# Posterior Distillation Sampling

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2311.13831 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2311.13831/

## Key facts

- Cited by 46 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- Placed in Image generation, text-to-image and editing, one of 14 directions in Diffusion models.
- Builds on 49 of its 60 references that are in the map.
- First posted on arXiv 23 Nov 2023.

## Placed in

- Diffusion models / [Image generation, text-to-image and editing](https://mlsanity.com/diffusion/image-generation-text-to-image-and-editing/)

## Builds on (most cited first, 30 of 49)

- [Learning Transferable Visual Models From Natural Language Supervision](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2103.00020/) (2021)
- [Denoising Diffusion Probabilistic Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2006.11239/) (2020)
- [High-Resolution Image Synthesis with Latent Diffusion Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2112.10752/) (2021)
- [The Unreasonable Effectiveness of Deep Features as a Perceptual Metric](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1801.03924/) (2018)
- [Denoising Diffusion Implicit Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2010.02502/) (2020)
- [Score-Based Generative Modeling through Stochastic Differential Equations](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2011.13456/) (2020)
- [Diffusion Models Beat GANs on Image Synthesis](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2105.05233/) (2021)
- [Deep Unsupervised Learning using Nonequilibrium Thermodynamics](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1503.03585/) (2015)
- [Hierarchical Text-Conditional Image Generation with CLIP Latents](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2204.06125/) (2022)
- [Photorealistic Text-to-Image Diffusion Models with Deep Language Understanding](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2205.11487/) (2022)
- [3D Gaussian Splatting for Real-Time Radiance Field Rendering](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2308.04079/) (2023)
- [Classifier-Free Diffusion Guidance](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2207.12598/) (2022)
- [LAION-5B: An open large-scale dataset for training next generation image-text models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2210.08402/) (2022)
- [Generative Modeling by Estimating Gradients of the Data Distribution](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1907.05600/) (2019)
- [DreamBooth: Fine Tuning Text-to-Image Diffusion Models for Subject-Driven Generation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2208.12242/) (2022)
- [DreamFusion: Text-to-3D using 2D Diffusion](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2209.14988/) (2022)
- [InstructPix2Pix: Learning to Follow Image Editing Instructions](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2211.09800/) (2022)
- [Prompt-to-Prompt Image Editing with Cross Attention Control](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2208.01626/) (2022)
- [SDEdit: Guided Image Synthesis and Editing with Stochastic Differential Equations](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2108.01073/) (2021)
- [LAION-400M: Open Dataset of CLIP-Filtered 400 Million Image-Text Pairs](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2111.02114/) (2021)
- [Magic3D: High-Resolution Text-to-3D Content Creation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2211.10440/) (2022)
- [ProlificDreamer: High-Fidelity and Diverse Text-to-3D Generation with Variational Score Distillation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2305.16213/) (2023)
- [Null-text Inversion for Editing Real Images using Guided Diffusion Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2211.09794/) (2022)
- [Imagic: Text-Based Real Image Editing with Diffusion Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2210.09276/) (2022)
- [MVDream: Multi-view Diffusion for 3D Generation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2308.16512/) (2023)
- [Point-E: A System for Generating 3D Point Clouds from Complex Prompts](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2212.08751/) (2022)
- [Fantasia3D: Disentangling Geometry and Appearance for High-quality Text-to-3D Content Creation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2303.13873/) (2023)
- [Local Light Field Fusion: Practical View Synthesis with Prescriptive Sampling Guidelines](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1905.00889/) (2019)
- [Score Jacobian Chaining: Lifting Pretrained 2D Diffusion Models for 3D Generation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2212.00774/) (2022)
- [Latent-NeRF for Shape-Guided Generation of 3D Shapes and Textures](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2211.07600/) (2022)

