Getting Started with Stable Diffusion Locally via Stability Matrix

Stability Matrix is ​​a program designed to make it easier to install and use various Stable Diffusion applications on MacOS and Windows. It can be installed with just a few clicks, and all sorts of Stable Diffusion webUIs, such as Fooocus, A1111, and ComfyUI, can be installed within It.

Installation

Before we get started, keep in mind that Stable Diffusion, its models, and the images you generate take a lot of space on your drive (a common installation might be around 15GB, but can quickly rise to 100GB if you add multiple WebUIs, models, extensions etc.). Thus, make sure to have some free space on your drive. Alternatively, you can run the portable version of Stability Matrix (at least on Windows) from an external SSD . We used a SanDisk Extreme Portable SSD with about 1000MB/s reading and writing speed without any noticeable change in performance.

We first download the installation file from the official Stability Matrix website. All of the following steps are practically identical between MacOS and Windows.

After downloading the installation file, we can execute it. The operating system may note that this is an unknown application. As always, use is at your own risk. Stability Matrix then recognises the system and adjusts some parameters in the background to optimise Stable Diffusion later.

It is advisable to choose a portable installation. This means that all files are collected centrally in a folder. We can then simply transfer this folder to another PC, for example.

Now, in the next step, we can select a Stable Diffusion WebUI. Here is a brief overview of some of the biggest UIs:

• Fooocus has a very simple interface and can generally produce high-quality images, but it is also somewhat limited in some functions. If you're new to Stable Diffusion, Fooocus makes for a nice entry-point.
• The Stable Diffusion WebUI from AUTOMATIC1111 is, in many ways, "the standard" when it comes to Stable Diffusion apps. It allows you to control the most important parameters and can be adapted to your needs with extensions.
• ComfyUI is a bit more difficult to get started with, but its node-based system offers the most customisation options.

In the following, we will install the Stable Diffusion WebUI (short A1111), but the setup is practically identical for all WebUIs.

In the next step, we can download some of the popular SDXL and SD15 models to generate images later. However, you don't have to select a model here. You can still install models later. In our case, we won't select a model for now, so we can search for and install a model ourselves later.

Popular Models

Stable Diffusion 1.5 (faster, but lower quality)

• DreamShaper 8 (selected here in the screenshot) [Link]
• CyberRealistic [Link]

Stable Diffusion XL (slower, but higher quality)

• Juggernaut XL [Link]
• ZavyChromaXL [Link]

The installation is then carried out in the background. This can take a few minutes. Depending on your internet connection, downloading the model, in particular, can take quite a long time due to its file size (3 to 8 GB).

The download icon at the bottom left of the interface allows us to check the current status of the installation and the model download. This applies to the initial installation and when we install additional models later.

Downloading Models

One of the advantages of Stability Matrix is ​​that the app allows you to share models between different applications very easily. For example, we can install Fooocus, A1111 and ComfyUI and use all models equally in all WebUIs.

The currently installed models can be accessed via the Checkpoints page in the sidebar.

If we did not select a model to download during the initial installation or want to install models later, we can select the Model Browser in the left sidebar. This takes us to a gallery view that initially shows the highest-rated models from CivitAI.

For each model, we see a preview image, the model type (e.g., Checkpoint and LORA), and the base model (e.g., XL 1.0 and 1.5). As mentioned above, 1.5 and XL differ in that 1.5 is faster, but XL can produce higher-quality images. In our case, we install ZavyChromaXL. Checkpoint models are "full" models, which we can use to generate images. LoRAs (Low-Rank Adaptation of Large Language Models) are smaller models that we can use in addition to Checkpoints. They are typically used to add specific styles or objects that the Checkpoint might "not know".

If we click on the model tile, a preview with further options appears. Here, we can browse example images, select a special version of the Checkpoint, determine the download path, and read the model description.

We can leave the download path as it is. Further helpful information can be found in the model description. Many models indicate which keywords and settings produce the best results. For ZavyChromaXL, for example, the model distributor shares with us the information that the DPM++ 3MSDE sampler produces the best results with an exponential schedule, which differs slightly from the A1111 standard settings, for example.

"Download Failed" Fix

We may get an error message with some models that the download cannot be carried out. This is because some models require you to have a CivitAI account. To be able to download all models, we can follow the following steps:

• First, we need a CivitAI account, which we can create for free.
• We navigate to account management using the following link. There, we scroll down to the bottom to the menu item API Keys and click on + Add API Key.
• We enter a name for our API key and click on Save.
• We get our API key. We should keep this secret and write it down somewhere, as we cannot access it again later.
• Once we have written down and copied the key, we can return to the Stability Matrix. There, we click on Settings and then go to Accounts.
• In Accounts, we find the menu item CivitAI and a Connect button.
• Once we have clicked the Connect button, we can paste our API key and complete the process by clicking Connect.
• Now, Connected should appear next to CivitAI, and we should be able to download all models normally.

Downloading LoRAs

The installation process for LoRAs is practically identical to that for checkpoints. All we have to do is select LORA instead of Checkpoint in the filter options. Keep in mind that LoRAs are only compatible with Checkpoint models that are trained on the same base model, i.e. SD1.5 LoRAs can only be used with SD1.5 Checkpoints, and only SDXL LoRAs can be used with SDXL Checkpoints. Below is an illustrated example:

Packages

We can find our installed Stable Diffusion applications on the Packages page and install new apps using the + Add Package button at the bottom. Each package has three more icons (, , ) and a Launch button. We can install updates for the app with the arrow icon when they are available. We can change some settings with the gear icon , but these are usually automatically adapted to the current system by Stability Matrix. We can install, uninstall and update extensions for the respective app with the puzzle icon . With the Launch button, we can start the app.

Installing Extensions

If we click on the puzzle icon , we see a list of indexed extensions. Although there are other extensions available for A1111 on the internet, the list in Stability Matrix is already quite extensive. If we wish to install a specific extension, we can simply enter the extension name in the search bar and select the checkbox. This can be done for multiple extensions at once. Once we have chosen all the extensions we want to install, we can click on the Import button. This will automatically download and install all the selected extensions the next time we start the app.

List of useful extensions for A1111

• ADetailer
• Stable Di
ffusion Webui Civitai Helper
• Infinite Image Browsing
• Lobe Theme
• ControlNet
• Clip Interrogator
• OpenPose Editor

In the Installed Extensions tab, we can check which extensions are already installed and update or uninstall them there:

Starting Stable Diffusion Apps via Stability Matrix

If we click on the Launch button of a Stable Diffusion App on the Packages page, a terminal opens within Stability Matrix that carries out the necessary steps to start the WebUI via a local server. Once these preparatory steps have been completed, either the default browser opens automatically, or we can manually open the web interface of the Stable Diffusion App using the Open Web UI button.

Important: If we close Stability Matrix, the Stable Diffusion App, which is run by Stability Matrix, also closes.

If we want to close the Stable Diffusion App again, we can click the Stop button in Stability Matrix.

Finding Models and Output Images

In the same folder where the StabilityMatrix.exe file is located, we find a folder called Data (on MacOS, the Data folder is located in the system's Applications folder). All models etc. are located in the Data folder. Your generated images are also saved there. Either in Data/Images or Data/Packages/stable-diffusion-webui/outputs.

Conclusion

We personally love Stability Matrix. We started working with the basic installations of each Stable Diffusion app, which quickly became messy and complicated to navigate. Stability Matrix makes this all just a little less messy and streamlines the process of installing new packages, models, and extensions. It's a great way to take another threshold away from getting started with Stable Diffusion on your local machine. We hope this works just as well for you as it currently does for us!