Face Quality Enhancer

AI Image Upscaler & Face Enhancer is an Apify Actor that upscales images and restores faces using CodeFormer neural networks. Turn low-resolution, blurry, or old photos into high-quality, print-ready images with AI face restoration and super-resolution. Feed it a URL (direct, Google Drive, or Dropbox) and choose a 1x, 2x, or 4x upscale factor.

What Is AI Image Upscaler & Face Enhancer?

AI Image Upscaler & Face Enhancer is a cloud-based image enhancement API built on state-of-the-art CodeFormer deep learning models. It automatically detects faces in your photos and applies AI-powered enhancement to improve quality, restore details, and increase resolution. Typical processing takes 30-90 seconds per image.

AI Models Used

• CodeFormer — state-of-the-art face restoration neural network for robust blind face restoration
• RetinaFace — high-precision face detection model for accurate face localization
• Super-resolution — deep learning based upscaling for enhanced image resolution

Key Features

• Upscale images by 1x, 2x, or 4x using AI super-resolution
• Restore and enhance facial features in portraits and group photos
• Improve image quality for old, blurry, or low-resolution photos
• Process images from direct URLs, Google Drive, or Dropbox links
• Fidelity weight control to balance enhancement vs. original detail
• PNG lossless output stored in the key-value store

Supported Image Formats and Sources

Input: JPG, JPEG, PNG, BMP, TIFF Output: PNG (lossless quality)

The Actor automatically converts URLs from:

• Google Drive (shared links)
• Dropbox (shared links)
• Direct image URLs (HTTP/HTTPS)

Use Cases

For Photography & Personal Use

• Restore old family photos — bring new life to vintage photographs with AI face restoration
• Enhance portraits — improve selfies, headshots, and professional photography
• Upscale for printing — convert low-resolution images to print-ready quality

For Business & E-commerce

• Product photography — improve e-commerce product images for better conversion
• Marketing materials — create high-quality visuals for campaigns and social media
• Real estate listings — enhance property photos for listings and marketing

For Creative Projects

• Digital art — upscale artwork and illustrations for high-resolution displays
• Content creation — improve image quality for videos, blogs, and presentations
• Archival purposes — digitally restore and preserve important photographs

Input Parameters

Parameter	Type	Required	Default	Description
imageUrl	string	Yes	—	URL of the image to enhance (JPG, JPEG, PNG, BMP, TIFF; Google Drive and Dropbox links auto-converted)
upscaleFactor	string	No	2	Resolution multiplier: 1 (restoration only), 2 (recommended), 4 (maximum)
fidelityWeight	number	No	0.7	Balance between quality (0.0) and fidelity to original (1.0); 0.7 recommended
onlyCenterFace	boolean	No	true	Process only the center face; disable for group photos

Example input:

{
  "imageUrl": "https://example.com/portrait.jpg",
  "upscaleFactor": "2",
  "fidelityWeight": 0.7,
  "onlyCenterFace": true
}

Sample Output

{
  "success": true,
  "filename": "portrait_enhanced.png",
  "imageUrl": "https://api.apify.com/v2/key-value-stores/abc123/records/enhanced-portrait_enhanced.png",
  "originalUrl": "https://example.com/portrait.jpg",
  "size": 245678,
  "upscaleFactor": 2,
  "facesDetected": 1,
  "processedAt": "2026-02-22T10:30:00.000Z"
}

Field	Description
success	Whether processing succeeded
filename	Output filename
imageUrl	URL to download the enhanced image
originalUrl	Original input URL
size	File size in bytes
upscaleFactor	Applied upscale factor
facesDetected	Number of faces found
processedAt	Processing timestamp

Enhanced images are also stored in the key-value store for direct download.

How to Use the AI Image Upscaler

1. Open the Actor page on Apify Store and click Start Actor.
2. Paste a direct image URL, Google Drive link, or Dropbox link into imageUrl.
3. Select the upscaleFactor (1x restoration only, 2x recommended, 4x maximum) and optionally tune fidelityWeight and onlyCenterFace.
4. Run the Actor and download the enhanced PNG from imageUrl or the key-value store.

