qwen-zimage becomes the default and sdxl-zimage the only alternative. The
controlnet, sdxl, qwen and default profiles are gone, and with them the CPU and
MPS paths for invisible-watermark removal: neither matched the two-stage
recipe's face preservation, so keeping them advertised a quality this library no
longer delivers. Visible-mark removal and every identify command still run
anywhere.
Retired names are rejected rather than remapped. Silently routing --pipeline
sdxl onward would run an old script at a different strength, on a different
model, at a different quality, and report success.
CUDA is now checked when the remover is constructed instead of when the model
loads. Auto-detection cheerfully returned mps on a Mac, so the failure arrived
several layers down, after the dependency check and the pipeline import, in a
message naming whichever internal pipeline happened to raise. _DEVICES collapses
to {"cuda"} and the cpu/mps float32 branch goes with it.
resolve_strength stays total. It briefly returned None for qwen-zimage, meaning
"ask the resolution curve", which pushed a branch onto both callers and left one
of the two strength policies outside the strength module; the CLI copy had
already grown an `or 0.0` guarding a path its own comment called unreachable. It
now takes the image size and answers for both profiles, so the displayed value
cannot drift from the executed one.
Deletion fallout removed with it: img2img_runner and progress.py (the MPS
recovery path and its progress monitor had no callers left), viable_steps, the
fp16 degenerate-output retry, the fp16 VAE fix, and the Qwen img2img call
builders. try_empty_device_cache moved into watermark_remover rather than
leaving a module whose docstring outlived its code. _HAS_DIFFUSERS routes
through optional_deps.module_available, which is what the rest of the library
uses and what correctly rejects a pruned namespace remnant.
--steps, --guidance-scale and --model now have exactly one legal value each and
are still accepted at parse time, then rejected in remove(). Their help text
says so, but validating them beside the option would be better.
Not addressed, and worth its own decision: invisible_engine forces
min_resolution to 0 for both profiles, so the --min-resolution floor, --upscaler,
_esrgan_upscale, upscaler.py and the esrgan extra are all unreachable.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
The SDXL removal pipelines (sdxl + controlnet) were built without
add_watermarker=False, so diffusers embedded its default open "Stable
Diffusion XL" DWT-DCT invisible watermark on every output whenever
invisible-watermark is installed (the detect extra). A watermark REMOVER was
therefore replacing one detectable AI watermark (SynthID) with another: the
cleaned output re-read as AI (identify -> "Open invisible watermark: Stable
Diffusion XL"), observed on the SynthID validation sample.
Both SDXL loaders now call a shared _disable_sdxl_watermarker helper (mirrors
_maybe_add_fp16_vae; the ControlNetModel sub-model and the Qwen loader never
call it, since only the pipeline accepts the kwarg). Verified end to end: the
affected outputs re-run clean (is_ai=None, no open watermark).
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 <noreply@anthropic.com>
InvisibleEngine loads SDXL/ControlNet in fp16 on CUDA/XPU but called from_pretrained
without variant="fp16", so it read the full fp32 weight files (~7 GB) and downcast in
memory. _load_from_pretrained now passes variant="fp16" when torch_dtype is float16,
reading the half-precision files (~3.5 GB) instead - roughly halving the cold-start
weight read + host->device transfer (a phase-timed Modal run measured weight load as
~half of the ~25s cold start). Falls back to the default weights when a checkpoint ships
no fp16 variant (a custom --model), so the worst case is the prior behavior. fp32
(cpu/mps) and bf16 (qwen) never request the variant.
Tests: TestFp16WeightVariant (variant requested on fp16, fallback on missing, never on
fp32).
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 <noreply@anthropic.com>
- watermark_remover: _build_qwen_kwargs now passes explicit height/width (via
_qwen_target_size, floored to /16). Without it QwenImageImg2ImgPipeline defaults to
1024x1024 and silently squishes non-square inputs, distorting the scene and garbling text.
