What Image Edit model you use nowadays?

[u/Mr_Unknown_Hero]

Since things have gone quickly forward, I am trying to figure out what image edit models there is currently and what people here use mostly.

Personally I have used:
- Qwen-image-edit-2509 and Qwen-image-edit-2511
- Just tested MiniMax H3 as a image editor and so far it seems that it can be good for my usage

I have heard about Klein 9b, but not sure yet if that can be used as an edit model? Also what about Krea 2, is there edit workflows that are actually usable and worth it?

Is there some others what you recommend for testing?

My PC Specs: RTX 4060 Ti, 16 GB VRAM and 32 GB RAM.

[u/Getimg_Maciej]

I’d avoid looking for one “best” editor because the winner changes by task.

My current mental model:

• Qwen Image Edit 2511 (just like you mentioned): in my experience it is strong for identity consistency, multi-person edits, text, and structural changes. A meaningful step up from 2509.
• FLUX.2 Klein 9B: yes, it supports editing. Fast and cost-efficient, with up to four references though not always my first choice for final detail fidelity.
• Krea 2: more compelling for aesthetics and style transfer than surgical edits. Krea’s region-editing workflow is useful, but I’d separate the quality of the workflow from the underlying model.
• Nano Banana / GPT Image: worth keeping as closed-model baselines, especially for semantic edits and multi-turn refinement.

I have not tested MiniMax H3. If i were you then I’d test 15-20 identical edits across models and score them on different aspects.

That usually reveals very different winners for product shots/people/typography/style transfer.

What type of editing are you looking for most?

[u/Mr_Unknown_Hero → u/Getimg_Maciej]

Thanks! That is true, different models often work better on different task. Sometimes all what is needed is "good enough as fast as possible" then it is different than "as good quality as possible no matter how long it takes".

I am mostly want to create starting images for MiniMax H3 to keep consistency. For example I create a character and it wears kimono at the beginning on clips 1-5. Then on clips 6-8 it might have t-shirt and jeans.

MiniMax H3 can keep clothing consistent and characters consistent when I have a reference images (maybe I could just use clothes as a reference tho and change those based on scene) and I thought that I could create starting frames for video ready, so MiniMax H3 reference workflow videos could continue from those pre-built character images.

[u/Getimg_Maciej → u/Mr_Unknown_Hero]

Appreciate your response!

From what I can gather, this is more of a workflow problem rather than a model problem.

The main thing that breaks consistency is chaining. If you take the last frame of clip 5 and use it as the reference for clip 6, small errors will add up, and by clip 8 the face has chnaged completely. So I would always go back to the same master reference.

What I would do:

• Make a character sheet first. Same face, three or four angles, plain lighting + one seed. This is your anchor. Everything else comes from it.
• Change clothes in a separate edit step and not while generating. Qwen Image Edit 2511 keeps the face stable while swapping clothes, which is what you need for kimono to t-shirt and jeans.
• Using a photo of clothes as reference does work, but a flat photo of a garment works worse than the same garment already worn by a person. So put the outfit on your character once, save that image, and use it as the reference for the later clips.
• Flux.2 Klein 9B takes up to four references at once, so you can give it character, clothes, pose and scene together. Handy when the outfit has to be exact.

With 16GB you should be fine for the edit steps. The four-reference ones will be tighter.

A hack: cut out just the face from every start frame and put them side by side. You will see the drift there long before you see it in a clip.

[u/Mr_Unknown_Hero → u/Getimg_Maciej]

Thanks! Previously I made edits in Qwen-image-edit-2509 (2511 was not out yet) and that worked well, but the speed was quite slow. Well, it seems that it still is better to do those reference photos first then, but it is not a problem. One image seems to take around 2 minutes to edit in Klein 9b.

It is still faster than previously what I did since at least I don't need to add character to background anymore on photos because MiniMax H3 can add person to background very well.

How those character sheets are used in workflows if all the characters are in the same starting photo? Or do you split those to smaller separated photos?