Model reference · open weights

SSD

Image segmind Text→image 1 build Open weights 12k dl/mo

SSD is an open-weight image model from segmind. SSD-1B (FP32) weighs 2.2 GB; the smallest configuration that runs it is RTX 3060 12 GB.

For self-hosting, compare this build's requirements below with the GPU you plan to rent.

  • SSD-1B is a text-to-image generative model developed by Segmind that uses a diffusion-based architecture.
  • It is a distilled version of Stable Diffusion XL with 1.3 billion parameters, designed to offer a 60% speedup while maintaining high-quality image generation.
  • The model supports multiple output resolutions up to 1024x1024 and is released under the Apache 2.0 license.

Summary of the segmind/SSD-1B model card, 2026-10-01

What it is

Released bysegmind
Released2023-10-19
Parameters1.3B
VRAM2.2 GB for the weights

What it runs on

Memory and cards for SSD-1B (FP32)

2.2 GBweights, file size
1.3 GBbiggest part
5.0 GBworking memory, one 1024² image
537 MBruntime overhead
CardOne imageMemory
RTX 3060 12 GBfits11.6 GB
RTX 4060 Ti 16 GBfits15.4 GB
RTX 3090 24 GBfits23.4 GB
RTX 4090 24 GBfits23.4 GB
RTX 5090 32 GBfits31.0 GB
L40S 48 GBfits44.0 GB
A100 80 GBfits78.2 GB
H100 80 GBfits78.1 GB
RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell 96 GBfits93.8 GB
DGX Spark (GB10) 128 GB unifiedfits107 GB
H200 141 GBfits138 GB
B200 180 GBfits176 GB

From the model card

What segmind says about SSD

Read the model card

📣 Read our technical report for more details on our disillation method

AUTOMATIC1111 compatibility added. Supporting file here

Demo

Try out the model at Segmind SSD-1B for ⚡ fastest inference. You can also try it on 🤗 Spaces

Model Description

The Segmind Stable Diffusion Model (SSD-1B) is a distilled 50% smaller version of the Stable Diffusion XL (SDXL), offering a 60% speedup while maintaining high-quality text-to-image generation capabilities. It has been trained on diverse datasets, including Grit and Midjourney scrape data, to enhance its ability to create a wide range of visual content based on textual prompts.

This model employs a knowledge distillation strategy, where it leverages the teachings of several expert models in succession, including SDXL, ZavyChromaXL, and JuggernautXL, to combine their strengths and produce impressive visual outputs.

Special thanks to the HF team 🤗 especially Sayak, Patrick and Poli for their collaboration and guidance on this work.

Image Comparision (SDXL-1.0 vs SSD-1B)

Usage:

This model can be used via the 🧨 Diffusers library.

Make sure to install diffusers from source by running

pip install git+https://github.com/huggingface/diffusers

In addition, please install transformers, safetensors and accelerate:

pip install transformers accelerate safetensors

To use the model, you can run the following:

from diffusers import StableDiffusionXLPipeline
import torch
pipe = StableDiffusionXLPipeline.from_pretrained("segmind/SSD-1B", torch_dtype=torch.float16, use_safetensors=True, variant="fp16")
pipe.to("cuda")
# if using torch < 2.0
# pipe.enable_xformers_memory_efficient_attention()
prompt = "An astronaut riding a green horse" # Your prompt here
neg_prompt = "ugly, blurry, poor quality" # Negative prompt here
image = pipe(prompt=prompt, negative_prompt=neg_prompt).images[0]

Update: Our model should now be usable in ComfyUI.

Please do use negative prompting, and a CFG around 9.0 for the best quality!

Model Description

Key Features

  • Text-to-Image Generation: The model excels at generating images from text prompts, enabling a wide range of creative applications.

  • Distilled for Speed: Designed for efficiency, this model offers a 60% speedup, making it a practical choice for real-time applications and scenarios where rapid image generation is essential.

  • Diverse Training Data: Trained on diverse datasets, the model can handle a variety of textual prompts and generate corresponding images effectively.

