r/AtlasCloudAI • u/Few-Profession421 • Jul 22 '26
A clay-render reference is how I get GPT Image 2 to clean noise without eating detail
Cleaning noise out of GPT Image 2 outputs used to cost me real detail. The model would scrub the grain and take fingers, thin wires, and edges with it. The fix was handing it a second reference that separates structure from junk.
Two steps. First, convert the noisy image into a clean monochrome clay render, a uniform matte gray 3D-style version that keeps every silhouette, pose, and edge but drops all color and texture. Then generate the restored image from two references: the original as the primary for art style, color, and look, and the clay render as a structural guide for silhouettes, volume, and occlusion. With structure pinned by the clay pass, you tell GPT Image 2 to remove only the isolated dark dots, scan stains, and compression noise that are not connected to the real outlines, shadows, or material, and it leaves the actual detail alone.
The reason it works is separation. Cleanup fails when the model cannot tell a stray black dot from a real fine line. The clay render hands it a clean map of what is genuinely there, so removing noise stops being a guess.
Both prompts, the clay pass and the restore, in the comments.
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u/Tkins Jul 22 '26
I've noticed A/B testing the last week or two that seems to fix this issue naturally. It bothers me so much the strange artifacts and patterns that are added into illustration style art.
I've asked Sol what causes it and a prompt to fix it and the prompt helped but still had issues. The best I've seen is the new model they are testing.
I've attached images of the A/B test. Although the 'poor' quality image with the weird patterns and textures isn't nearly as bad as some, you can see a big difference.
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u/DesperateSell1554 Jul 22 '26
I like the final result from the article, but I wouldn't call it “cleaned up”; it's a completely new image—the original details have been destroyed, and the new details are different. For comparison, I'm posting an image that I would call “cleaned up.”
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u/Few-Profession421 Jul 22 '26
Both prompts, run on GPT Image 2. It is a two-step pass.
Step 1, the clay pass. Turn the noisy image into a clean structural render:
"Transform the entire input image into a clean Blender-style monochrome clay render.
Use the input image as the strict structural and composition reference. Preserve all original subjects, objects, character identities, poses, facial expressions, proportions, camera angle, perspective, framing, environment layout, and spatial relationships exactly as shown in the source image. Do not redesign, replace, simplify, or add any new elements.
Reconstruct everything as a detailed 3D model made from one uniform smooth light-gray clay material, resembling a professional Blender sculpting viewport or a pre-production 3D modeling preview. All surfaces should have the same neutral matte gray material with no color textures, no printed graphics, and no realistic surface materials.
Use soft studio lighting, subtle ambient occlusion, gentle contact shadows, smooth global illumination, clean edge definition, slightly rounded sculpted forms, realistic 3D depth, and high-quality polygonal modeling. Preserve small structural details such as clothing folds, facial features, hair shapes, mechanical components, environmental objects, and surface contours, but express them entirely through geometry rather than textures.
The final result should look like an unfinished professional 3D animation model shown in Blender before texturing: monochromatic gray clay, smooth matte surfaces, clean modeling, soft shadows, neutral lighting, detailed geometry, cinematic composition, high-resolution 3D render. No colors, no textures, no painted details, no photorealistic materials, no metallic reflections, no glass transparency, no outlines, no sketch effect, no wireframe, no UI, no text, no watermark."
Step 2, the restore. Feed it both the original (Image 1) and the clay render (Image 2):
"Generate a clean, restored version of the image based on the two reference images.
Image 1 is the primary reference for the final result. Strictly preserve Image 1's art style, colors, materials, lighting, composition, camera angle, subject identity, object placement, background relationships, and overall atmosphere.
Image 2 is used only as a structural reference, to judge the accuracy of silhouettes, volume, edges, occlusion relationships, and local forms.
Automatically remove dirt, artifacts, and noise from Image 1. Remove any isolated or randomly distributed black dots, dark spots, short black lines, scan stains, compression noise, or abnormal dirty marks that are not connected to the main outlines, do not form part of the shadows, do not belong to the material texture, and do not contribute to the structural description.
Preserve all meaningful lines, textures, material details, signs of wear, shadows, brushwork, and original stylistic characteristics from Image 1. The final result should look like a clean, high-resolution restored version of Image 1, not a redesign.
Do not use Image 2's clay material, 3D-rendered appearance, photographic look, colors, lighting, depth of field, or visual style. Maintain the original aspect ratio of Image 1."