Z-Image: Powerful and highly efficient image generation model with 6B parameters

>>doener+(OP)
I've done some preliminary testing with Z-Image Turbo in the past week.

Thoughts

- It's fast (~3 seconds on my RTX 4090)

- Surprisingly capable of maintaining image integrity even at high resolutions (1536x1024, sometimes 2048x2048)

- The adherence is impressive for a 6B parameter model

Some tests (2 / 4 passed):

Personally I find it works better as a refiner model downstream of Qwen-Image 20b which has significantly better prompt understanding but has an unnatural "smoothness" to its generated images.

>>vunder+fCk
So does this finally replace SDXL?

Is Flux 1/2/Kontext left in the dust by the Z Image and Qwen combo?

>>echelo+PCk
SDXL has been outclassed for a while, especially since Flux came out.

>>trippl+XEk
Subjective. Most in creative industries regularly still use SDXL.

Once Z-image base comes out and some real tuning can be done, I think it has a chance of replacing it for the function SDXL has

>>aeon_a+iFk
Source?

>>Scrape+0Sk
Most of the people I know doing local AI prefer SDXL to Flux. Lots of people are still using SDXL, even today.

Flux has largely been met with a collective yawn.

The only thing Flux had going for it was photorealism and prompt adherence. But the skin and jaws of the humans it generated looked weird, it was difficult to fine tune, and the licensing was weird. Furthermore, Flux never had good aesthetics. It always felt plain.

Nobody doing anime or cartoons used Flux. SDXL continues to shine here. People doing photoreal kept using Midjourney.

zlacker