With visual content becoming continuously prioritized on the internet, optimizing pictures for web content with upscaling technology is more important than ever. That’s where a good image upscaler comes in handy. Previously the inability to enlarge image with low resolution causes issues for professionals working in image-heavy sectors like marketing.
If you’ve ever taken a low-resolution image and tried to enlarge it, you’ll know how difficult it is to get a high-quality picture. The enlarged image usually comes out blurred and distorted, making it impossible to use in a professional setting.
This distortion happens because low-res pictures have fewer pixels, so they’re unable to reproduce all the finer details that are present in the original image.
An image upscaler is a web tool that enlarges low-resolution images without losing quality, using super resolution technology. These tools are invaluable for professionals in visual industries and individuals alike. Here’s why they’re so important.
The Benefits of Using an Image Upscaler
View images on a high-resolution screen
Displaying a low-res picture on a high-resolution screen makes the picture look even worse. By enhancing your image using an image upscaler, you can enjoy a more pleasant viewing experience or give better business presentations on large screens.
Print the image at a larger size
If you enlarge and print an image without using an image upscaler, the picture quality will suffer significantly. Using an image enhancer allows you to print everything from your holiday pictures to your company’s marketing catalog with improved image quality.
Increased perceived legitimacy
If consumers are looking for a particular product or service and they come across a website with blurred images, they’ll perceive that business as less trustworthy. In fact, online content with quality pictures gets 94% more views than content without them. High-quality pictures cultivate a professional image, which is crucial for any business.
What is AI image resolution upscaling?
There are two types of photo upscaling; manual and AI. Both work to either increase the number of pixels in a picture or enhance the existing pixels’ quality, but the technique is different.
Manual upscaling involves downloading software or an upscaling program and manually upgrading the quality of the low-res image. AI image upscaling, on the other hand, uses artificial intelligence algorithms to improve the image’s resolution.
Are manual or AI upscalers better for low resolution images?
The AI algorithm uses machine learning to improve results, meaning the program is getting better at enhancing pictures all the time. Using an AI image upscaler can make the editing process faster by automating the tasks you’d usually perform manually – actions like balancing sharpness and tweaking the resolution.
The results of AI upscalers can sometimes be more precise since the software is able to automatically apply the best algorithms for the job. Occasionally, however, if the AI software has to fill in too many blanks when upscaling the pictures, you can end up with results that look like cartoon pictures.
The 7 best image upscalers on the market
1. Upscale
Upscale is an AI image upscaler created by PixelBin. Available as a mobile app as well as online, this image enhancer promises to improve your picture quality by up to a max size of 4X the original without losing any important details.
Thanks to its powerful AI technology, the whole upscaling process is complete within a few seconds, which gives this app the edge over manual alternatives. This image enhancer is perfect for people who lack the skills to be able to upscale images using a manual program.
One of our favorite features is the abundance of other cool solutions that Upscale offers alongside its photo upscaler, such as a background remover, watermark eraser, and media shrink tool.
Upscale’s AI solution offers low cost, speed, and ease that this tool offers put it at number one. If you’re searching for a more complex solution, try some of our other recommendations.
Pros
You can upscale an image up to 4X its original size.
There’s email support for any queries or issues.
You can upscale up to 50 pictures entirely free of charge.
Upscale offers other useful features, such as a background eraser, a media shrink tool, and a watermark eraser.
The tool supports png, jpeg, jpg, and webp file formats.
Cons
Upscaling is only possible up to 4X the original image; some other upscalers offer 8X or 16X.
Scaling pictures using this software can sometimes cause unexpected errors.
Pricing
One of Upscale’s key selling points is that you can enhance up to 50 blurry photos without paying a thing. If you’re looking to upscale a few pictures for personal or small business use, the lack of fee is ideal.
Professional photographers or regular users of upscaling technology may want to upgrade to one of Upscale’s paid plans for more pictures, extra features, and improved functionality.