- watermark_profiles: resolve_strength gains a `pipeline` arg + a Qwen strength ladder
(_QWEN_VENDOR_STRENGTH, Gemini 0.25), so `--pipeline qwen` gets its certified floor
automatically; retires the manual "pass --strength 0.25 for Gemini on qwen" workaround.
- fidelity_metrics: replace per-face nearest matching (collided on multi-face images when a
variant dropped a face, corrupting the identity metric) with a collision-free one-to-one
assignment (assign_faces_one_to_one). lapvar/LPIPS were always bbox-anchored and immune.
Regression-guarded by tests/test_fidelity_matching.py.
- docs: record the measured outcomes of the qwen-improvement arc. The Qwen ControlNet
face-fix is CLOSED (no permissive Qwen detail/tile ControlNet exists; canny carries edges,
not skin grain). The `--pipeline auto` router + faces+text mixed dual-pass were prototyped
and DROPPED (controlnet wins faces AND display text: abba CER 0.114 vs qwen 0.379).
Z-Image-Turbo was tried and dropped (same regeneration limits). qwen stays a manual opt-in;
controlnet is the default for everything.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 <noreply@anthropic.com>
A third diffusion pipeline alongside sdxl/controlnet: Qwen-Image (20B MMDiT,
Apache-2.0 code AND weights) img2img. The scrub still comes from the img2img
strength; Qwen preserves text (incl. CJK) and structure markedly better than
SDXL at the scrub floor, so it over-regenerates real photos far less (directly
targets the controlnet over-regeneration that degrades real uploads).
- watermark_profiles: QWEN_MODEL_ID, normalize_profile accepts "qwen".
- WatermarkRemover: _load_qwen_pipeline (bf16, loads Qwen base unless --model
overridden, clear ImportError if diffusers lacks the class), _run_qwen (no
MPS fallback -- 20B is CUDA/cloud-class), dispatch in _generate_one/preload,
pure _build_qwen_kwargs (true_cfg_scale, not guidance_scale).
- Shared _base_load_kwargs() across all three loaders (dtype + token).
- CLI --pipeline gains "qwen"; invisible_engine threads it through.
- scripts/qwen_scrub_prototype.py: standalone PEP 723 GPU experiment.
Prototype oracle floors (Modal A100-80GB, single seed, controls SynthID-positive,
PENDING seed-repeat cert): OpenAI clears at strength ~0.10, Gemini at ~0.30 (0.20
still detected), with CJK text + faces faithful where controlnet plasticizes. The
Gemini floor is higher than the shared default ladder, so pass an explicit
--strength for Gemini on this pipeline until a Qwen-specific ladder is certified.
The model-running path is CUDA-only (untestable locally); unit tests cover the
pure call-shape (_build_qwen_kwargs) and profile normalization without torch.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 <noreply@anthropic.com>
A 2026-06-14 oracle re-test on the deployed Modal controlnet worker (v0.10.0)
cleared SynthID at OpenAI 0.10 (2 photoreal) and Google 0.15 (2 native
2816x1536, retiring the "native >= 0.30" guess), while a pixel sweep showed the
2026-06-04 cert floors (0.20/0.30) over-regenerated for no efficacy gain
(Google MAE -20% at 0.15). Lowers OPENAI_STRENGTH 0.20->0.10, GEMINI_STRENGTH
and UNKNOWN_STRENGTH 0.30->0.15.
Caveats documented in watermark_profiles.py + docs: removal near this floor is
seed-non-deterministic (a service must pin a verified seed), and the n=2 re-test
did not cover flat-graphic hard cases.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
Nine findings from a high-effort project-wide review, fixed and verified
(571 passed, ruff/pyright clean):
Correctness:
- all/batch now remove Doubao/Jimeng/Samsung visible text marks: the visible
step routes through the registry (new cli._remove_visible_auto) instead of a
hardcoded GeminiEngine, so they no longer leave the wordmark intact.
