Soft Edges
A gentle, smoothly varying edge map in which contours fade in and out instead of forming hard lines. Holistically-nested edge detection, introduced by Saining Xie and Zhuowen Tu in 2015, popularized the look for guided generation.
Spot it
- 01Feathered gray contours
- 02Variable line darkness
- 03Dreamy pencil outline
Why it happens
Fuses edge predictions made at several network depths into one grayscale map of edge probability, keeping soft gradations rather than binary thresholds.
Recreate it in Pixio
Image edit prompt“Convert this image into a soft edge map: a black background with smooth, feathered white and light-gray contour lines that vary in brightness and thickness with edge importance, like a soft pencil sketch. Minor details appear faint and major outlines bright. No fills or hard pixel lines. Keep the original subject and composition recognizable.”
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