Users on the basic plan and upwards also enjoy access to third-party integrations, while premium users get usage analytics and SDKs for multiple languages.
2. Stock Photos Upscaler
Another effective tool to increase image resolution is StockPhotos Upscaler – an AI solution. Allowing you to upload jpg, png, webp, and bmp files up to 4MB, this tool offers upscale resolution up to 8X, promising to enhance images to an impressive quality.
For those working within a strict budget, the tool offers the option to upscale 3 pictures free of change, but this enhancement is only available up to 2X the original. Think of the free option as a sort of free trial. If you’re impressed by the functionality of the free plan, you’ll be thrilled with Upscaler’s paid options.
Upscaler’s Premium plan boasts three types of enhancement for uploaded images and compressed images. There’s High Fidelity, Artifact Removal, and Ironed Out. Once you’ve uploaded your image file, try all three enhancement styles to see which best suits your image.
Pros
Upscale pictures up to 800% of the original size.
Remove artifacts from pictures.
Choose from three types of photo enhancement.
The pricing options are simple.
You can try the tool completely free of charge for three pictures.
Cons
The free trial only allows for 2X enhancement.
Upscaler could be more effective at removing blur from pictures.
Pricing
The pricing on Upscaler is straightforward. You pay per image that you upscale, and you pay more per image depending on your plan. Both paid plans allow you to scale up to 8X, but the Premium plan allows for 100 upscales as well as batch uploads, so you can enhance multiple images at a time.
If you don’t want to subscribe to a payment plan, there’s another option. You can buy individual upscales for as little as $0.10 per upscale – perfect for users only looking to enhance a few small pictures.
3. Let’s Enhance
Let’s Enhance is another AI image enlarger and upscaler that uses the power of machine learning to enlarge your pictures without quality loss. As with other AI solutions, the results are almost instant, and the solution itself is beginner-friendly. The photo enhancement is powerful, often resulting in 4k-quality results, depending on the original pictures.
The tool allows you to upscale images for free, but it requires you to make an account first, so it’s not as convenient for people looking to perform a quick upgrade to image resolution.
Pros
Let’s Enhance allows you to remove noise and other artifacts.
In certain cases, you can scale a image file up to 16X the original size.
You can use Let’s Enhance’s free trial if you don’t need the paid version.
Cons
Unlike other AI solutions, you can’t use the free trial without signing up for an account.
You can only upscale to 16X using the paid version of the tool.
Pricing
You can use Let’s Enhance for free for up to 10 pictures before having to pay. The paid plans offer the same features, but you pay more to process more pictures every month.
4. Deep Image AI
Want to enhance and enlarge multiple small images in one go? Deep Image AI is ideal for you. Complete with a batch process that allows for the upload of several pictures at once, this AI image upscaler promises to remove artifacts and improve image quality.
The AI works by generating predictions of how the low-resolution photo would look in better quality. Deep Image AI is easy to use, and as with other artificial intelligence solutions, the results appear almost instantly.
There’s also API support for developers, allowing you to integrate the upscaling tool into your own coding projects.
Pros
Deep Image’s AI algorithms make the upscaling appear completely natural.
The API is useful for developers.
Deep Image AI is easy to set up – there’s nothing to install or download. Simply go to the site and upload your low-resolution images.
Cons
You must sign up for Deep Image AI before you’re able to use the tool – even with the free trial option.
The free trial offers limited functionality, so you won’t get a full understanding of the tool’s capabilities.
Pricing
If you’re in need of a quick fix for a few pictures, you can opt for Deep Image AI’s free trial, which allows for the enhancement of five pictures with a watermark. For 100 images and above, you’ll need to pay. Payment plans start at a reasonable $7.50 per month and increase to $32.50 per month for 500 credits and extra features.
5. Blow Up 3
Blow Up 3 is the latest version of the popular Blow Up software that runs on both Windows and Mac computers. With manual technology that’s similar to Photoshop (but much easier to use), Blow Up 3 allows you to enlarge pictures without losing quality. Unlike Photoshop, image upscaling is the feature at the heart of this innovative tool.
