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Nova Cartoon XL v6: western cartoon and toon styles on SDXL

Topic: Models
By Captain
Published Oct 3, 2026

Fast Facts:

Nova Cartoon XL v6 by Crody is an Illustrious-based SDXL checkpoint devoted to cartoon and toon looks: bold shapes, clean color, expressive faces, in the spirit of western animation rather than anime.
Author settings: Euler a, 20-30 steps, Clip Skip 1-2, CFG 3-5, prompt template masterpiece, best quality, amazing quality, very aesthetic, high resolution, ultra-detailed, absurdres, newest, scenery, cartoon, toon, {prompt}, BREAK, depth of field, volumetric lighting; negatives include modern, recent, old, oldest, anime, graphic, text, painting, crayon, graphite, abstract, glitch, deformed, mutated. Unedited images are not for commercial use.

Reference

Name
Type
What it is
Template
tags
masterpiece, best quality, amazing quality, very aesthetic, high resolution, ultra-detailed, absurdres, newest, scenery, cartoon, toon, {prompt}, BREAK, depth of field, volumetric lighting
Negative
tags
modern, recent, old, oldest, anime, graphic, text, painting, crayon, graphite, abstract, glitch, deformed, mutated
3-5
Low.
Steps / sampler
20-30, Euler a
Clip Skip
1-2

Step by step

  1. Fill the template with your character or scene.
  2. CFG 4, Euler a, 28 steps.
  3. Paste the negative; anime in the negative is what keeps it toon.
  4. Hires fix 1.5x at 0.4.
  5. Add expressive eyes, annoyed or similar expression tags.

Examples

Character

masterpiece, best quality, amazing quality, very aesthetic, absurdres, newest, cartoon, toon, 1girl, adult, solo, annoyed, expressive eyes, green eyes, long messy black hair, orange jumpsuit, sitting, staring at viewer, BREAK, depth of field, volumetric lighting

Scene

masterpiece, best quality, amazing quality, very aesthetic, scenery, cartoon, toon, a detective's cluttered office at night, venetian blind shadows, a cat on the desk, BREAK, volumetric lighting

Creative idea: show pitch

masterpiece, best quality, cartoon, toon, three adult friends in a food truck, chaotic kitchen, steam, expressive faces, wide shot

Tips

  • Expression tags are followed strongly; it is a character-acting model.
  • Scenery in the template adds backgrounds; remove for sticker-style cutouts.
  • Props and costumes (orange jumpsuit) render boldly.
  • Try 2-3 characters; it handles group shots.

Troubleshooting

Drifts toward anime

Why it happens
anime missing from the negative.

How to fix it
Keep the author's negative list.

Washed-out colors

Why it happens
CFG too low for the scene.

How to fix it
CFG 5.

Questions

Commercial?

Edited images only.

LoRAs?

Illustrious LoRAs at low weight; cartoon-specific ones best.

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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