How to Upscale an Image Without Losing Quality

6 min readMay 23, 2024

In this post, I want to guide you and help you answer the question: How to upscale an image without losing any quality?

Upscaling images has become increasingly popular with the rise of AI image generators. But any image, whether it is AI-generated or not, can be upscaling and increasing in quality. We will be using some free online tools and Photoshop.

How to upscale an image?

What is upscaling?

In simple terms, upscaling is the process of increasing the quality and dimensions of an image file. It involves adding more pixels to the image in order to enhance its resolution and overall appearance.

By upscaling an image, you can make it look sharper and more detailed, but it’s important to note that the quality of the original image will ultimately determine how successful the upscaling process is.

One misconception about upscaling images is that upscaling can magically create missing details or improve the quality beyond the original image’s capabilities. It is important to manage expectations and understand the limitations of upscaling technology in order to achieve realistic results.

How do I upscale an image?

Here are the steps I take to upscale an image: First, I use an online tool, that uses AI to upscale and enhance the overall quality of the image.

Most images that I upscale already have a minimum width of 1000/1500 pixels. But you can also upscale lower-resolution images, just don’t expect the results to be the best.

The tool I used the most is Pixcelcut, they have an easy-to-use online tool that can quickly upscale any image, and the results are really good.

Another tool you can use is Bigjpg.com, Their results are amazing as well, and they offer extra options such as noise reduction, which is great for artwork and illustrations.

After that, I use Photoshop to enhance the quality even further.

Here are the upscale steps I take:

Go to the free Pixelcut Image Upscaler website (or another tool of your choice) and import your image.

Upload your image and upscale it, the free version lets you upscale only 2x

Wait for the upscale process to be finished and download the image.

As you can see, the image has been improved but there are still some issues.

Now that the image has been upscaled, you can open the upscaled image in Photoshop. (I am not 100% happy with the upscaled results, so I always do some extra steps in Photoshop.)

As you can see, it’s still blurry and there are JPEG artifacts…

First, I will increase the resolution a little more. Normally, this is not advised as this will make your image blurry or pixelated, but if you do no more than 10 or 20%, and do some tweaking afterward, it will be fine, especially with artworks it fine.

Original it was around 3000 px, but I increased it to 4000px

When enlarging the image, I always use the “preserve details” resample setting, as this creates smoother results, I also use the noise reducer, in this case at 37%.

Now that the image has the resolution I want, I will first sharpen it a little to get some more details. You can either use the “sharpen” filter or go to “unsharp mask” for more options.

After the image has been sharpened slightly, I will use the surface blur filter to smoothen the image.

Next, I will use another blur filter that is hidden under the “Noise” tab and called “Dust & Scratches”. I love this filter, as it really creates smooth results for the image.

Ok, you are done, You can save the image and use it.

Tip: In some cases, smaller details such as hands or eyes are just a little weird, in those cases, you could consider using an AI generator to generate only the eyes and replace them in Photoshop.

10 extra tips for upscaling images

Here are 10 additional tips for upscaling images without losing quality.

Check the output size limits of the upscaling tool you’re using and plan accordingly for larger images.
Upscale in multiple passes if needed, rather than one huge upscale, to avoid potential artifacts.
Use a high-quality interpolation method like Lanczos when upscaling in photo editing software.
Batch process similar images together to get consistent upscaling results.
Pay attention to text elements and ensure they remain legible after upscaling.
Use selective upscaling on important areas rather than the whole image for faster processing.
Crop or remove any unnecessary borders/backgrounds before upscaling.
Compare upscaling results at different scaling factors to find the sweet spot.
Explore upscaling plugins for software like Photoshop that may provide better quality.
Use an image quality assessment tool to objectively evaluate before/after results.

FAQ

Here’s a related FAQ for upscaling images without losing quality:

What is the best way to upscale images?

Using a dedicated AI upscaling tool like Pixcelcut or Topaz Gigapixel AI tends to produce the best results for upscaling images while preserving quality and detail.

Can I upscale any image no matter how low the resolution?

While you can technically upscale any image, very low-resolution images (under 500px wide) may not upscale well. For best results, start with the highest resolution image possible.

How much can I increase the image size before the quality suffers?

There’s no single rule, but most recommend upscaling in increments of 25–50% at a time rather than a massive upscale all at once to avoid artifacts.

What file formats work best for upscaling?

Uncompressed formats like TIFF or PNG are ideal as they avoid any compression artifacts. JPGs can work but may have some quality loss.

Do I need Photoshop to properly upscale images?

No, dedicated AI upscalers like Pixcelcut can upscale without Photoshop. But Photoshop provides extra refinement options after upscaling.

Can upscaling “create” new details not in the original?

No, upscaling enhances and sharpens existing details but cannot truly create brand-new detail from nothing in the original image.

How can I avoid introducing noise/artifacts when upscaling?

Use noise reduction filters, work in small increments, and use high-quality resize algorithms to minimize artifacts.

Is it better to upscale first or edit the image first?

Generally upscale first on the original image, then edit and refine the upscaled version.

Are there any image subjects that upscale better than others?

Images with distinct lines, edges, and textures tend to upscale better than flat, smooth areas.

I hope this guide/tutorial helps you with answering the question, of how to upscale an image! For more questions let me know.

PNG Clipart Sets:

I create more PNG sets, please check them out with the links below. Feel free to explore and utilize the other clipart sets I have created by clicking on the links provided. Thank you for adhering to the usage guidelines, and enjoy incorporating these unicorn images into your projects!