I taught myself all my computer skills. That doesn't make me a professional, but my approach might work for others who would like to give it a try.Since I don't have the patience to get programs like Forge WebUI or Automatic 1111 running, I use <a target="_blank" rel="ugc" href="https://invoke.ai/">Invoke AI</a> for my images. The program offers a Windows installer and keeps itself up-to-date.Unfortunately, all training options have been removed from the program, and I can't get the separately available "Invoke Training" to work. So I looked for an alternative, but the only viable program remains <a target="_blank" rel="ugc" href="https://www.comfy.org/">ComfyUI</a>. It's not exactly beginner-friendly, but it also has a Windows installer and keeps itself up-to-date.Thank goodness I found this <a target="_blank" rel="ugc" href="https://civarchive.com/articles/3897/merging-4-models-in-comfyui-easy-to-understand-workflow">workflow</a> by "0l1v1aR0551" on Civitai that's as ingenious as it is simple. Just copy the file to the folder "ComfyUI/user/default/workflows/" and load it into the program. Then you can select checkpoints and LoRAs from the dropdown menus and finally click "Run". The program does the rest automatically.When dealing with LoRAs and checkpoints, always check whether you are allowed to share the resulting merge with others or only use it for yourself (to create images via Invoke Ai).Two of my favorite checkpoints currently allow sharing merges: <a target="_blank" rel="ugc" href="https://civarchive.com/models/1593793?modelVersionId=2325846">Impossible Pie</a> and <a target="_blank" rel="ugc" href="https://civarchive.com/models/1945811/semi-real-illustrious-or-mm">Semi-Real</a> by "mommymia". Many thanks to "mommymia" for these great checkpoints and for allowing me to share the merges!Since I wanted to try to make the merge a little more in the direction of realistic checkpoints, I mixed the two mentioned checkpoints with <a target="_blank" rel="ugc" href="https://civarchive.com/models/189109/photopedia-xl">PhotoPedia XL</a> by "C3RBERUS" and <a target="_blank" rel="ugc" href="https://civarchive.com/models/1675671/hyphoria-real-illu">Hyphoria Real</a> by "ecaj".To execute the workflow, I now needed two LoRAs and opted for <a target="_blank" rel="ugc" href="https://civarchive.com/models/123342/sdxl-detail-enhancedsimplified">SDXL Detail Enhanced/Simplified</a> by "ritanosonoac554" and <a target="_blank" rel="ugc" href="https://civarchive.com/models/122359/detail-tweaker-xl">Detail Tweaker XL</a> by "w4r10ck". I also needed a <a target="_blank" rel="ugc" href="https://civarchive.com/api/download/models/290640?type=VAE">VAE</a>.As a result, I obtained a checkpoint that is very close to photorealism, yet still retains a touch of semi-realism. The checkpoint's style favors close-ups.Addendum:The hybrid version consists of <a target="_blank" rel="ugc" href="https://civarchive.com/models/1593793?modelVersionId=2325846">Impossible Pie</a>, <a target="_blank" rel="ugc" href="https://civarchive.com/models/189109/photopedia-xl">PhotoPedia XL</a>, <a target="_blank" rel="ugc" href="https://civarchive.com/models/1945811/semi-real-illustrious-or-mm">Semi-Real</a>, and <a target="_blank" rel="ugc" href="https://civarchive.com/models/1266656/perfection-25d-ilxl-illustrious-xl-nsfw-sfw-checkpoint">Perfection 2.5D</a> by "6tZ". The semi-realistic version consists of <a target="_blank" rel="ugc" href="https://civarchive.com/models/1593793?modelVersionId=1851021">Blueberry Pie</a>, <a target="_blank" rel="ugc" href="https://civarchive.com/models/1675671/hyphoria-real-illu">Hyphoria Real</a>, <a target="_blank" rel="ugc" href="https://civarchive.com/models/1945811/semi-real-illustrious-or-mm">Semi-Real</a>, and <a target="_blank" rel="ugc" href="https://civarchive.com/models/1266656/perfection-25d-ilxl-illustrious-xl-nsfw-sfw-checkpoint">Perfection 2.5D</a>. The 3xSemi-Merge version consists of <a target="_blank" rel="ugc" href="https://civarchive.com/models/1945811/semi-real-illustrious-or-mm">Semi-Real</a>, <a target="_blank" rel="ugc" href="https://civarchive.com/models/1266656/perfection-25d-ilxl-illustrious-xl-nsfw-sfw-checkpoint">Perfection 2.5D</a> and <a target="_blank" rel="ugc" href="https://civarchive.com/models/1694539/spectacular-25d-ilxl-illustrious-xl-nsfwsfw">Spectacular 2.5D</a>. The 4xSemi-Merge version consists of <a rel="ugc" href="https://civarchive.com/models/1593793?modelVersionId=2325846">Impossible Pie</a>, <a rel="ugc" href="https://civarchive.com/models/1945811/semi-real-illustrious-or-mm">Semi-Real</a>, <a rel="ugc" href="https://civarchive.com/models/1266656/perfection-25d-ilxl-illustrious-xl-nsfw-sfw-checkpoint">Perfection 2.5D</a> and <a rel="ugc" href="https://civarchive.com/models/1694539/spectacular-25d-ilxl-illustrious-xl-nsfwsfw">Spectacular 2.5D</a>.