- batch always reads the original source (dropped the out_path-reuse that
re-processed already-cleaned outputs on a re-run).
- img2img_runner only retries the diffusion call on the deprecated-callback
TypeError; any other TypeError now propagates instead of double-running.
- gemini detect/remove and the reverse-alpha engines normalize channels via a
new image_io.to_bgr, fixing a grayscale/BGRA crash in the FP-gate path.
- _png_late_metadata advances its cursor by the clamped length, so a malformed
chunk length no longer aborts the late AI-label scan.
Cleanup / efficiency:
- Consolidate the ~90%-identical Doubao/Jimeng/Samsung engines into a shared
config-driven _text_mark_engine.TextMarkEngine base; each engine is now a thin
subclass (TextMarkConfig + test shims). Behavior is byte-exact (the three
engine test suites pass unchanged). Registry adapters collapse to one
_text_mark(...) row each. Gemini stays a separate engine.
- scan_head is memoized per (path, size, mtime), so identify() reads the file
head once instead of ~8 times.
- invisible_engine post-processing decodes/encodes the output once (chained in
memory) instead of 2-4 times across stages.
- Remove the orphaned get_model_id_for_profile (+ CONTROLNET_PROFILE); derive
the --strength help from the strength constants (strength_default_help) so it
cannot drift; share the --pipeline/--strength click options; simplify the
retired --auto resolver.
Net -835 lines. Tests added for the registry-routed visible pass, to_bgr,
the polish/model/guidance wiring, and strength_default_help. CLAUDE.md updated
for the new base module, the engine/registry changes, image_io.to_bgr, and the
scan_head cache.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 <noreply@anthropic.com>
Overhaul the diffusion-removal surface around a single robust default and a
complete, consistent CLI.
Pipeline + strength:
- controlnet is now the DEFAULT pipeline (CLI --pipeline + both engine ctors).
With the certified higher strength it clears both photoreal and flat-graphic
content, whereas plain SDXL left SynthID on flat graphics.
- Rename the plain-SDXL profile default -> sdxl; "default" stays as a back-compat
alias (normalize_profile + a click callback that warns).
- Unify the strength ladder: resolve_strength applies ONE vendor-adaptive ladder
(the certified controlnet floors OpenAI 0.20 / Google 0.30 / unknown 0.30) to
both pipelines. sdxl is the weaker remover on its own hard case (flat fills),
so the certified floor is the right floor for it too.
CLI completeness:
- Add --model (HF model id) to invisible + batch (was only on all) and
--guidance-scale (CFG) to all three diffusion commands; both were library
knobs the CLI did not expose.
- Flip --adaptive-polish to ON by default (it self-gates to a no-op where there
is no detail deficit, so default-on is safe).
- Share --pipeline / --strength / --model / --guidance-scale as single
decorators so invisible/all/batch keep an identical surface; the --strength
help is derived from the strength constants (strength_default_help) so it can
never drift from the ladder.
Removals:
- Delete the auto_config content-detection planner + its YuNet/DBNet assets
(~2.6 MB): with controlnet always the pipeline and the polish self-gating, the
face/text/edge detection no longer changed behavior. --auto is now a deprecated
no-op that only warns (the polish it enabled is the default).
Docs (README, CLAUDE.md, docs/synthid.md) updated throughout; added an
InvisibleEngine Python API example. Tests cover the alias warnings, the
polish default, and the --model/--guidance-scale wiring.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 <noreply@anthropic.com>
The fp16-fix VAE swap (#29) is gated to the default SDXL checkpoint, so a
custom model_id, a stale pre-fix install, or a fal/custom loader can still
decode to an all-black/NaN frame in fp16 (reporter: gpt-image 1448x1086,
the `image_processor.py invalid value encountered in cast` warning).
Add a model-agnostic backstop in remove_watermark: after generation, if the
run was fp16 and the output is degenerate (_is_degenerate_image: near-zero
mean and variance), rebuild the pipeline in fp32 on the same device and
re-run once. fp32 is the verified-clean path, so a black image is never
returned regardless of model_id or version. Mirrors the MPS->CPU fallback's
self-mutation pattern; batch inherits it. Verified e2e on MPS by forcing
fp16 with the swap disabled (first pass black, guard fired, retry clean).
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 <noreply@anthropic.com>
Add `--pipeline controlnet` (SDXL base + xinsir canny ControlNet via
StableDiffusionXLControlNetImg2ImgPipeline): the canny edge map conditions the
img2img regeneration so text and face STRUCTURE stay sharp, while the watermark
is still removed by the regeneration (`strength`) -- no original pixels are
copied or frozen, so SynthID does not survive. Oracle-verified clean on OpenAI
with better text/structure fidelity than plain img2img at equal strength.
`--controlnet-scale` tunes structure preservation; fp32 on mps/cpu (fp16-fixed
VAE on cuda/xpu). Shares the img2img runner (live progress + MPS->CPU fallback)
and the fp16-VAE-fix / device-move helpers with the default pipeline.
Remove the superseded subsystems -- ctrlregen (SD1.5 clean-noise),
text-protection (differential / region-hires) and face-protection: they either
destroyed real content or shielded the watermark by re-using original pixels.
controlnet replaces them by regenerating everything under edge conditioning.
Canny preserves face structure but not identity; face IDENTITY is a separate
face-restoration post-pass (CodeFormer/GFPGAN), researched + prototyped but not
yet shipped. An IP-Adapter FaceID attempt was built and removed (footgun: needs
high strength, corrupts faces at removal strength).
Docs: docs/controlnet-removal-pipeline-research.md, scripts/controlnet_sweep.py.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 <noreply@anthropic.com>
The default img2img strength is now chosen from the detected SynthID vendor
(C2PA issuer) instead of a single fixed 0.30: OpenAI gpt-image -> 0.10, Google
Gemini -> 0.15, unknown source -> 0.15. Explicit --strength always wins.
Basis: an oracle-verified June 2026 controlled study (clean v0.8.6, text/face
protection OFF, per-image openai.com/verify or Gemini-app verdict). OpenAI's
SynthID clears at 0.05 across 1024-1600 px (n=4, resolution-independent);
Google's is ~3x more robust and needs 0.15 on the capped-1536 path (n=4). The
dominant factor is the VENDOR, not resolution. The earlier single 0.30 default
and the "resolution dependence" lore came from contaminated tests run with the
protect-text bug ON (issue #14) -- re-running those same 1600x1600 images clean
removes SynthID at 0.05.
`vendor_for_strength(path)` reads metadata.synthid_source on the ORIGINAL input
and is threaded through cli (invisible/all/batch) -> invisible_engine ->
watermark_remover -> resolve_strength(strength, profile, vendor), so display and
execution use the same vendor (the engine sees a temp path whose C2PA the visible
pass already stripped, so detection must happen in the CLI on the pristine
source). Caveat: Google's 0.15 was validated only on --max-resolution 1536;
native 2816 Gemini was not locally measurable (OOM on Apple Silicon) and is
pending GPU validation on raiw.cc.
Docs: docs/synthid.md sections 2.2/4.4/5.2 corrected (the contaminated
resolution-dependence findings replaced with the clean oracle-verified table);
README and CLAUDE.md updated; CLI --strength help reflects the adaptive default.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 <noreply@anthropic.com>
An oracle-verified GPU strength study (Modal A100, native res, Gemini-app
'Verify with SynthID', n=3 fresh Gemini images, protect_text/faces off) found the
current Google SynthID survives strength 0.10/0.15/0.2 and is removed only at 0.3.
