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Hyper-SD XL: one-to-eight-step SDXL with a flexible LoRA

Topic: Models
By Captain
Published 2026-10-02
Hyper-SD from ByteDance accelerates SDXL checkpoints to as few as one step. Learn which variant to pick, the CFG and sampler rules, and how to combine it with checkpoints and LoRAs without losing quality.

Overview

Hyper-SD is ByteDance's trajectory-segmented consistency distillation. As a
LoRA
it attaches to any
SDXL
checkpoint
and makes it converge in 1, 2, 4 or 8 steps. The catalog's hyper-xl entry is tuned to raise generation speed dramatically while keeping the checkpoint's style.
Compared with SDXL-Lightning, Hyper-SD has a CFG-preserving variant that tolerates a guidance scale of 3-5, which keeps
negative prompts
useful.

Reference

Name
Type
What it is
LoRA weight
0.8-1.0
1.0 for the plain variant; 0.8 can soften over-sharpening when stacking LoRAs.
Steps
1-8
4 or 8 for quality. The 1-step variant needs the TCD
sampler
.
CFG
1 or 3-5
1 for the standard LoRA; 3-5 for the CFG-preserving variant.
Sampler
Euler / TCD
Euler with sgm_uniform at 4-8 steps; TCD for 1-2 steps with eta 0.3.
Resolution
1024
Standard SDXL sizes.
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Step by step

  1. Attach Hyper-SD XL at 1.0 to your SDXL checkpoint.
  2. Choose 8 steps, Euler, sgm_uniform, CFG 1 for your first run.
  3. If you need a negative prompt to work, switch to the CFG-preserving variant and set CFG to 4.
  4. Add your style or character LoRAs at 0.6-0.8.
  5. Use the 1-step variant only for live previews; move to 4-8 steps for anything you keep.

Examples

Realistic checkpoint, 8 steps

candid photo of a street violinist in a snowy square, warm string lights, shallow depth of field, Fujifilm color
Hyper-SD XL 1.0, 8 steps, CFG 1, Euler, sgm_uniform

CFG-preserving with a negative prompt

illustration of a greenhouse full of carnivorous plants, botanical plate style, soft watercolor
Negative: text, frame, border. Hyper-SD XL CFG variant 1.0, 8 steps, CFG 4

Creative idea: live sketch loop

loose charcoal sketch of a dancer mid-turn, gestural lines, white paper
1-step variant with TCD for live preview, then 8 steps for the keeper

Tips

  • Hyper-SD keeps more of the checkpoint's color grading than Lightning; it is the better choice for stylized models.
  • At 8 steps you can run hires fix at 0.35 denoise for a clean 2048 image in seconds.
  • Two acceleration LoRAs never belong in the same graph.
  • If detail looks smeared, raise steps before raising CFG.

Troubleshooting

Flat, washed-out image at 1 step

Why it happens
Wrong sampler for the 1-step variant.

How to fix it
Use TCD with eta 0.3 for 1-2 steps, or move to the 4-step variant with Euler.

Negative prompt is ignored

Why it happens
Standard variant at CFG 1.

How to fix it
Use the CFG-preserving variant at CFG 3-5.

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Questions

Hyper-SD or Lightning?

Both are excellent. Lightning is slightly sharper at 4 steps; Hyper-SD keeps style and lets you keep CFG.

Does it work with Pony checkpoints?

Yes. Expect the score_ tags to behave normally; use 8 steps for detailed scenes.

Links and sources

Models in this guide

Written by
Captain

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