Upscale Image with AI

Upscale image files right here: add a picture to the box above, choose AI upscale or Fast (no AI), pick a new size and press the button. You get a bigger copy at 2×, 3×, 4× or 8× the original, or sized for 1080p, 2K, 4K or 8K screens, a width in pixels or a print size at 300 DPI. A before-and-after slider shows the difference, and the new file is ready to download.

The AI is Real-ESRGAN, an open-source upscaling model, and it runs inside your browser: on your graphics card when the browser supports WebGPU, and on your processor otherwise. Your pictures are never uploaded. The first AI run loads a model of about 5 MB; after that, how long each picture takes depends on your device.

To upscale a picture means to give it more pixels. A photo 800 pixels wide becomes 3,200 pixels wide at 4×, so it can fill a large screen, a print or a design without looking blocky. The hard part is that the new pixels have to come from somewhere, because the original file holds only the detail the camera or program captured.

Classic enlargement fills the new pixels by blending their neighbours. It is quick and predictable but looks soft, because blending cannot create edges that were not there. AI upscaling uses a model trained on many pairs of small and large pictures. It has learned what sharp edges, textures and fine lines usually look like, and it draws them in at the larger size.

This page offers both. AI upscale gives the crispest look on most photos and drawings, while Fast (no AI) gives a clean enlargement that never invents anything. You can switch between them and compare the results in a few moments.

AI upscaling adds plausible detail. It cannot recover true detail that was never captured. If a face in a group photo is ten pixels wide, no model can know what that person really looked like; it can only draw a sharper face-like shape. If a number plate or a line of small print is a blur, the AI may turn it into crisp letters that are not the real ones.

For most pictures this is exactly what you want: smoother edges, cleaner textures and less blockiness. But faces and text may change slightly, so look closely with the before-and-after slider when it matters. For text, logos, screenshots with small letters and anything where accuracy matters more than looks, choose Fast (no AI). It enlarges smoothly, sharpens a little and adds nothing.

The AI cannot fix everything either. A badly out-of-focus or shaky photo gets bigger and a little cleaner, but not truly in focus. Heavy JPG blocks are often smoothed away, which helps, though very small or badly damaged pictures can still look processed at large sizes.

If you want to upscale image AI free, with no credits and no waiting list, this is how it works here. The AI upscale method uses Real-ESRGAN, the general x4v3 model. It is open source under the BSD-3 licence and small enough, at about 5 MB, to load inside a web page. The model always enlarges by 4 times; for other sizes, its 4× result is resized to the size you chose, and the result list then says AI ×4 then resized.

The model runs with ONNX Runtime, a library that runs AI models inside the browser. When your browser supports WebGPU, the work goes to your graphics card, which is much faster. Otherwise it runs on your processor. After each run, the result line says which one was used: AI on your graphics card (WebGPU) or AI on your processor.

Pictures are processed in small overlapping tiles, so memory use stays low and you can follow the progress in percent. The overlaps are trimmed off and the tiles are joined without visible seams. You can stop a running job at any time.

Fast (no AI) enlarges the picture in steps of at most 2× with high-quality smoothing, then sharpens the edges a little. It is practically instant, it never invents shapes, and it is the right choice for text, logos, line drawings, charts, scanned documents and screenshots with small letters.

Sharpening (fast) under More options sets how strong that last step is: None, Light (the default) or Strong. None gives the softest and most faithful result. Strong makes edges punchier but can add thin bright or dark lines along high-contrast edges. Light is a good balance for most pictures. On very large results, above about 60 megapixels, sharpening is skipped to save memory.

Upscale image to 4K in one step: under New size choose HD / 4K / 8K and tap 4K. The longer side of each picture becomes 3,840 pixels and the other side follows in proportion, so nothing is stretched or cropped. A 16:9 picture becomes 3,840 × 2,160, the size of a 4K TV or monitor.

The other choices are 1080p (long side 1,920 pixels), 2K (2,560) and 8K (7,680). Because the long side is used, a portrait photo gets 3,840 pixels in height at 4K. If a picture is already larger than the size you pick, it is made smaller to fit instead.

Times gives 2×, 3×, 4× or 8× the original width and height. Width lets you type a width in pixels, from 16 to 20,000, with the height in proportion, which is handy for a website or template that asks for an exact width. Print size is explained further down. The file list shows the old and new size of every picture before you start, for example 1280×720 → 3840×2160.

To upscale image to high resolution for a big screen, a slide deck or a design project, start from the size the picture will be shown at. Times 2× suits a picture that is just a little too small. 4× takes a small web picture or an old phone photo to a usable size. 8× is for tiny pictures such as thumbnails, small avatars or old game graphics.

More pixels are only useful up to the size you need. An 8K version of a picture that will be shown 1,200 pixels wide only makes a heavier file. For a website, use Width with the exact width of the layout, or twice that for sharp phone and laptop screens, and let the browser do the rest.

AI upscaling needs a lot of memory, because the model works on every pixel of the 4× result. For that reason, pictures over about 4 megapixels, for example larger than about 2,400 × 1,700, are enlarged with the fast method even when AI upscale is selected. The file list warns you with a short note, and the result line then reads Fast resize (picture too large for AI).