LovingPhi's Merges

Suggested positive prompts:3D, semi-realistic, 8k, pretty blushing beauty, (((anatomically perfect))), (((perfect detailed beautiful face 8k))), (((perfect face))), happy looking eyes, (ultra detailed eyes), (face close to viewer), looking at viewer, shiny skin, kawaii, very awa, adorable bright eyes, 1girl, solo, masterpiece, best quality, amazing quality, very aesthetic, high resolution, ultra-detailed, absurdres, newest, scenery, beautiful detailed eyes, portrait, intricate details, absurdres, Prompt, BREAK, depth of field, volumetric lighting,Suggested negative prompts:lowres, bad anatomy, (worst quality:1.8), low quality, hands bad, (normal quality:1.3), bad hands, mutated hands and fingers, extra finger, extra legs, duplicate, cropped, jpeg, artifacts, long body, mutated, disfigured, bad proportions, bad feet, ugly, text font ui, missing limb, black bars, ugly hands, extra fingers, logo, patreon username, text, watermark, extra toes,I use Euler A, 40 Steps, CFG 8, Standard VAE, FP32 for my pictures.

lovingphisMerges_3xsemiMerge.safetensors

3xSemi-Merge

4xSemi-Merge

Semi-Real

Real/Semi-Real/Hybrid

PhotoReal

My checkpoint is a merge of <a target="_blank" rel="ugc" href="https://civarchive.com/models/1945811/semi-real-illustrious-or-mm">Semi-Real MM</a>, <a target="_blank" rel="ugc" href="https://civarchive.com/models/1694539/spectacular-25d-ilxl-illustrious-xl-nsfwsfw">Spectacular 2.5D</a> and <a target="_blank" rel="ugc" href="https://civarchive.com/models/1266656/perfection-25d-ilxl-illustrious-xl-nsfw-sfw-checkpoint">Perfection 2.5D</a>.When deciding which checkpoints to combine, I first create an image with each potential checkpoint. All comparison images are created using the same LoRAs and prompts. Then I compare which lighting, face shape, body shape, color depth, etc., might work well together or not.Therefore, I decided to proceed similarly with my demo images. I took the prompts from promotional images of the base checkpoints.Suggested Negative Prompts:lowres, bad anatomy, (worst quality:1.8), low quality, hands bad, (normal quality:1.3), bad hands, mutated hands and fingers, extra finger, extra legs, duplicate, cropped, jpeg, artifacts, long body, mutated, disfigured, bad proportions, bad feet, ugly, text font ui, missing limb, black bars, ugly hands, extra fingers, logo, patreon username, text, watermark, extra toes,I use Euler A, 40 Steps, CFG 8, no Refiner, built-in VAE.You can find my Checkpoint on <a rel="ugc" href="https://pixai.art/de/model/1990667657984292947">Pixai</a>, too.

LovingPhi 3xSemi-Merge

My Checkpoint is a merge of three semi-realistic Checkpoints. It's good in close-ups, seems to have problems rendering hands, and has good lighting effects and depth of detail.

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