## Built on by (most cited first, 30 of 46)

- [FlowEdit: Inversion-Free Text-Based Editing Using Pre-Trained Flow Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2412.08629/) (2024)
- [EditSplat: Multi-View Fusion and Attention-Guided Optimization for View-Consistent 3D Scene Editing with 3D Gaussian Splatting](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2412.11520/) (2024)
- [Rethinking Score Distillation as a Bridge Between Image Distributions](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2406.09417/) (2024)
- [VistaDream: Sampling multiview consistent images for single-view scene reconstruction](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2410.16892/) (2024)
- [FlowAlign: Trajectory-Regularized, Inversion-Free Flow-based Image Editing](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2505.23145/) (2025)
- [SyncTweedies: A General Generative Framework Based on Synchronized Diffusions](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2403.14370/) (2024)
- [DreamSampler: Unifying Diffusion Sampling and Score Distillation for Image Manipulation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2403.11415/) (2024)
- [Consolidating Attention Features for Multi-view Image Editing](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2402.14792/) (2024)
- [NeuralSVG: An Implicit Representation for Text-to-Vector Generation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2501.03992/) (2025)
- [DreamCatalyst: Fast and High-Quality 3D Editing via Controlling Editability and Identity Preservation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2407.11394/) (2024)
- [VideoHandles: Editing 3D Object Compositions in Videos Using Video Generative Priors](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2503.01107/) (2025)
- [ProEdit: Simple Progression is All You Need for High-Quality 3D Scene Editing](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2411.05006/) (2024)
- [FDS: Frequency-Aware Denoising Score for Text-Guided Latent Diffusion Image Editing](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2503.19191/) (2025)
- [3D-LATTE: Latent Space 3D Editing from Textual Instructions](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2509.00269/) (2025)
- [TrAME: Trajectory-Anchored Multi-View Editing for Text-Guided 3D Gaussian Splatting Manipulation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2407.02034/) (2024)
- [Advances in 3D Neural Stylization: A Survey](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2311.18328/) (2023)
- [StochSync: Stochastic Diffusion Synchronization for Image Generation in Arbitrary Spaces](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2501.15445/) (2025)
- [V2Edit: Versatile Video Diffusion Editor for Videos and 3D Scenes](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2503.10634/) (2025)
- [Rethinking Score Distilling Sampling for 3D Editing and Generation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2505.01888/) (2025)
- [Geometry-Aware Diffusion Models for Multiview Scene Inpainting](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2502.13335/) (2025)
- [Toward Ambulatory Vision: Learning Visually-Grounded Active View Selection](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2512.13250/) (2025)
- [Freditor: High-Fidelity and Transferable NeRF Editing by Frequency Decomposition](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2404.02514/) (2024)
- [Robust 3D-Masked Part-level Editing in 3D Gaussian Splatting with Regularized Score Distillation Sampling](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2507.11061/) (2025)
- [CoreEditor: Correspondence-constrained Diffusion for Consistent 3D Editing](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2508.11603/) (2025)
- [Learning Naturally Aggregated Appearance for Efficient 3D Editing](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2312.06657/) (2023)
- [Dream-in-Style: Text-to-3D Generation Using Stylized Score Distillation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2406.18581/) (2024)
- [RewardSDS: Aligning Score Distillation via Reward-Weighted Sampling](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2503.09601/) (2025)
- [Delta Rectified Flow Sampling for Text-to-Image Editing](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2509.05342/) (2025)
- [3DGS-Drag: Dragging Gaussians for Intuitive Point-Based 3D Editing](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2601.07963/) (2026)
- [Perturb-and-Revise: Flexible 3D Editing with Generative Trajectories](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2412.05279/) (2024)

## Abstract (arXiv)

We introduce Posterior Distillation Sampling (PDS), a novel optimization method for parametric image editing based on diffusion models. Existing optimization-based methods, which leverage the powerful 2D prior of diffusion models to handle various parametric images, have mainly focused on generation. Unlike generation, editing requires a balance between conforming to the target attribute and preserving the identity of the source content. Recent 2D image editing methods have achieved this balance by leveraging the stochastic latent encoded in the generative process of diffusion models. To extend the editing capabilities of diffusion models shown in pixel space to parameter space, we reformulate the 2D image editing method into an optimization form named PDS. PDS matches the stochastic latents of the source and the target, enabling the sampling of targets in diverse parameter spaces that align with a desired attribute while maintaining the source's identity. We demonstrate that this optimization resembles running a generative process with the target attribute, but aligning this process with the trajectory of the source's generative process. Extensive editing results in Neural Radiance Fields and Scalable Vector Graphics representations demonstrate that PDS is capable of sampling targets to fulfill the aforementioned balance across various parameter spaces.