Connect via API

cURL:

curl -X POST "https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/akash9078/ai-image-upscaler/runs" \
-H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_TOKEN" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{"imageUrl":"https://example.com/portrait.jpg","upscaleFactor":"2","fidelityWeight":0.7,"onlyCenterFace":true}'

Python:

import requests

response = requests.post(
    "https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/akash9078/ai-image-upscaler/runs",
    headers={"Authorization": "Bearer YOUR_API_TOKEN"},
    json={"imageUrl": "https://example.com/portrait.jpg", "upscaleFactor": "2"},
)
print(response.json())

Node.js with the Apify Client:

const { ApifyClient } = require('apify-client');

const client = new ApifyClient({ token: process.env.APIFY_TOKEN });

const run = await client.actor('akash9078/ai-image-upscaler').call({
    imageUrl: 'https://example.com/portrait.jpg',
    upscaleFactor: '2',
    fidelityWeight: 0.7,
    onlyCenterFace: true,
});

const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
console.log(items);

Tips for Best Results

1. Use high-quality source images when possible — AI enhancement works best with moderate quality inputs
2. For portraits, keep "Only Center Face" enabled for faster processing
3. For group photos, disable "Only Center Face" to process all detected faces
4. Adjust fidelity weight — lower values (0.5) for more enhancement, higher values (0.9) to preserve original details
5. Use 2x upscale for best balance between quality improvement and file size

AI Image Upscaler Pricing

Event	Price	Description
apify-actor-start	$0.00005	Charged automatically when the Actor starts
image-enhanced	$0.025	Charged for each image successfully enhanced with AI upscaling and face restoration

Example cost calculation:

• Processing 1 portrait photo with 2x upscaling ≈ $0.025
• Processing 100 portrait photos with face enhancement ≈ $2.50
• Processing 1000 product images ≈ $25.00

You can set a maximum spending limit per run to control costs. The Apify platform provides $5 of free credits monthly on the free plan.

Why Use This Instead of a Standard Photo Editor?

Capability	AI Image Upscaler	Standard editor
Face restoration	CodeFormer AI model	Manual retouching
4x super-resolution	Built in	Limited or manual
Cloud storage links	Auto-converted	Manual download
Fidelity control	fidelityWeight parameter	Manual judgment
API / batch automation	Built in	Not available

Limitations

• Processes one image per run; use the Apify API or schedules for batch processing
• Handles images up to approximately 4096x4096 pixels; larger images may be automatically resized
• Processing takes 30-90 seconds depending on image size and complexity
• Requires 2-4GB of memory depending on image size (automatically configured)
• If no faces are detected, the Actor still applies super-resolution upscaling to the entire image

FAQ

What types of images work best?

The Actor is optimized for photos containing faces, including portraits, selfies, group photos, and old photographs. It can still enhance images without faces through super-resolution upscaling.

Is my image data secure?

Images are processed in isolated containers and automatically deleted after processing. The Apify platform uses enterprise-grade security with encryption in transit and at rest.

What's the maximum image size?

The Actor can process images up to approximately 4096x4096 pixels. Larger images may be automatically resized.

How long does processing take?

Processing time depends on image size and complexity, typically 30-90 seconds per image. Portrait photos with clear faces process faster.

Can I process multiple images?

This Actor processes one image per run. For batch processing, you can use the Apify API to run multiple tasks or create a custom workflow.

What if no faces are detected?

If no faces are found, the Actor will still apply super-resolution upscaling to the entire image. The facesDetected field in the output indicates how many faces were processed.

Related Actors

If you need more image processing tools from Apify, check out my other Apify Actors:

• AI Background Remover - HD & Transparent
• AI Face Swap
• Analyze Image
• AI Image Generator - Text to Image
• Frame Image Converter

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Built and maintained by akash9078 on the Apify platform.