Credits: epinikion

https://civitai.com/models/2062551?modelVersionId=2333957

epiCPhotonic XL

Built from the epiCPhotonicXL foundation, was trained with DMD2 bypassed and finetuned directly on that base, making it compatible with every sampler — not just DMD variants.

R1 (Realistic V1) is the strictly photorealistic base of epiCPhotonicXL.

Realism: 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 Flexibility: 🟨🟨⬛⬛⬛ Difficulty: 🟥🟥🟥🟥⬛

It’s built for artists and creators who want real photographs, not paintings - precise lighting, authentic materials, and natural depth with minimal stylization.

R1 enforces a tight creative boundary: it performs best when staying close to reality.

If your prompts aim for surreal, dreamlike, or heavily artistic concepts, expect it to resist - that’s by design.

💡 “R1 rewards discipline. Keep it real, and it will reward you with results indistinguishable from photography.”

⚙️ Recommended Settings

To achieve the signature “R1 look,” use:

🧩 Sampler: 2M

🔄 Schedule Type: KL Optimal

🧮 Steps: 28

🎚️ CFG: 4 (good working range 3.0 – 5.0)

These values produce the most stable balance between realism, sharpness, and lighting fidelity

You can use other Samplers and schedule types, keep in mind to keep the CFG low if it starts to bleed. Also negatives can have a big impact.

✅ Pros

⚡ Extremely efficient upscaling – low step counts (4+)

compatible with almost all samplers

⚠️ Known Flaws

Upscaling lacks crispiness and sharpness

Prompt adherence