Pipelines

AI Upscale: make small images bigger without going blurry

AI upscaling for small or low-res images. Pick 2x, 4x, or 8x. 10 credits per image. Sign-in required. Free Resize just stretches pixels — this adds real detail.

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AI Upscale takes a small image and makes it bigger — with sharp edges and added detail, not the blurry stretched-pixel result you get from regular Resize.

This is a paid AI tool. Each use costs 10 credits (about 1¢ at $1 per 1,000 credits; $5 = about 500 upscales). You need to sign in to use it. Your image is sent to a server, processed there, and deleted right away.

ReadyPixl also has a free Upscaler that runs on your own computer. Try the free one first — if your computer handles it, you don't need to spend anything. Use AI Upscale when your computer struggles or crashes with the free one, or when you need 8x (on the web, only AI Upscale has 8x).

When to use AI Upscale vs free Resize

Use this	When
Resize (free)	Making images smaller, or scaling up by less than ~25% (existing detail is fine, just need slightly bigger)
Upscaler (free)	Making images bigger by 2x or 4x on your own computer. Quality tiers Standard, High and Extra High — start with Standard; higher tiers can crash a slow PC or Mac
AI Upscale (paid)	2x, 4x, or 8x on our servers — when your computer can't handle the free Upscaler, or you need 8x

The classic case for AI Upscale: a 1024×1024 AI-generated image that needs to be much bigger — for a print, a large web banner, or a product listing. Resize would just stretch the pixels and look soft. AI Upscale at 4x gets you to 4096×4096 with sharp detail you can crop or re-canvas.

How to use it

Add AI Upscale to your pipeline.
Pick a scale (4x is the default):

2x — doubles the image dimensions (1024 → 2048)
4x — quadruples (1024 → 4096)
8x — eight times bigger (1024 → 8192)

Optionally set Skip if already larger than (see below). If you also have the free Upscaler in the pipeline, turn it off so the image isn't upscaled twice.

Size limits: your source image can be up to 2500 px per side for 2x and 4x, and up to 1700 px per side for 8x. Bigger sources are skipped, so resize very large images down first. (Small AI images like 1024 px are well within these limits.)

The settings

Setting	What it does
Scale	Pick 2x, 4x (default), or 8x. Always 10 credits per image regardless of scale, but bigger output = bigger file = slower processing.
Skip if already larger than (500–2560 px, default 2560)	Skips images that are already this big, so you don't spend credits upscaling images that don't need it. Matters most in mixed batches.

No noise reduction, no sharpness slider — the AI handles everything.

Common uses

AI-generated images — ChatGPT / Gemini / Grok outputs are usually around 1024px; prints and large images need much more. Upscale 4x bridges the gap.
Small product images sourced from vendors — vendor-supplied product images are often 800-1200px, too small for catalog hero positions. Upscale 2x or 4x gets them to spec.
Old or low-resolution stock images that you've licensed but can't replace with bigger versions.
Designs at the wrong export size that you don't want to re-render from scratch.

Tips

Run AI Upscale near the end of your pipeline. Cleanup tools (Color Removal V2, Trim) are faster on the smaller original. Upscale last to get the final big image at the size you need.
Pick the smallest scale that hits your target. Don't 8x if 4x is enough — same credit cost, but the bigger file is slower to process and download.
Large print file from a 1024 source: use 4x. That gives 4096px.
For Etsy 2000×2000 from a 1024 source: use 2x. That gives 2048px which Reposition can canvas to 2000.
Try the free Upscaler first. On the web it runs in your browser on your own computer (2x / 4x). The Desktop app's free Upscaler also works offline and its Extra High tier goes up to 8x — if you upscale a lot, the Desktop app can pay for itself.

Things AI Upscale doesn't do

It doesn't sharpen blurry sources. If your source is out of focus, the upscale just makes it a bigger out-of-focus image. AI Upscale adds detail where the original had detail to work from. It can't invent focus that wasn't there.
It doesn't fix compression artifacts. Heavily compressed JPEGs (visible banding, blockiness) sometimes get the artifacts upscaled too. Use the highest-quality source you have.
It doesn't change the aspect ratio. A 1024×768 source upscaled 4x becomes 4096×3072 — same shape, just bigger. To get a different shape, use Reposition.
It doesn't work without sign-in. The credits system requires an account so we can track usage.
It can't be undone after credits are spent. Once you click Download All and the AI processes your batch, the credits are deducted. Test with one image before running on 200.

How credits work

1,000 credits cost $1. Buy in bundles from your account page.
Each AI Upscale use is 10 credits (~1¢) per image, regardless of scale (2x / 4x / 8x all cost the same).
A typical 100-image batch costs 1,000 credits ($1).
Credits don't expire.
You can buy credits from $5 (5,000 credits) up to $500.
Both the web version and the Desktop app also have a free Upscaler that runs on your computer. AI Upscale is the pay-as-you-go option for when your computer can't keep up or you need 8x.

A typical AI-image cleanup pipeline

For AI-generated images that need to end up large, the pipeline looks like:

Step	Tool	What it does
1	AI Background Removal	Cuts out the AI-generated scene background
2	Trim	Removes the empty edges
3	AI Upscale (4x)	Brings a 1024px AI image up to ~4096px
4	Reposition	Centers the result on your target canvas (for example 4000 × 4000 at 300 DPI for a print)

That's a 25-credit cost per image (15 + 10), about 2.5¢. For a 100-image batch: $2.50.