Pictures that big usually hold enough detail for a smooth classic enlargement anyway. If you want the AI on part of a large photo, cut out the part you need with Crop Image first, then upscale the crop.

The finished picture is capped at 120 megapixels. If your settings would go beyond that, for example 8× on a photo that is already large, the size is reduced in proportion and the file list shows the real final size before you start.

Many people want to upscale image without losing quality. Strictly speaking, enlarging does not throw anything away: everything in the original is still there. What people notice is the opposite problem, that a bigger picture shows its lack of detail as blur and blocks. The real goal is a larger version that looks as clean as the small one did.

For photos, art and screenshots without small text, AI upscale gets closest to that goal. Then make sure saving does not cost anything: PNG is lossless, and JPG or WebP at the default Quality of 92 look the same as the unsaved result for nearly all pictures. Move the Quality slider towards 100 for the best possible JPG or WebP.

Finally, check the result with the before-and-after slider. For text and logos, Auto already uses Text & screenshots mode; compare it with Fast (no AI) if you like and keep the one that looks more faithful.

Under More options, File type decides the format of the new file. Same as original keeps PNG as PNG and WebP as WebP; JPG, HEIC and AVIF pictures become JPG, and GIF and BMP become PNG. You can also choose PNG, JPG or WebP for every file in the batch.

PNG is lossless and keeps transparency, but its files are large, especially at 4K and 8K. JPG gives the smallest files for photos and has no transparency. WebP keeps transparency and is much lighter than PNG. Quality, from 60 to 100% with 92 as the default, applies to JPG and WebP.

Bigger pictures are bigger files too: four times the width and height means sixteen times the pixels. If a result is too heavy for a website or an email, pick WebP, lower the Quality a little, or run it through Compress Image afterwards. Each file is named after the original with its new size added, such as holiday-3840x2160.jpg.

You can upscale image with transparent background files such as logos, stickers, icons and product cut-outs, and the see-through areas stay see-through. Save them as PNG or WebP; Same as original already does that for PNG and WebP pictures. JPG cannot store transparency, so avoid it for these files.

Behind the scenes, the AI looks at the colours as if the picture sat on white, which avoids dark halos around the edges. The transparency itself is enlarged smoothly on its own and put back afterwards, so edges come out clean and soft rather than jagged. In the before-and-after view, a light checkerboard shows the transparent parts.

Need a transparent background first? Remove Background cuts out the subject of a photo with AI, and you can then enlarge the result here.

To upscale image for printing, think in pixels first. A printer needs a certain number of pixels for each inch of paper. 300 pixels per inch, usually called 300 DPI, is the common standard for photos and printed material seen up close. An 8 × 10 inch print at 300 DPI therefore needs 2,400 × 3,000 pixels.

Print size does the maths for you. Choose Print size under New size and type the long side of the print in inches, from 1 to 60. The picture is enlarged so that its long side equals that many inches at 300 DPI, and 300 DPI is written into the file so print programs open it at the right size. For an 8 × 10 inch print, type 10.

Check the shape: the long side is set, and the short side follows the shape of your picture. If the picture does not have the same shape as the paper, crop it first with Crop Image, then upscale. For posters seen from a few steps away, 150 DPI is often enough, which needs only half the pixels per inch.

Print shops and forms often ask for 300 DPI, and it is tempting to just change the number. But a DPI value on its own does not add pixels. It is only a note in the file that tells a printer how many pixels to place on each inch. A 600 × 400 picture marked 300 DPI prints at 2 × 1.33 inches; marked 72 DPI it prints at 8.3 × 5.6 inches, with the same soft pixels.

To really upscale image to 300 DPI at a given print size, you need both: enough pixels and the 300 DPI note. Print size gives you both in one step. If the pixel size is already right, the DPI setting under More options writes 72, 150 or 300 into the file without changing anything else, and Not set leaves it out. Print size always writes 300.

The DPI value is written into PNG and JPG files. WebP files made here carry no DPI value, so choose PNG or JPG for print. To change only the DPI number of an existing file without enlarging it, use Change DPI.

You can upscale image free of charge on this page, with no watermark on the result, no credits, no daily limit and no trial that stops after a few pictures. Every option is available to everyone.

It can be free because your own device does the work. AI upscaling on a server costs money for every picture, which is why such services often count credits. Here the model runs in your browser, so there is no server bill for your pictures. The only limits are practical: 30 pictures per batch, about 4 megapixels for the AI, and 120 megapixels for the finished picture.

You can upscale image without sign up: there is no account, no email address to give and no login, and nothing has to be installed. Open the page, add pictures and download the results. Your settings are remembered in your own browser, not in an account.

No app is needed on Windows, Mac, Linux, Chromebook, iPhone, iPad or Android; any current browser works. WebGPU, which makes the AI fast, is available in recent versions of Chrome and Edge and in some other browsers. Where it is missing, the AI runs on the processor, more slowly but with practically the same result.

Many services that upscale image online free send your picture to a server and send back the result. This page works differently. Online here only means that the page opens in a browser. The upscaling itself happens on your device, and your pictures are not uploaded, stored or seen by anyone.