The previous 0.10 default (set from an n=1 result) no longer clears it -- Google
hardened SynthID and the threshold has climbed 0.05 -> 0.10 -> ~0.3. Bump
DEFAULT_STRENGTH to 0.30; OpenAI/ChatGPT carry C2PA not SynthID, so 0.10 is plenty
there (pass --strength 0.10). Note protect_text shields the text regions SynthID
hides in (use --no-protect-text for full removal on text-heavy images).
The same study found ctrlregen at clean-noise strength DESTROYS real images
(hallucinated micro-text in smooth regions), with no usable middle setting, so the
literature's 'clean-noise is the lever' did not hold empirically. Flag ctrlregen
EXPERIMENTAL in the CLI --pipeline help, README, and watermark_profiles; SDXL
img2img at ~0.3 stays the shippable path.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 <noreply@anthropic.com>
The ctrlregen profile inherited the SDXL img2img --strength default (0.10), a
near-identity pass that loaded ControlNet + DINOv2-giant and barely changed the
image -- a no-op for removal. resolve_strength() now resolves an unset strength
per profile: 0.10 for the SDXL default, CTRLREGEN_DEFAULT_STRENGTH (1.0,
clean-noise) for ctrlregen. It checks `is None` rather than falsiness, so an
explicit 0.0 is respected (the old `strength or DEFAULT` swallowed it).
Research basis: CtrlRegen (ICLR 2025, arXiv:2410.05470) removes robust
watermarks by regenerating from clean Gaussian noise; partial-noise img2img
retains watermark info that diffuses back, so a high (clean-noise) strength is
the lever, not a knob on the light SDXL pass. CLI wiring (--strength default
None) lands with the cli refactor.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 <noreply@anthropic.com>
The stock SDXL VAE overflows to NaN in fp16, so the plain img2img path decodes
to an all-black image on a CUDA/XPU fp16 backend. This is the raiw.cc black
result HitaoLin reported (a 1086x1448 input came back uniformly black). cpu/mps
run fp32 and never hit it, and the differential / region-hires pipeline already
upcasts the VAE itself, so only the plain path on a fp16 GPU was exposed.
`_load_pipeline` now loads `madebyollin/sdxl-vae-fp16-fix` for the default SDXL
checkpoint when running fp16, gated by the pure helper `_needs_fp16_vae_fix`. A
custom non-SDXL model keeps its own VAE.
The decision logic is unit-tested without a download (TestFp16VaeFix). The
black->clean recovery itself needs a CUDA GPU and was not verifiable on this MPS
machine; it must be confirmed on the backend.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 <noreply@anthropic.com>
* Raise default SynthID-removal strength 0.05 -> 0.10 (current Google SynthID)
The old default (0.04/0.05) no longer removes the CURRENT Google SynthID (Nano
Banana / Gemini 3): verified 2026-05-30 via the Gemini 'Verify with SynthID'
oracle on a real image -- 0.05 still detected, 0.10 not detected (OpenAI's was
already cleared at 0.05). Add DEFAULT_STRENGTH=0.10 in watermark_profiles, route
the engine + CLI defaults to it. At 0.10 small text deforms more, which is why
text protection (_run_region_hires) runs by default. CLAUDE.md SynthID note
corrected. CAVEAT: n=1 Google + n=1 OpenAI; broad corpus oracle validation
pending (task tracked).
