How to upscale an image
- Drop an image above.
- Choose 2× or 4×. The panel shows the size you'll get before you run it.
- Run it, compare the original and the result with the slider, and download the full-size file.
AI upscaling vs ordinary resizing
Ordinary resizing, such as an image editor's resize command or a browser stretching a picture, only spreads the existing pixels further apart, so a 2× enlargement looks soft and a 4× one looks blurry. An AI upscaler has learned what edges, hair, fabric, foliage and skin look like at high resolution, and it redraws them at the new size. It's the difference between a photo that looks enlarged and one that looks as if it was shot at the higher resolution.
CropDen uses Topaz, one of the best-regarded upscalers for photographs. When Topaz is unavailable, Recraft's Crisp Upscale takes over (run twice for 4×), so a run still finishes.
When to upscale
- A platform rejects your image as too small. A YouTube banner needs at least 2048 × 1152 px; LinkedIn and X headers look soft below their full size. Upscale first, then crop on the YouTube banner or LinkedIn banner page.
- An old or small photo for a print or a slide. A 1000 px photo printed at 8 inches wide has 125 pixels per inch; after a 4× upscale it has 500.
- A crop that kept only a small part of the frame. Zooming in on one face from a group shot leaves few pixels; upscaling brings it back to a usable size.
- Product photos for a store that needs bigger images for zoom.
Choosing 2× or 4×
| Starting size (long side) | Choose | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 1025 to 2048 px | 2× | Up to 4096 px |
| Up to 1024 px | 4× | Up to 4096 px |
Results are capped at 4096 px on the long side, which is more than any screen or social platform needs; larger images are scaled down before upscaling. 2× costs 8 credits and 4× costs 12.
What upscaling can't do
- Recover detail that was never captured. A face that's a few pixels wide gets a plausible face, not necessarily the right one. Check faces and small text closely.
- Undo heavy compression. A screenshot of a screenshot, or a photo a messaging app has squeezed several times, carries blocky artifacts the AI may sharpen along with everything else. Start from the original file whenever you can.
- Fix motion blur or bad focus. It sharpens edges, but a shaky photo stays shaky.
Cost and privacy
Each run needs a free account and credits; failed runs are refunded automatically. The image is sent to our AI provider, kie.ai, which deletes the upload after 24 hours and the result after 14 days. CropDen doesn't keep or reuse your images.
