⚡ Illustrious Workflow as of version 18
🛠️ Purpose & Design Philosophy
This workflow is a high-fidelity environment built for Illustrious XL. It prioritizes stability and professional texture over generation speed. It follows an "all-in-one" philosophy: configure your prompts, hit queue, and let the workflow handle the multi-stage refinement from start to finish.
Not for Speed: This is a heavy-duty refinement tool. If you want 2-second previews, use a basic SDXL workflow.
Personal Use: Built for my specific production needs. It is shared as-is for those who want a "set-and-forget" pipeline for Illustrious.
All-in-One Logic: The workflow handles generation, detailing, and upscaling in one continuous pass.
🚀 Key Features & 2026 Logic
Global Model Patching (RescaleCFG): Includes a pre-configured RescaleCFG patch (Multiplier: 0.7) applied globally. This acts as "HDR Insurance," preventing the "deep-fried" or over-saturated look common in high-CFG Illustrious runs.
Detail Daemon Sampler: Integrated to enhance structural depth. In this version, it is tuned to start at 0.4 to preserve the core Illustrious character proportions while sharpening hair and eye details.
Hybrid Upscale Strategy: * Group Bypass Switch: Easily toggle between a Pixel-only (Lanczos) path for flat anime styles and an Upscale-Model path for 2.5D/highly detailed renders.
Ultimate SD Upscale: Re-draws the upscaled canvas at a 0.35 denoise to lock in fine textures.
Power LoRA Loader: Manage multiple Illustrious-specific LoRAs without messy wiring.
Triple Detailer Groups: 3-stage targeted refinement for faces, hands, and clothing using standard detection models.
CivitAI Meta-Sync: Images are saved with full metadata (Model, LoRAs, Sampler info) for automatic site parsing.
⚠️ Disclaimer & Compatibility
Install at Your Own Risk: Custom nodes can break your environment. I am not responsible for troubleshooting your specific installation.
ComfyUI Portable: Built and tested on the Portable version. Desktop app users may face additional hurdles.
The "Your Version" Factor: Your node versions and environment are 99.9% likely to differ from mine.
Nodes 2.0: I do not recommend using Nodes 2.0. It creates unpredictable UI behavior; I will not provide support for issues involving this feature.
🤝 Support & Boundaries
No DMs: DMs are disabled due to repeat spam. Please check the Discussions tab below; most questions have already been answered.
Modifications: You are free to hack this workflow apart. However, you are responsible for fixing it if it breaks.
Custom Requests: I do not make private workflows. If you need a custom solution, post a Bounty on CivitAI. There are many talented creators ready to help you for a fee.
Description
v11g changes
This is a continuation of v11f (not the alt version)
Added a Group Bypass node for Load VAE and Image to Image
This should make them easier to toggle on/off
If your checkpoint/model does not have a VAE baked in, you will need to enable the Load VAE group and make sure you have your VAE model selected.
(re)Added Detail Daemon to the initial KSampler
The settings are set to my preferences
Detail Daemon will be toggled off by default
Does it make a difference? Yes.
The settings on Dynamic Thresholding have been tweaked
The Divide CFG Value has been set to 3. If you are using this as-is, remember that your CFG value needs to be triple the normal. You can change the “b” value in the Divide CFG Value node to whatever you prefer.
If the workflow stops abruptly after the upscale portion
Locate the Impact Scheduler Adapter nodes in the Watermark Detection and Removal and Detailer groups and delete them.
Next, if the detailer nodes have a noodle going into the scheduler, disconnect the noodle and set the scheduler manually in each detailer node.
V11f-alt “fixed” this but I do not plan on continuing with that version.
If you are running into an error with the Basic Scheduler node, then I am not sure what to tell you.
This is a standard Comfy Core node that is included in ComfyUI. You will have to troubleshoot that on your own or reach out to the ComfyUI devs on their project page.
Initial sample images were generated with Dynamic Thresholding, CFG Zero Star, and Detail Daemon enabled.
Upscale model used: 2x-AnimeSharpV4_RCAN. (Made by the same person who made UltraSharp and AnimeSharp)
Total time from start to finish is approximately 200 seconds on a 5060ti. YMMV depending on settings and what hardware you have.