Real-ESRGAN GUI is a an open-source software that you can use to upscale images using AI for free. It takes a low-resolution image from you and then scales it to 2x, 4x, 8x times or as specified by you. It can use the built-in GPU or the dedicated GPU for the image processing. Other than that, it supports multiple downsampling algorithms and options to convert an image into anime as well.
Not only images but you can use this software to upscale videos as well. All you need is a good capable hardware and then it will take care of the rest. For now, this software comes equipped with 5 different models that you can choose for scale photos and videos via AI.
One good thing about this tool is that it supports batch processing. You can use it to bulk scale images using AI on your PC. The developer has provided the binaries for all the major platforms; hence it is cross-platform as well.
Real-ESRGAN is an enhanced ESRGAN that is trained with purely synthetic data. It is very capable of improving details and removing annoying objects from the input imagery. If you want to learn more about it, then you can read its paper here. In this post, I have mentioned a GUI program based on this model and algorithm that anybody can use.
Free AI Image Upscaler based on Real-ESRGAN for Windows
We have covered AI image scaler software in the past here and here. But since Real-ESRGAN is probably the best machine learning model and algorithm out there, so I am writing about it here.
You don’t have to do any prior configuration on your PC to use. You can download the binaries for your platforms for its GitHub releases. I am using it on Windows, so, I will just download the Windows bundles 7z archive.
After downloading, extract it using 7-Zip and then launch this software. The main interface is simple and looks like this.
Now, you need to specify the input image that you’d like to scale via AI. Or, instead of a single image, here you can also specify a folder that contains the input images for batch processing.
Select a model from the list and then click “Start”.
Wait for it to process the given image(s) and when you see “Task Completed in X Seconds” in the console output, then you can just open the output folder where you will find the finally scaled image. This is as simple as that.
Before starting the upscaling process, you can also switch to the Advanced tab of the software. Here it will show you the options to choose a specific GPU for the heavy lifting. Also, from here, you can choose a different downsampling algorithm as well. But unless you don’t know about these, I would suggest you keep them as default.
This is how you can use this software to enlarge images using AI. The tool runs completely offline. You can use it any number of times and upscale unlimited number of images for free. Also, don’t forget that it supports videos as well. The process is exactly the same. In the input, you just have to select a model that can upscale video and then start the process.
Closing thoughts:
I am really impressed by the output generated by Real-ESRGAN. It does what it says, and I personally can say with confidence that this is the best AI image upscaler that I have ever used. I found it to be quite faster as compared to the other software that I have covered in the past. Also, its ability to scale videos and turn images into anime is worth praising as well. So, give it a try and let me know what you think about it.