One of Blow Up 3’s key selling points is the vast array of sizes it can enhance – basically anything that Photoshop can handle, so can Blow Up 3. There’s also a cool feature that allows users to customize settings for different paper standards, ensuring your pictures are ideal for printouts. New wall art, anyone?
Pros
Blow Up 3 has presets for common paper sizes, including photo papers.
The 30-day free trial is longer than many other image upscaling solutions.
Blow Up 3 offers the complex functionality of a manual upscaler while being more straightforward to use than other manual solutions such as Photoshop and GIMP.
Cons
There’s no ongoing free option, so if you want the tool long-term, you’ll have to buy it outright.
Blow Up 3 doesn’t utilize AI technology, so it requires more expertise to use than other solutions.
Pricing
You can try Blow Up 3 for free for 30 days before committing. If you decide to go ahead with the platform, there’s no ongoing subscription fee, simply a one-off charge to buy the software outright.
6. Photoshop
No list of image-enhancing technology would be complete without mentioning Photoshop. While not explicitly marketed as a tool for upscaling, Photoshop allows creatives to restore pictures to a higher resolution with its advanced tools.
It’s worth noting, however, that this program isn’t novice-friendly. Unlike the AI solutions that involve uploading an image and waiting a few minutes for the deep learning smart upscaler to do its thing, Photoshop users must enhance pictures manually.
If you’re working on a temporary project and only require Photoshop for a limited time, opt for their 7-day free trial. If you need the software for longer, expect to pay for one of their price plans. Paying for a Photoshop plan is ideal for regular users of image software, but less so for novices or one-time users.
Pros
You can try Photoshop for free for 7 days – perfect if you’re in need of a quick fix.
Photoshop offers tons of other features, including background swapping, colorization, and graphic design tools.
Users can enlarge image without losing image quality.
Cons
Photoshop is mainly suited to pro designers with previous experience.
If you’re only interested in upscaling pictures, you’ll be paying for other unnecessary features.
Photoshop’s image upscaling is much slower than AI alternatives.
Pricing
Photoshop starts at $19.97 per month for an annual contract, but you’ll pay more for a flexible monthly contract.
7. GIMP
GIMP is a customizable image tool primarily used by techies and designers. This open-source software boasts multiple features, one of which is an image upscaler that allows you to enlarge images without losing quality. GIMP is a manual image manipulation program, not an AI image upscaler.
On the positive side, GIMP offers multiple features in one platform, so if you’re a photo-enhancing whizz, you’ll enjoy working with this extensive program. However, GIMP does require installation on a computer, so it’s not a click-and-go solution like some of the AI alternatives. Neither is it straightfoward to use, so it’s better suited to experienced image editors than novices.
Pros
You can use GIMP entirely free of charge.
If you or your team have development experience, you can change GIMP’s source code.
GIMP offers other image manipulation features beyond upscaling – similar to Photoshop.
Cons
GIMP is more suited to image editors with extensive experience.
GIMP has to be installed before you can use it.
GIMP comes with features that go beyond image upscaling, so it can be confusing for first-time users.
Pricing
Because GIMP is an open-source platform, it’s completely free to use. Users are, however, encouraged to donate to GIMP to allow the team of developers to continue their work.
Summary
Whether you need to enhance a bigger image for personal or professional use, there are tons of tools on the market to make higher-quality images a reality.
If you’re a beginner in the world of image upscaling, you’ll love easy AI image enhancement tools like Upscale and Upscaler. If you’ve got years of image enhancement experience, you’ll feel at home with more complex tools, such as Photoshop.
Before selecting the best image upscaler for your needs, consider your budget and the features you’re looking for in an image upscaler. Once you’ve selected an image upscaler that meets your needs, all that’s left is to reap the rewards of the ability to enlarge images without losing quality.
