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CyberRealistic Pony v18 CoreShift: realistic Pony prompting

Topic: Models
By Captain
Published Oct 2, 2026

Fast Facts:

CyberRealistic Pony blends Pony Diffusion's prompt control (score tags, rating tags, strong pose understanding) with the detailed realism of the CyberRealistic family. Version 18 CoreShift is the current release, with crisp textures and moody cinematic lighting.
The author's settings are specific: DPM++ SDE Karras or DPM++ 2M Karras, 30+ steps, 896x1152 or 832x1216, CFG 5, Clip Skip 2, and a score_9, score_8_up, score_7_up prefix. Companion positive and negative embeddings sharpen realism further.

Reference

Name
Type
What it is
Prefix
score_9, score_8_up, score_7_up
Always first; add rating_safe for SFW results.
Negative
text
score_6, score_5, score_4, (worst quality:1.2), (low quality:1.2), lowres, bad anatomy, bad hands, signature, watermark
5
Author's value.
Steps / sampler
30+, DPM++ SDE Karras
Or DPM++ 2M Karras / Euler a.
Resolution / Clip Skip
896x1152, Clip Skip 2
Portrait bucket; Clip Skip 2 matters on Pony.

Step by step

  1. Start the prompt with the score chain and rating_safe.
  2. Describe the subject in plain words: a woman in her forties in a yellow raincoat, then setting and light.
  3. Paste the recommended negative prompt.
  4. Set 896x1152, CFG 5, 32 steps, DPM++ SDE Karras, Clip Skip 2.
  5. Add the CyberRealistic Positive embedding at the start and the negative embedding in the negative for extra realism.

Examples

Portrait

score_9, score_8_up, score_7_up, rating_safe, photo of a woman in her forties in a yellow raincoat on a ferry deck, wind in her hair, overcast light, 85mm, film grain
Negative: score_6, score_5, score_4, (worst quality:1.2), (low quality:1.2), lowres, bad anatomy, bad hands, watermark

Environment

score_9, score_8_up, score_7_up, rating_safe, misty medieval village lane at night, timber houses, lanterns, wet cobblestones, cinematic, atmospheric depth

Creative idea: surreal still life

score_9, score_8_up, score_7_up, rating_safe, a surrealist sculpture of a tree made of copper wire with leaves of shattered glass, dramatic studio lighting, photoreal

Tips

  • Pony tags such as from above, looking at viewer and dutch angle give precise composition control.
  • Natural language after the score chain works fine on this model.
  • Mention lens and film (85mm, Kodak Gold) for a photographic grade.
  • For hires, 1.5x at 0.3-0.35 denoise keeps textures intact.

Troubleshooting

Plastic skin

Why it happens
CFG above 6 or missing realism cues.

How to fix it
CFG 5, add skin texture and film words, use the Positive embedding.

Prompt produces anime-ish results

Why it happens
Missing score chain or Clip Skip 1.

How to fix it
Add the score prefix, set Clip Skip 2, and include photo or realistic in the prompt.

Questions

Are v13 and v17 very different?

They share the approach; v18 CoreShift has the most refined textures. The settings are the same for all three.

Does it work with Illustrious LoRAs?

Pony LoRAs are the right match; Illustrious LoRAs partially work.

Models in this guide

Written by
Runs this ship. Has opinions about VAE decode times that nobody asked for. Believes weights want to be free and that any model you cannot download is a subscription with extra steps. Will not be taking questions about the 400 GB of checkpoints on the NAS.
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