mlsanityData to 7 Oct 2026

GAN Inversion: A Survey

arXiv 2101.05278 ↗First posted 14 Jan 2021cs.CVcited by 366

Not on the map. Why?

Cited by 80 in Diffusion models, but placed by its own abstract, which didn’t fit.

Abstract (arXiv)

GAN inversion aims to invert a given image back into the latent space of a pretrained GAN model, for the image to be faithfully reconstructed from the inverted code by the generator. As an emerging technique to bridge the real and fake image domains, GAN inversion plays an essential role in enabling the pretrained GAN models such as StyleGAN and BigGAN to be used for real image editing applications. Meanwhile, GAN inversion also provides insights on the interpretation of GAN's latent space and how the realistic images can be generated. In this paper, we provide an overview of GAN inversion with a focus on its recent algorithms and applications. We cover important techniques of GAN inversion and their applications to image restoration and image manipulation. We further elaborate on some trends and challenges for future directions.

Key facts. Cited by 366 papers in the map (data through 7 Oct 2026). Builds on 173 of its 304 references that are in the map. First posted on arXiv 14 Jan 2021.

Builds on

173 of 304 references.

References · 173

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50 most cited of 173 All 173 (JSON)

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Cited by year (2026 to 7 Oct)

Citing papers per year: 2021: 33; 2022: 95; 2023: 122; 2024: 70; 2025: 34; 2026: 12.

366 papers.

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  1. 2022Hierarchical Text-Conditional Image Generation with CLIP Latentscited by 6,539
  2. 2022Generative Adversarial Networkscited by 5,603
  3. 2022Prompt-to-Prompt Image Editing with Cross Attention Controlcited by 2,409
  4. 2022An Image is Worth One Word: Personalizing Text-to-Image Generation using Textual Inversioncited by 2,231
  5. 2022Null-text Inversion for Editing Real Images using Guided Diffusion Modelscited by 1,168
  6. 2021Blended Diffusion for Text-driven Editing of Natural Imagescited by 924
  7. 2023Muse: Text-To-Image Generation via Masked Generative Transformerscited by 640
  8. 2021Designing an Encoder for StyleGAN Image Manipulationcited by 542
  9. 2021Diffusion Autoencoders: Toward a Meaningful and Decodable Representationcited by 447
  10. 2022Blended Latent Diffusioncited by 430
  11. 2021Pivotal Tuning for Latent-based Editing of Real Imagescited by 427
  12. 2023ELITE: Encoding Visual Concepts into Textual Embeddings for Customized Text-to-Image Generationcited by 414
38 more
  1. 2023InstaFlow: One Step is Enough for High-Quality Diffusion-Based Text-to-Image Generationcited by 387
  2. 2022Text2LIVE: Text-Driven Layered Image and Video Editingcited by 312
  3. 2021ReStyle: A Residual-Based StyleGAN Encoder via Iterative Refinementcited by 248
  4. 2023P+: Extended Textual Conditioning in Text-to-Image Generationcited by 242
  5. 2023Break-A-Scene: Extracting Multiple Concepts from a Single Imagecited by 230
  6. 2021HyperStyle: StyleGAN Inversion with HyperNetworks for Real Image Editingcited by 208
  7. 2023Encoder-based Domain Tuning for Fast Personalization of Text-to-Image Modelscited by 203
  8. 2021High-Fidelity GAN Inversion for Image Attribute Editingcited by 197
  9. 2022StyleHEAT: One-Shot High-Resolution Editable Talking Face Generation via Pre-trained StyleGANcited by 169
  10. 2021StyleGAN-NADA: CLIP-Guided Domain Adaptation of Image Generatorscited by 164
  11. 2023Direct Inversion: Boosting Diffusion-based Editing with 3 Lines of Codecited by 145
  12. 2021Unconstrained Scene Generation with Locally Conditioned Radiance Fieldscited by 130
  13. 2023Denoising Diffusion Autoencoders are Unified Self-supervised Learnerscited by 128
  14. 2023A Neural Space-Time Representation for Text-to-Image Personalizationcited by 123
  15. 2024AEROBLADE: Training-Free Detection of Latent Diffusion Images Using Autoencoder Reconstruction Errorcited by 123
  16. 2024Stable Flow: Vital Layers for Training-Free Image Editingcited by 111
  17. 2024Arc2Face: A Foundation Model for ID-Consistent Human Facescited by 101
  18. 2023Prompt Tuning Inversion for Text-Driven Image Editing Using Diffusion Modelscited by 98
  19. 2022DifFace: Blind Face Restoration with Diffused Error Contractioncited by 96
  20. 2021Only a Matter of Style: Age Transformation Using a Style-Based Regression Modelcited by 92
  21. 2023Domain-Agnostic Tuning-Encoder for Fast Personalization of Text-To-Image Modelscited by 85
  22. 2024Arbitrary-steps Image Super-resolution via Diffusion Inversioncited by 85
  23. 2023A Complete Survey on Generative AI (AIGC): Is ChatGPT from GPT-4 to GPT-5 All You Need?cited by 84
  24. 2023Circumventing Concept Erasure Methods For Text-to-Image Generative Modelscited by 81
  25. 2023Effective Real Image Editing with Accelerated Iterative Diffusion Inversioncited by 79
  26. 2022Synthesizing Informative Training Samples with GANcited by 77
  27. 2021Unsupervised MRI Reconstruction via Zero-Shot Learned Adversarial Transformerscited by 76
  28. 2024DITTO: Diffusion Inference-Time T-Optimization for Music Generationcited by 73
  29. 2022Stitch it in Time: GAN-Based Facial Editing of Real Videoscited by 68
  30. 2023StyleDiffusion: Prompt-Embedding Inversion for Text-Based Editingcited by 68
  31. 2022Unifying Diffusion Models' Latent Space, with Applications to CycleDiffusion and Guidancecited by 67
  32. 2023OTAvatar: One-shot Talking Face Avatar with Controllable Tri-plane Renderingcited by 67
  33. 2022High-fidelity 3D GAN Inversion by Pseudo-multi-view Optimizationcited by 65
  34. 2022Expanding Small-Scale Datasets with Guided Imaginationcited by 61
  35. 2022SinFusion: Training Diffusion Models on a Single Image or Videocited by 58
  36. 2023Diffusion Models Beat GANs on Image Classificationcited by 57
  37. 2023One Small Step for Generative AI, One Giant Leap for AGI: A Complete Survey on ChatGPT in AIGC Eracited by 55
  38. 2022Third Time's the Charm? Image and Video Editing with StyleGAN3cited by 54

50 most cited of 366 All 366 (JSON)