Anisotropic Diffusion
Perona and Malik proposed this in 1990: smoothing that flows along regions but stops at edges. It reduces noise while keeping boundaries sharp, giving a smooth cartoon-like look.
Spot it
- 01Smoothed flat regions
- 02Sharp edge boundaries
- 03Cartoon-like simplification
Why it happens
The image is repeatedly blurred like heat spreading, but the diffusion strength falls near strong gradients, so smoothing happens inside regions and not across edges.
Recreate it in Pixio
Image edit prompt“Apply Perona–Malik anisotropic diffusion to this image: flat areas progressively smoothed into clean gradients while strong edges remain crisp, noise and texture removed, a simplified cartoon-like finish with soft shading inside shapes. Keep the original subject and composition.”
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