AI Image Upscaler & Face Enhancer

AI-powered image enhancement and upscaling using CodeFormer neural networks. Transform low-resolution photos into high-quality images with advanced face restoration and super-resolution technology.

What does AI Image Upscaler do?

This Actor uses state-of-the-art CodeFormer deep learning models to enhance and upscale images with a focus on face restoration. It automatically detects faces in your photos and applies AI-powered enhancement to improve quality, restore details, and increase resolution.

Key capabilities:

• 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

Why use AI Image Upscaler?

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

How much does it cost?

This Actor uses pay-per-event pricing, meaning you only pay for what you use:

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.

How to use AI Image Upscaler

Quick start

1. Provide an image URL - Enter a direct link to your image (supports JPG, PNG, BMP, TIFF)
2. Select upscale factor - Choose 1x (restoration only), 2x (recommended), or 4x (maximum)
3. Run the Actor - Get enhanced images in seconds

Input

Field	Type	Required	Description
Image URL	String	Yes	URL of the image to enhance
Upscale Factor	Integer	No	Resolution multiplier (1, 2, or 4). Default: 2
Fidelity Weight	Number	No	Balance between quality (0.0) and fidelity (1.0). Default: 0.7
Only Center Face	Boolean	No	Process only the center face. Default: true

Output

The Actor returns a dataset with the following fields for each processed image:

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.

Example

Input:

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

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"
}

Technical Details

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

Supported Formats

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

URL Support

The Actor automatically converts URLs from:

• Google Drive (shared links)
• Dropbox (shared links)
• Direct image URLs

Memory Requirements

The Actor requires 2-4GB of memory depending on image size. This is automatically configured.

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

Frequently Asked Questions

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.

Support & Feedback

Found a bug or have a feature request? Please open an issue on the Actor's page or contact the developer.

For general questions about using Apify Actors, check the Apify documentation.

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Keywords: AI image upscaler, face restoration, image enhancement, photo upscaling, CodeFormer, AI photo editor, image quality improvement, old photo restoration, portrait enhancement, super resolution, face enhancement, image processing