SDXL checkpoints for photorealism: a fair comparison method

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One beautiful sample image can hide the exact problem your project keeps hitting. Instead of downloading every promising checkpoint, make a small test set that includes your difficult cases. This guide helps you compare repeatable results, record failures and choose a model for your own portrait or product workflow.

Start from the model family

Stability AI's SDXL model card describes the base model and an optional refiner workflow. Use it to understand the starting architecture before comparing community checkpoints. A checkpoint author's recommended settings may differ; record those differences rather than silently giving one model an easier test.

Download a blank comparison sheet

Download the blank SDXL checkpoint comparison sheet. Save one row for every attempted output, including rejects. Keep the first comparison's brief and compatible settings consistent, then document any model-specific recommendation separately. Define accept or reject rules for the task before generating. The CSV contains no benchmark images, scores or measured winner.

Make a small evaluation sheet

Choose a few tasks you actually need, such as a head-and-shoulders portrait, a full-body pose and an object on a plain background. Decide what counts as acceptable before generating. This is our proposed evaluation method, not an existing benchmark.

• Use consistent prompts and dimensions for the initial comparison.
• Record the checkpoint version, seed, sampler and any adapters.
• Keep failed images alongside successful ones.
• Repeat a promising result across more than one seed.

Separate style from reliability

A dramatic lighting style can make a result look polished while hiding details you need to inspect. Look at small objects, facial details, repeated patterns and areas that require later editing. Mark defects by task. A checkpoint that suits one portrait style is not automatically the best choice for a product catalog.

Keep usage terms with the files

Check the terms on the exact checkpoint and any adapter before using them in a client workflow. Do not assume that all files sharing a base architecture have identical terms. This page replaces an unsupported ranking of RealVisXL, Juggernaut and CyberRealistic; no measured winner is claimed.

Try this next

Use the same baseline-first approach when experimenting with FLUX and LoRAs. Read FLUX in ComfyUI: a practical workflow and LoRA checklist.