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
* Drop unused LOW/MEDIUM/HIGH strength profiles; CLI --strength defaults to DEFAULT_STRENGTH
The fixed strength presets (and get_recommended_strength) were dead -- nothing in
the pipeline used them, only tests. One knob now: DEFAULT_STRENGTH (0.10),
overridable per-call via the CLI --strength flag, which now defaults to that
constant (single source of truth). Removed the WatermarkRemover.LOW/MEDIUM/HIGH
class attrs and the get_recommended_strength tests.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
---------
Co-authored-by: Claude Opus 4.8 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
* feat(device): support xpu backend
* Fall back to CPU seed generator when device RNG unsupported (xpu)
Some torch-xpu builds have no device-side RNG, so torch.Generator(device="xpu")
raises when --seed is used. _make_seed_generator tries the device generator and
falls back to a backend-agnostic CPU generator. Adds a fallback unit test.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
---------
Co-authored-by: Victor Kuznetsov <kuznetsov.va@gmail.com>
Co-authored-by: Claude Opus 4.8 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
* Add cross-platform CI test matrix, PyPI classifiers
CI: new test.yml runs lint (ubuntu) + a test matrix (ubuntu/macos/windows
x py3.10/3.12, core+dev, GPU tests skip) on push to main and PRs, closing the
gap where only the release publish.yml ran (ubuntu, no tests). Add PyPI
classifiers (OS/Python/topic). README Tests badge, CLAUDE.md CI note.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
* Make availability tests reflect installed deps, not assume gpu extra
The new core+dev CI matrix has no diffusers, so the invisible-engine
availability tests (asserting is_available() is True unconditionally) and the
two mocked invisible CLI tests (whose command gates on is_available before the
mock) failed. Assert availability == actual importability of torch+diffusers,
and patch the CLI availability gate so the mocked-engine tests run regardless of
the gpu extra.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
---------
Co-authored-by: Claude Opus 4.8 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
Detect SynthID-bearing images via their C2PA companion: a manifest signed by a
SynthID-using vendor (Google/OpenAI) on AI-generated content implies an
invisible SynthID pixel watermark. Verified end-to-end against the vendor
oracles (openai.com/verify, Gemini "Verify with SynthID").
- metadata: synthid_source() + synthid_watermark verdict in get_ai_metadata,
surfaced as a `metadata --check` callout. Format-agnostic (PNG caBX parser +
JPEG/WebP/AVIF/HEIF/JXL binary scan).
- constants: SYNTHID_C2PA_ISSUERS {Google, OpenAI}; +opened/placed actions.
- c2pa: single CBOR-aware parser (_cbor_text_after) replaces glitchy regex
(fixes fGPT-4o claim_generator); removed duplicate _scan_png_c2pa_chunk from
metadata; shared synthid_verdict / synthid_vendors_in helpers.
- corpus: scripts/synthid_corpus.py ingest tool + data/synthid_corpus/
(manifest tracked, images gitignored) for a labeled reference set.
- tests: +38 across C2PA parser internals, extract/inject round-trip, ISOBMFF
container stripping, all IPTC AI markers, and invisible watermark strength
tiers (SynthID/StableSignature/TreeRing/StegaStamp/RingID/RivaGAN/...).
Pixel-level SynthID detection remains out of reach locally (Google's decoder is
proprietary); a from-scratch spectral pilot confirmed it does not separate real
content. See CLAUDE.md for the full evaluation.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.7 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
SD-1.5 dreamshaper at 768 px did not defeat SynthID v2 on Gemini 3 Pro
outputs (verified May 2026 via Gemini app's "Verify with SynthID"). Switch
the default invisible engine to SDXL at 1024 px, matching the raiw-app
production config (strength 0.05, steps 50). Drop the SD-1.5 pipeline.
Metadata layer: add C2PA UUID and IPTC AI marker byte-scan detection
across all formats, plus an ISOBMFF box walker (noai/isobmff.py) that
strips top-level C2PA uuid and JUMBF jumb boxes from AVIF/HEIF/JPEG-XL
containers without re-encoding.
README gets a Legal table and a Threat-model section about SynthID v2's
136-bit payload. CLAUDE.md tracks the SD-1.5 regression as historical
context.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.7 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
- CLI with visible, invisible, all, metadata, and batch commands
- Gemini watermark removal via reverse alpha blending
- Invisible watermark removal via diffusion regeneration (SynthID, TreeRing)
- AI metadata stripping (EXIF, PNG text, C2PA)
- Face protection (YOLO/Haar) and analog humanizer
- 137 tests covering all CLI modes and core engines
- Ruff and Pyright clean
