AI has become so common that there are a million types of AI tools out there for you to test and use in your daily life. One of the fun AI tools will have to be the AI Image Generators. These are fun because the AI will easily generate an image based on the words/text prompts that you give it. Now, there are plenty of AI image generators that you can use for free, as well as some for a monthly subscription.
But, what if I told you that you can make use of an AI image generator for free hosted right away on your PC? Yes! This is possible, and today we will be taking a look at how you, the user, can install and make use of Flux AI on your system.
How to Install and Use Flux AI Model on Your PC for Free
If you’re someone who loves generating AI images and wants to work on how you can improve your text prompts for image generation, then this tutorial is for you. Do note that for this to work properly, your system will require a good enough GPU that can handle generating such images.
So what are we talking about? Well, we will be making use of Stability Matrix and how you can use this service to get Flux AI on your PC for free.
Prerequisites:
First off, you will need to have a PC that has at least 8GB of RAM and more, an SSD as well as an RTX 30 series GPU or better. Additionally, you will also need the following.
- Stability Matrix
- A Flux.1 Model
- VAE File for Flux.1
Download and Install Stability Matrix
First and foremost, you will have to download and install Stability Matrix on your PC. This is a free download that can be done by downloading it from this GitHub page. When you visit the GitHub page, scroll down to the bottom, and just below the screenshot, you will see the download buttons for different operating systems.
Click on the operating system of your choice and the download should begin right away, The ZIP file will be downloaded. So make sure you have a program such as WinRAR, 7-ZIP, or Pea Zip to extract the folder.
Once you have extracted the folder, run the installer but, make sure to install it as a portable version. This makes it super easy for you to later on copy and add files to this folder later without having to hunt too much for the folder locations. Make sure to note down where the Data folder has been created. This will come in useful in the next steps.
Downloading the Flux Model and VAE Files
With the Stability Matrix installed on your PC, it’s time to download the Flux AI model. This is important if you want to generate images using prompt texts with Flux AI. This is a free download, but a slightly large file size You can download the model by visiting this Hugging Face page. You will see a flux1-dev-bnb-nf4-v2.safetensors file. Click on the download icon that is next to it.
For the VAE file, you need to visit this Hugging Face page and click on the download next to where it says ae.safetensors. This will be a small-size download, with the file weighing 335 MB.
Placing The Downloaded Files
Now that you downloaded the Flux VAE and Model files to your PC, it’s time to place them in their respective folders. Forest, copy the model file (the 12GB file) and paste it into the Stability Matrix folder.
This folder is present when you open up the Data folder, followed by Models, and finally Stability Matrix.
Next, you need to copy the VAE file to the VAE folder present inside the Model’s folder under the Data parent folder. The file path will look as follows- Data>Models>VAE.
Now that you have set up the folders, it is time to get Flux AI running via Stability Matrix.
Install Stable Diffusion Web UI
Now with the help of Stability Matrix, we can easily get the Stable Diffusion Web UI package. Here is what you need to do.
Step 1: Launch the Stability Matrix app on your PC.
Step 2: From the sidebar of the app, click on the packages icon.
Step 3: Now a list of packages will be displayed. Download the Stable Diffusion Web UI Forged Package.
Step 4: The download and installation will take some time, so sit back and watch the installation happen.
Step 5: When the installation has taken place, click on the blue launch button. It will take some time for everything to load as it will be the first time.
Step 6: Once everything has been completed, your web browser will open up, and you are ready to make use of Flux AI right away on your desktop.
Now there are just three things that you need to adjust. First, make sure to select the flux radio button next to where it says UI. Next, under the checkpoint box, select the flux v2 model, and third, ensure that the VLE option has ae.safetensors.
Generating Your Image
One thing to note is that it can take time to generate an image for a particular resolution. If you have a higher-end GPU, it will be quicker. A lower-end GPU will be able to generate mid-resolution images quickly. It also depends on the prompt and how well you have detailed it.
You can enter your prompts under the Txt2Image tab and then click on the general button present on the right side. Flux AI also lets you choose from various art styles and if you have generated a low-resolution image, you can make use of the upscale to give you a slightly higher-resolution image.
Closing Thoughts
This concludes everything you need to know on how you can install and make use of Flux AI- the AI image generator on your PC for free. Is this a good AI image generator? Well, generate a few images and test them out by yourself. Personally, this is a great AI tool that runs on my Windows 11 laptop paired with an RTX 3050. Yes, it will be time-consuming to generate high-resolution images, but thanks to the built-in upscale option present, you can generate good or usable resolution images.
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Will this only work with Nvidia GPU’s? Or can we still do thia with an AMD GPU?
Hi Clark, this will also work with select AMD GPUs, but there will be some workaround to get it running.