+
| Setting | Bridgetoons | Cyberreal | Realism | Arthemy |
+----------------+-------------+--------------+-------------+-------------+
| Style | Comic book | Photographic | Realistic | Western |
| Base | Illustrious | Illustrious | Illustrious | Illustrious |
| Clip Skip | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| CFG Scale | 6.0 | 4.5 | 4.0 | 6.0 |
| Steps | 38 | 35 | 27 | 45 |
| Sampler | euler_karras| dpm++_karras | dpm++_karras| euler_karras|
| Resolution | 672x1200 | 832x1216 | 896x1152 | 1024x1344 |
| Hires Fix | YES | NO | NO | YES |
+----------------+-------------+--------------+-------------+-------------+Hires Fix Settings (when enabled)
+----------------+-------------+-------------+
| Setting | Bridgetoons | Arthemy |
+----------------+-------------+-------------+
| Upscale | 2.0x | 2.0x |
| Upscaler | Lanczos | Lanczos |
| Hires Steps | 15 | 15 |
| Denoise | 0.3 | 0.2 |
+----------------+-------------+-------------+BRIDGETOONS - The Comic Book Workhorse
Bold lines, punchy colors, comic book aesthetic. Has hires fix enabled so it handles full body shots well.
Style: American comic book Triggers: VERY AWA, COMICBOOK STYLE
Why these settings:
- euler_karras at 38 steps gives clean linework
- CFG 6.0 balances prompt adherence with natural color
- 0.3 denoise on hires adds detail without changing composition
CYBERREALISTIC - The Photographer
Makes images that look like actual photographs. Editorial quality with realistic skin textures and natural lighting. Keep CFG low or it over-processes.
Style: Photorealistic/editorial Triggers: masterpiece, best quality, realistic
Why these settings:
- dpm++_karras sampler is sharp, good for photo detail
- Low CFG (4.5) gives natural, not artificial look
- No hires fix - caused artifacts on Apple Silicon
REALISM
Similar vibe to Cyberrealistic with a slightly different rendering approach. Very low CFG for maximum natural appearance.
Style: Realistic with artistic touch Triggers: masterpiece, best quality, realistic
Why these settings:
- dpm++_karras for sharp detail
- Very low CFG (4.0) for most natural results
- 27 steps - this model converges faster than others
- No hires fix - cleaner without it on Apple Silicon
ARTHEMY - The Western Illustrator
Western comic/graphic novel style with hatching, flat colors, and bold composition. Needs the most steps to fully render its detailed linework. Largest base resolution of the bunch.
Style: Western comics, graphic novel Triggers: western comics (style), linear hatching, flat color
Why these settings:
- euler_karras handles the hatching style well
- 45 steps needed - complex style takes longer to converge
- Low denoise (0.2) on hires preserves the linework
- Largest resolution (1024x1344) for detailed illustrations
Full Body Shot Capabilities
Can do full body:
Bridgetoons - YES (hires fix adds eye detail)
Arthemy - YES (hires fix + large base resolution)Stick to cowboy shot or tighter:
Cyberrealistic - no hires fix, eyes suffer at distance
Realism - no hires fix, eyes suffer at distanceThe issue: without hires fix, full body shots don't have enough pixels for clean eye rendering. You get asymmetrical or blurry eyes.
Why We Disabled Hires Fix on Some Models
On Apple Silicon (M1/M2/M3 Macs), hires fix can cause problems:
- Impressionist blur patches
- Scan line artifacts
- Color banding
Cyberrealistic and Realism looked better WITHOUT hires fix on Mac. Bridgetoons and Arthemy handle it well.
If you're on NVIDIA hardware, you might be able to enable hires fix on all models. Test and see.