Random experiment(s) seemed to have fixed the double-exposed eyes issue.
This morning I generated a batch of Freyja images with the usual setup (no Loras again). But I did not select the Hires Fix option in the Generation tab. So I received several 1024x1024 images. Then I toddled over to the Extras tab, Batch Processing, Drag-Dropped said images into the window, selected 4x Ultra Sharp as the first up-scaler, left the rest as is, and clicked Generate.
So far, the Extras tab process has delivered a bunch of 2048x2048 images with no overall loss in quality (except for some blurred / low-res skin textures), and almost perfect eyes. Further tinkering with the Extras’ Up-scaler options might yield better results. The total image generation time is much shorter too.
TL;DR. The solution was staring at me the whole time. I’m over here, ya twat ~ The Extras Tab.
Oh, I installed the A-Detailer! extension for A1111, and I used the face-mesh-eyes-only mask option. That may have helped too.
Yesterday I experimented with Comfy-UI as an alternative to A1111…Drag-Dropping completed images into the Comfy-UI canvas to auto-generate the node-tree layouts…Mediocre results and longer image generation times (compared to average A1111 times). Yet no double-exposed eyes (yay?). Anyway, could do better if I understood how the nodes worked. But too lazy to learn for now.
Late Update (4-1-2024):
Recently learnt of a free AI up-scaler, local install program, called Upscayl.
Did some experiments with digital (real world) photos and some recent non-upscaled SDXL images. I’m impressed so far. Upscayl can sharpen and brightness-adjust images, and add some details (and no double-exposed eyes). I think the single image processing time (for 2x upscale) is almost the same for SDXL’s Extras 2x Upscale.
Oh, there are some rumours that Mid Journey is going to develop text-to-3D and text-to-animation / video. The latter might be available late January. 2024 should be fun for the AI hobbyists among us.