  • Knowledge Distillation: By distilling knowledge from multiple expert models, the Segmind Stable Diffusion Model combines their strengths and minimizes their limitations, resulting in improved performance.

Model Architecture

The SSD-1B Model is a 1.3B Parameter Model which has several layers removed from the Base SDXL Model

Training info

These are the key hyperparameters used during training:

  • Steps: 251000
  • Learning rate: 1e-5
  • Batch size: 32
  • Gradient accumulation steps: 4
  • Image resolution: 1024
  • Mixed-precision: fp16

Multi-Resolution Support

SSD-1B can support the following output resolutions.

  • 1024 x 1024 (1:1 Square)
  • 1152 x 896 (9:7)
  • 896 x 1152 (7:9)
  • 1216 x 832 (19:13)
  • 832 x 1216 (13:19)
  • 1344 x 768 (7:4 Horizontal)
  • 768 x 1344 (4:7 Vertical)
  • 1536 x 640 (12:5 Horizontal)
  • 640 x 1536 (5:12 Vertical)

Speed Comparision

We have observed that SSD-1B is upto 60% faster than the Base SDXL Model. Below is a comparision on an A100 80GB.

Below are the speed up metrics on a RTX 4090 GPU.

Model Sources

For research and development purposes, the SSD-1B Model can be accessed via the Segmind AI platform. For more information and access details, please visit Segmind.

Uses

Direct Use

The Segmind Stable Diffusion Model is suitable for research and practical applications in various domains, including:

  • Art and Design: It can be used to generate artworks, designs, and other creative content, providing inspiration and enhancing the creative process.

  • Education: The model can be applied in educational tools to create visual content for teaching and learning purposes.

  • Research: Researchers can use the model to explore generative models, evaluate its performance, and push the boundaries of text-to-image generation.

  • Safe Content Generation: It offers a safe and controlled way to generate content, reducing the risk of harmful or inappropriate outputs.

  • Bias and Limitation Analysis: Researchers and developers can use the model to probe its limitations and biases, contributing to a better understanding of generative models' behavior.

Downstream Use

The Segmind Stable Diffusion Model can also be used directly with the 🧨 Diffusers library training scripts for further training, including:

export MODEL_NAME="segmind/SSD-1B"
export VAE_NAME="madebyollin/sdxl-vae-fp16-fix"
export DATASET_NAME="lambdalabs/pokemon-blip-captions"

accelerate launch train_text_to_image_lora_sdxl.py 

Quoted from the model card on Hugging Face. The full card is behind the Hugging Face link above.

Running it yourself

Run it on a rented GPU

Rent a machine by the hour. ComfyUI is installed on it. Open ComfyUI through the tunnel: its default workflow loads a checkpoint. Choose this model's file in Load Checkpoint, with the settings its model card gives.

# on your rented machine: pip install diffusers transformers accelerate
import torch
from diffusers import DiffusionPipeline

pipe = DiffusionPipeline.from_pretrained("segmind/SSD-1B", torch_dtype=torch.bfloat16).to("cuda")
image = pipe(prompt="a red bicycle on a cobbled street").images[0]
image.save("/workspace/out.png")
Renting a GPU: connect, tunnels, Python
# on your rented machine (the ssh line is on its page in the console)
# get REPO FILE FOLDER: one file into /workspace/models/FOLDER, where ComfyUI loads it from
get() { hf download "$1" "$2" --local-dir /workspace/hf-files && mkdir -p "/workspace/models/$3" && mv "/workspace/hf-files/$2" "/workspace/models/$3/$4"; }

# the model (4.2 GB)
get segmind/SSD-1B SSD-1B-A1111.safetensors checkpoints

start-comfyui
Renting a GPU: connect, tunnels, ComfyUI
# on your computer, in a second terminal: ComfyUI in your browser at http://localhost:8188
# HOST, PORT and BOOKING are your machine's, from its page in the console
ssh -o HostKeyAlias=axforge-BOOKING -o StrictHostKeyChecking=accept-new -L 8188:localhost:8188 dev@HOST -p PORT
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