<h1 id="v1.3">v1.3</h1>Basically just one change: the workflow is now available as a custom node, making it easier to reuse and more adaptable to different image shapes.Anima settings: sampler <code>euler_a</code> / Euler Ancestral, scheduler <code>normal</code>, denoise <code>0.65</code>. Known limitation: with Anima, this workflow currently works reliably only with square images for reasons not yet determined. Portrait inputs may produce blurry results.download node here: <a target="_blank" rel="ugc" href="https://github.com/NotProniss/PixelAnchoredRemaster">https://github.com/NotProniss/PixelAnchoredRemaster</a> or the custom node manager<h1 id="v1.2">v1.2</h1>Big update for Pixel Anchored Remaster.<h3 id="what-changed-in-v1.2">What changed in v1.2</h3>The main improvement is that HiRes Fix now feeds directly into the final Pixel Anchored Remaster pass instead of treating them more separately. This ended up being a huge quality improvement and is basically the core reason v1.2 is better.<h3 id="main-v1.2-changes">Main v1.2 changes</h3><ul><li>HiRes Fix output now becomes the input for the main Pixel Anchored Remaster stage</li><li>switched the final latent upscale method from bicubic to bislerp</li><li>increased final remaster denoise to 0.55</li><li>cleaned up and reorganized the workflow</li></ul><h1 id="v1.1">v1.1</h1>Based on community feedback regarding background softening, v1.1 introduces key mathematical refinements to the pixel-anchor stage to dramatically improve architectural crispness, background preservation, and edge definition—while keeping the main subject completely perfect.<h3 id="what-changed-under-the-hood:">What Changed under the Hood:</h3><ul><li>Resize Interpolation: <code>area</code> ➔ <code>lanczos</code> (Restores sharp geometric lines and window leading)</li><li>Upscale Method: <code>bilinear</code> ➔ <code>bicubic</code> (Cleaner pixel-space translation before the latent pass)</li><li>Remaster KSampler CFG: <code>3</code> ➔ <code>4</code> (Tighter prompt and structural adherence)</li><li>Remaster KSampler Denoise: <code>0.55</code> ➔ <code>0.50</code> (Slightly lower denoise to anchor original details while preventing hallucinations)</li></ul><h1 id="v1">v1</h1> Pixel Anchored Remaster is a 2x remaster workflow built to clean up upscale artifacts without turning into a generic sharpener. It starts from a base image, upscales it with a 2x model, normalizes the result to a fixed canvas, re-encodes it into latent space, and runs a second KSampler pass at lower denoise to rebuild detail while keeping the composition anchored. The goal is a cleaner final image, not perfect pixel preservation.<h2 id="what-the-workflow-is-doing">What the workflow is doing</h2>This is not a traditional upscaler and it is not meant to perfectly preserve every detail.The goal is:controlled drift for better final outputThe workflow works best as a creative remaster pipeline:<ul><li>start with a good original image</li><li>improve it with HiRes Fix</li><li>then run it through the final Pixel Anchored Remaster stage</li><li>accept some drift if the overall vibe, composition, and subject stay intact and the final image looks better</li></ul><h3 id="compatibility-testing-so-far">Compatibility testing so far</h3>it seems to work well with refined SDXL / Illustrious / Pony-family checkpoints, with some model-specific tweaking.<h3 id="good-results-with:">Good results with:</h3><ul><li>WonderMix v16</li><li>WAI Illustrious</li><li>some Pony-derived checkpoints</li><li>some realistic refined checkpoints</li></ul><h3 id="less-successful-with:">Less successful with:</h3><ul><li>base Illustrious</li><li>base Pony v6</li><li>Anima (anything that uses 16 point latents)</li></ul>So far the pattern seems to be:If a model can make a strong original image, the Pixel Anchored Remaster pipeline will usually improve it, sometimes significantly.<h3 id="important-note">Important note</h3>This workflow is better thought of as a remaster than an upscale. If you want strict preservation, this may not be the right tool. If you want the same image idea/vibe but cleaner, more detailed, and more polished, this is where it shines.Built for 2x remasters, not 4x.Feel free to leave a review or drop your comparison grids below! If you enjoy the template, keep an eye out for the streamlined, single-output production version coming soon.

Pixel Anchored Remaster

Anima settings: sampler <code>euler_a</code> / Euler Ancestral, scheduler <code>normal</code>, denoise <code>0.65</code>. Known limitation: with Anima, this workflow currently works reliably only with square images for reasons not yet determined. Portrait inputs may produce blurry results.

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