diff --git a/src/anomalib/data/utils/image.py b/src/anomalib/data/utils/image.py
index e23bc6a350..10480c0f27 100644
--- a/src/anomalib/data/utils/image.py
+++ b/src/anomalib/data/utils/image.py
@@ -29,11 +29,9 @@ def get_image_filenames(path: str | Path) -> list[Path]:
         list[Path]: List of image filenames
 
     """
+    path = Path(path).resolve()
     image_filenames: list[Path]
 
-    if isinstance(path, str):
-        path = Path(path)
-
     if path.is_file() and path.suffix in IMG_EXTENSIONS:
         image_filenames = [path]
 
@@ -67,8 +65,10 @@ def duplicate_filename(path: str | Path) -> Path:
     Returns:
         Path: Duplicated output path.
     """
-    if isinstance(path, str):
-        path = Path(path)
+    path = Path(path)
+
+    if not path.exists():
+        return path
 
     i = 0
     while True:
@@ -114,13 +114,10 @@ def generate_output_image_filename(input_path: str | Path, output_path: str | Pa
     Returns:
         Path: The output filename to save the output predictions from the inferencer.
     """
-    if isinstance(input_path, str):
-        input_path = Path(input_path)
+    input_path = Path(input_path)
+    output_path = Path(output_path)
 
-    if isinstance(output_path, str):
-        output_path = Path(output_path)
-
-    # This function expects an ``input_path`` that is a file. This is to check if output_path
+    # Input validation: Check if input_path is a valid directory or file
     if input_path.is_file() is False:
         msg = "input_path is expected to be a file to generate a proper output filename."
         raise ValueError(msg)
@@ -128,18 +125,18 @@ def generate_output_image_filename(input_path: str | Path, output_path: str | Pa
     # If the output is a directory, then add parent directory name
     # and filename to the path. This is to ensure we do not overwrite
     # images and organize based on the categories.
-    file_path = output_path / input_path.parent.name / input_path.name if output_path.is_dir() else output_path
-
-    # This new ``file_path`` might contain a directory path yet to be created.
-    # Create the parent directory to avoid such cases.
-    file_path.parent.mkdir(parents=True, exist_ok=True)
-
-    if file_path.is_file():
+    if output_path.is_dir():
+        output_image_filename = output_path / input_path.parent.name / input_path.name
+    elif output_path.is_file() and output_path.exists():
         msg = f"{output_path} already exists. Renaming the file to avoid overwriting."
         logger.warning(msg)
-        file_path = duplicate_filename(file_path)
+        output_image_filename = duplicate_filename(output_path)
+    else:
+        output_image_filename = output_path
+
+    output_image_filename.parent.mkdir(parents=True, exist_ok=True)
 
-    return file_path
+    return output_image_filename
 
 
 def get_image_height_and_width(image_size: int | Sequence[int]) -> tuple[int, int]: