ControlNet is a type of model for controlling image diffusion models by conditioning the model with an additional input image. There are many types of conditioning inputs (canny edge, user sketching, human pose, depth, and more) you can use to control a diffusion model. This is hugely useful because it affords you greater control over image generation, making it easier to generate specific images without experimenting with different text prompts or denoising values as much.  
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