The only things loaded from our site are the page, the AI runtime and the model of about 5 MB, which your browser can keep for later visits. That matters for family photos, client work, unreleased products and personal documents. It also means that speed depends on your device rather than on your internet connection, and there is no queue.

Speed depends on the device. On a computer whose browser supports WebGPU, the graphics card does the work and a typical picture is usually done in a few seconds. On the processor it can take much longer, especially for larger pictures, because every tile is computed by the CPU. Phones and older laptops are slower again.

The progress bar shows the percent for each picture, and the first run waits a moment for the model to load. To save time, test one picture before a big batch, use 2× or a smaller target when you do not need more, and use Fast (no AI) for pictures that do not benefit from the AI, such as documents.

On Windows, Mac, Linux and Chromebook, open this page in a current browser, drag pictures from your folders onto the box or click Select pictures, and press the Upscale button. Results go to your Downloads folder. With several pictures you get one ZIP; on Windows right-click it and choose Extract All, on a Mac double-click it.

On iPhone and iPad, tap Select pictures and choose photos from your library or the Files app; HEIC photos open directly. On Android, pick pictures from the gallery or a file manager. Phones have less memory than computers, so start with a few pictures at a time and use a computer for large batches.

Add up to 30 pictures at once by selecting several files, dropping a pile of them or using Add more. The same method and size are used for all of them, and the file list shows the planned size of each one. Remove a picture with its X button, or start again with Clear all.

When the batch is finished, Download all (ZIP) saves every result in one file called upscaled-images.zip, and each picture also has its own save button. If a picture fails, the others still finish and the list says which one needs attention.

After upscaling, the first picture is shown with a before-and-after slider. Drag it across the picture to see the original pixels on one side and the upscaled result on the other. The original is drawn with its real square pixels, so you can see exactly how much sharper the new version is.

Look at the places that matter most: faces, edges, text and fine textures. The result line also shows the new pixel size, the method that was used and the file size.

Old digital photos are one of the most common reasons to make a picture bigger. Early phones and compact cameras took pictures of one or two megapixels, and many pictures shared in chats or saved from the web are smaller still. On a modern screen they look tiny, and stretched to fit they look soft and blocky.

AI upscale at 4× usually helps a lot here. It removes much of the JPG blockiness, cleans up noise and draws sharper edges, so the picture looks at home on a large screen. Scans of paper prints work the same way: scan at the highest setting your scanner offers, then enlarge the scan if you still need more pixels.

Keep expectations realistic for very small pictures. A thumbnail of 150 pixels can become a pleasant 600 pixel picture, but faces and fine patterns are partly drawn by the AI. If the picture is a family memory, keep the original file as well, so you always have the real version.

For websites and social media, bigger is not always better. Most platforms shrink pictures to their own display size, and many recompress them as well. A picture enlarged to 8K will be scaled down on upload, so you only pay for it with a long upload and a heavy file.

A good rule is to make the picture about as large as it will be shown, or twice that for sharp phone screens. 1080p is enough for most posts and slides, and 2K or 4K suits wide website banners and wallpapers. Save as JPG or WebP to keep the file light, and use Resize Image when a platform asks for an exact size.

Step one: start with the best source. Use the original file from the camera or phone rather than a copy that was sent through a chat app, because chat apps often shrink and compress pictures. Crop away anything you do not need.

Step two: test one picture. Add it, keep AI upscale and pick the size you need. Look at the result with the before-and-after slider, paying attention to faces, edges and any text. If something looks wrong, try Fast (no AI) and compare.

Step three: run the rest. Add the other pictures, keep the settings you chose and press the button. Download all (ZIP) saves the whole batch in one file.

Step four: save for the job. For print, use Print size and PNG or JPG. For the web, pick WebP or JPG and a size that matches the layout, and compress the file if it is still heavy.

When you add a picture, your browser decodes it on your device; HEIC photos are decoded by a small built-in decoder. When you press the button, each picture is either sent through the Real-ESRGAN model in overlapping tiles, with ONNX Runtime using WebGPU or the processor, or enlarged with the fast method. The AI result is then resized to the exact size you chose.

The picture is saved as PNG, JPG or WebP by your browser, and for PNG and JPG files the DPI value is written into the file. When there are several results, the ZIP is packed in your browser too. Nothing is sent to a server at any point.

Start from the best original you have; the AI works best on the largest, least compressed version.

Upscale once to the size you need instead of enlarging the same picture again and again.

Use AI upscale for photos and art, and Fast (no AI) for text, logos and documents.

Crop before you upscale, so the pixels go where you need them.

Save print files as PNG or JPG so the DPI value is written into them.

Check faces and small text with the before-and-after slider before you use the result.

Need the picture smaller in bytes after enlarging? Compress Image shrinks the file, and Resize Image sets exact sizes and social media presets. For printing, Image to PDF puts one or many pictures into a document, and Change DPI sets the DPI number on its own.

Want a different format? Convert Image handles many format pairs, HEIC to JPG makes iPhone photos easy to share, and Remove Background gives you a cut-out you can enlarge here.