What is a good CFG scale?

Around 7 for most models. Values from 5 to 9 are the usual working range; go higher only when a specific prompt is genuinely being ignored.

Is CFG scale the same as guidance scale?

Yes. CFG is short for classifier-free guidance, and interfaces use either name for the same control.

What happens if guidance scale is too high?

The image becomes rigid and over-saturated, with hard edges and blown-out colour. It follows the prompt more literally while looking markedly less like a real photograph.

What happens if guidance scale is too low?

The model drifts toward what it considers most probable and largely ignores your prompt. Results can be pleasant but are not what you asked for.

Should I raise guidance scale if the model ignores my prompt?

Usually not first. A vague prompt is the more common cause, and rewriting it with specific nouns, light and medium does more than turning this up.

Do all models use the same guidance scale range?

No. Newer models tuned for prompt adherence often prefer lower values than older guides suggest, and distilled fast variants sometimes ignore the setting almost entirely.

Does guidance scale affect generation speed?

Not meaningfully. The number of steps and the resolution govern speed; this changes the direction of each step rather than how many there are.

AI image glossary

What is guidance scale (CFG)?

How strongly the model is pushed toward your prompt at each step. Too low and it wanders; too high and the output becomes rigid and over-saturated.

Guidance scale — often labelled CFG scale, for classifier-free guidance — controls how hard the model is pushed toward your prompt at every denoising step. Low values let it drift toward whatever it finds most natural; high values force it to obey the text at the cost of realism. Most models sit comfortably somewhere between 5 and 9.

A brass dial gauge on warm paper with its needle at mid-scale under raking light

CFG scale and guidance scale are the same control

Two names, one slider. CFG stands for classifier-free guidance, which is the technique underneath, and some interfaces expose it under that abbreviation while others use the plainer "guidance scale". If a tutorial tells you to set CFG to 7 and your interface only offers guidance, set guidance to 7 — they are the same number doing the same job.

What actually happens at each step

At every denoising step the model effectively produces two predictions: one conditioned on your prompt and one ignoring it entirely. Guidance scale is the weight applied to the difference between them. At a scale of 1 you get the unconditioned result and your prompt barely registers; raising it exaggerates the direction the prompt was pulling in.

Why very high values look worse rather than more accurate

People reasonably assume that if some prompt adherence is good, more is better, and the output punishes that assumption. Above roughly 12 to 15 most models produce hard edges, blown-out colour, over-saturated contrast and a scorched, poster-like quality. The model is being pushed past the region where its outputs look like photographs, and it obeys by producing something that is technically closer to your words and visibly wrong.

Why very low values ignore you

Below about 3 the model reverts toward its own priors — the images it finds most probable regardless of what you asked. The results are often attractive and have very little to do with your prompt. This is occasionally useful when you want a loose interpretation of a theme rather than a specific picture, and it is a frustrating accident the rest of the time.

Where to start, and what to change first

Start at 7 and change your prompt before you change this. Guidance scale is a blunt instrument, and most complaints that "the model ignored my prompt" come from a vague prompt rather than a low setting. When the prompt is genuinely specific and still not being followed, try 9 or 10 before going higher, and consider that newer models tuned for prompt adherence often want lower values than older guides recommend.

Guidance scale at a glance

Also called: CFG scale
Usual range: 5 to 9
Sensible default: 7
Too high: Rigid, over-saturated
Too low: Ignores your prompt
Fix the prompt first: Usually the real cause

Related terms

What guidance scale sits next to

What is a sampler?How each step is taken.

what is a seedThe starting noise.

Negative promptWhere a negative channel exists.

build a promptFix the prompt first.

What is FLUX.1?Newer models often want less.

the glossaryEvery term, defined.

Put it to use

Where this control appears

generate from a descriptionThe main generator — text to finished image.Open Prompt Gallery120 images with the exact prompts that made them.Open Image to ImageStart from a picture you already have.Open AI photo editingChange part of a photo, keep the rest.Open upscale to 4KEnlarge to 4K without the smearing.Open AI Photo EnhancerExposure, noise and old-photo restoration.Open masked object removalMasked removal that rebuilds the background.Open Blur BackgroundDepth-aware, not a uniform filter.Open Colorize PhotoPlausible colour for black and white.Open AI Logo GeneratorMarks that still read at 16 pixels.Open AI Tattoo GeneratorDesigns that survive being tattooed.Open generate illustrationIllustration and painting, not photographs.Open generate a headshotStudio-grade portraits without a studio.Open the photo specificationThe exact specification, and how to meet it.Open restyle a roomRestyle a room you can photograph.Open terms explainedSeed, denoise, inpainting, explained.Open

Guidance scale — questions people ask

What is a good CFG scale?: Around 7 for most models. Values from 5 to 9 are the usual working range; go higher only when a specific prompt is genuinely being ignored.
Is CFG scale the same as guidance scale?: Yes. CFG is short for classifier-free guidance, and interfaces use either name for the same control.
What happens if guidance scale is too high?: The image becomes rigid and over-saturated, with hard edges and blown-out colour. It follows the prompt more literally while looking markedly less like a real photograph.
What happens if guidance scale is too low?: The model drifts toward what it considers most probable and largely ignores your prompt. Results can be pleasant but are not what you asked for.
Should I raise guidance scale if the model ignores my prompt?: Usually not first. A vague prompt is the more common cause, and rewriting it with specific nouns, light and medium does more than turning this up.
Do all models use the same guidance scale range?: No. Newer models tuned for prompt adherence often prefer lower values than older guides suggest, and distilled fast variants sometimes ignore the setting almost entirely.
Does guidance scale affect generation speed?: Not meaningfully. The number of steps and the resolution govern speed; this changes the direction of each step rather than how many there are.

Related AI image terms

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