Stable Diffusion Skip Clip
Using Stable Diffusion via an AI art generator is an excellent way to test your creativity, experiment with text-to-artwork prompts, and play around with images and editing to develop unique, unusual and beautiful graphics.
Like the classifier-free guidance scale in Stable Diffusion, Skip Clip is a great tool if you have a specific artwork style in mind or want to design an image that is more creative and less realistic–such as an anime character or an ethereal landscape.
While many AI artwork creatives aim for photorealism or lifelike portraits, advanced AI text-to-image models are capable of generating a broad range of aesthetics and textures, with ever-evolving functionality to aid with image customisation.
What Is the Stable Diffusion Skip Clip Setting?
The quick explanation is that Skip Clip instructs the AI model to skip past several of the standard layers within the CLIP model. This tool reduces processing times and also means the AI produces graphics that are inventive and less precise than you might otherwise expect.
CLIP is a deep learning model that generates text captions to describe the images used in AI training processes. After being trained on vast amounts of data inputs, the model can determine which pictures and styles are associated with a word or phrase and vice versa, reverse engineering input images to produce accurate descriptions.
By choosing the Skip Clip setting, you essentially tell the AI that you want to override some of those layers, which is useful if you’re after a graphic that isn’t entirely literal or has fewer details.
How Does Skip Clip Impact Stable Diffusion Images?
The lower the Skip Clip value you select, the more specific your image output will be, whereas higher Skip Clip settings produce more creative and imaginative graphics.
Most Stable Diffusion base model images have twelve layers, each adding refinement and detail to the finished picture. A graphic developed using the initial few layers will have broad reference points and less detail. In contrast, images become more specific and gain clarity as the CLIP model progresses through the higher layers.
Adjusting the CLIP settings allows you to define how accurate you'd like your completed image to be, with applications in anime graphics, as we've mentioned, and in other areas, such as conceptual artwork and semi-realistic imagery.
Which Skip Clip Settings Should I Use?
The right Skip Clip settings for your next artwork project depend on the amount of optimisation you’re trying to achieve. In terms of the effects on your image, you will find that:
- A Skip Clip value of one means the AI only refers to layer one of the CLIP model, which means your image will be solely based on the input text or phrases you have entered.
- Increasing the value to two likewise instructs the AI to use the initial two CLIP model layers with an illustration that remains abstract and linked to your prompt but with a greater scope of alternative reference points.
- Setting Skip Clip to three produces a graphic with three CLIP model layers, generating a potentially more unexpected output image that will draw on multiple data points within the AI’s knowledge banks.
The tradeoff is that a higher Skip Clip value also means the processing times will increase, and you'll need to wait longer to review or edit your AI artwork. However, the compromise may be worthwhile if you wish to create abstract and distinctive graphics.