Forge for Stable Diffusion Installation Guide

Introduction

• Overview of Forge for Stable Diffusion and its advantages over Automatic 1111.
• Joke: "What do you call a knight that likes to scare people? Surprise AI."

Features of Forge

• Built upon Automatic 1111 but offers enhancements.
• Includes additional tabs like SVD (Stable Video Diffusion), not available in Automatic 1111.
• Faster performance and improved user interface for generating images and videos.
• ControlNet pre-installed with multiple control units available.
• Masking feature for precise control over image generation.

Performance Improvements

• Speed increases:
  • 30-45% speed up with 8GB VRAM GPUs.
  • 60-75% speed up with 6GB VRAM GPUs.
  • Minimal speed increase (3-6%) for high-end GPUs (e.g., 4090).
• Increased capacity for high-resolution generation with ControlNet.

Installation Steps

Two Methods to Install Forge

1. One-Click Package Installation

   • Download from the official source.
   • Use 7-Zip to extract the downloaded file.
   • Run the updater and then the application to launch Forge.

2. Manual Installation (Advanced)

   • Download Dependencies:
     • Install Git and Python 3.10 (do not use 3.11 or later).
   • Clone the Repository:
     • Create a directory for Forge and use Git to clone the repository.
   • Run Forge:
     • Use the command line or navigate to the web UI user bat file to start the application.
     • Auto-launch occurs once the setup finishes.

Configuration

• No additional command line arguments required for customizing Forge.
• Automatically detects GPU specifications to optimize performance.

Adding Models

• Fresh installs will have only one model.
• Models need to be downloaded and placed in the correct directories:
  • Stable Diffusion models in models/stable diffusion/
  • ControlNet models in models/control net/
• Refresh in the interface to view newly added models.

Conclusion

• Navigate the interface to select styles, image sizes, and number of images to generate.
• Encouragement to explore additional resources on Patreon for more guides and styles.