How to Make a Low-Quality Image Look Better

Working with low-quality images can be challenging, especially when the details are blurry or pixelated, colors are faded, or unwanted artifacts are present. There are several reasons why you might end up with low quality images, including: poor camera lens, improper compression, resizing and so on.

While techniques such as image compression and resizing are common practices in web performance optimization to improve site speed and other professional use cases, they can spell doom for user experience when not done appropriately. For instance, an ecommerce store with low quality images might discourage potential buyers from placing orders as the unclear photos fail to convey the quality and appeal of the products effectively.

In this article, we’ll explore various methods and tools you can use to make a low quality image look better, ranging from using graphics editors like Gimp to programmable solutions, such as Cloudinary. These approaches will help you transform low-quality images into clearer and more appealing graphics and ultimately establish trust in your users.

In this article:

• Using AI for Upscaling
• Improving Image Quality with Cloudinary
• Upscaling Images with Raster Graphics Editors

Using AI for Upscaling

It is no surprise that AI tools are among the top methods for improving image quality. With the recent surge in AI advancements, AI-based upscaling has emerged as a popular solution for enhancing image quality. These tools leverage machine learning algorithms to predict and reconstruct missing details, resulting in clearer and more refined images.

Compared to traditional methods, AI upscaling offers superior improvements in resolution, noise reduction, and sharpness, all while minimizing quality loss. Plus, AI tools save time by automating the enhancement process so you don’t have to waste time doing all the tweaks before to get the desired result you need.

Today, there are several AI tools available for upscaling images, each with its own advantages and disadvantages. One thing to keep in mind is that most AI upscalers perform well on images with features like faces and common objects but may not produce the best results with images containing complex details, such as buildings, rare objects, etc. Let’s explore some of them.

Gigapixel AI

Gigapixel AI is an image upscaler that provides specialized enhancement features for users to enhance different photo types, including people portraits, landscapes, nature, anime, and more. You can upscale images with noise, blurs or those that are pixelated.

Using Gigapixel to enhance an image is fairly simple. After signing up for an account, simply upload the image to the upload box, select the type of image it is you’re uploading and the upscaling process will begin automatically. Once the upscaling is complete, you will see the upscaled image to the left of the uploaded image, which you can then download.

Pros

• Gigapixel AI offers a playground where you can upscale as many images as you want, but without an option to let you download the upscaled images.

Cons

• Gigapixel AI requires users to complete a sign-up process before they are able to access and use the software. This may not be encouraging for users who want to upscale one or few images quickly.
• For professional applications and extended usage, the platform requires you to purchase credits, which can add to the overall cost.
• It’s not well-suited for upscaling images that contain text, as it may not effectively enhance the clarity or quality of text elements.

Upscale.media

According to its website, “Upscale.media is a platform that serves as an AI image enhancer, enabling users to upscale images while maintaining superior quality. Its advanced technology effortlessly enhances visuals, making it an ideal solution for individuals and businesses seeking high-quality image upscaling.”

To use the tool, start by either uploading the image or using the drag-and-drop feature to add the image you want to improve. After a few seconds of processing, the tool will provide options to upscale the image to your desired resolution and enhance its overall quality.

Pros

• Upscale.media allows users to perform bulk transformations, making it possible to upload and upscale multiple images at one go.
• The platform offers API integration for developers to easily incorporate its features into their own applications.
• It supports a wide range of file formats, including JPG, PNG, JPEG, WEBP, and HEIC.
• Comes with mobile versions available on Google Play and Apple Stores.

Improving Image Quality with Cloudinary

Cloudinary is a cloud-based image and video management platform that provides tools for real-time media processing. With Cloudinary, you can upscale images, adjust sharpness, reduce noise, and optimize formats for better quality. Unlike the other methods, Cloudinary, allows you to upscale millions of images programmatically without having to worry about performance or scalability.

Cloudinary offers both manual and programmatic ways to upscale your images. For manual upscaling, go to Transformation Center from your dashboard and select Upscale from the list of features available.

Alternatively, you can use any of the four image enhancement options programmatically in your application using any of the available Cloudinary SDKs in your programming language of choice.

Upscaling Images with Raster Graphics Editors

Raster graphics editors are software tools or programs that are used to create, modify, and manipulate visual images on a computer. These programs allow users to edit various types of graphics, such as photos, illustrations, logos, and digital art. They offer a range of features, including cropping, resizing, color correction, applying filters and effects, and several other complex image manipulation techniques.

These editors can either be installable desktop programs, such as Adobe Photoshop and Gimp or online-based, such as Photopea.

Improving Image quality with GIMP

GIMP (GNU Image Manipulation Program) is a free, open-source image editing tool that offers many features similar to the popular graphics editing software, Photoshop. GIMP is available on all popular OS platforms like Windows, macOS and Linux.

In GIMP, you can use the in-built image enhancement features to improve the quality of your images and reduce noise and other unwanted artifacts effectively.

For how to make a low quality image look better, follow these steps:

1. Open the Image in GIMP
   Launch GIMP and open the low-quality image file.
2. Reduce Noise
   Go to “Filters” > “Enhance” to find a list of enhancement filters you can apply to the image.
   The two enhancement filters you’ll find most useful are Noise Reduction and Sharpen. To achieve the best results, you’ll often need to experiment with the settings for these filters to find a balance between reducing noise and preserving image details. This manual adjustment process can be time-consuming and frustrating, especially if you’re new to using raster graphics editors.

   Improving Image Quality with Photoshop

   Improving the quality of an image manually is often difficult to achieve. Image editing techniques such as sharpening, focusing, saturation, contrast adjustment and so on can either make or break your photos. You have to get the right settings and value if you want your images to come out well.

   Conclusion

   For online use and other applications, improving low-quality images requires a combination of different techniques as there’s no one-size-fits-all solution. Also, the best approach to use will depend on several factors, such as the specific characteristics of the image and the desired results you’re looking for.

   In this article, we explored the different methods and tools you can use to improve the resolution and quality of poor images, including AI tools and traditional graphics editors. We also highlighted Cloudinary and how it compares to the other methods in terms of efficiency and accuracy.

   If you haven’t, feel free to sign up for a Cloudinary account today to start enhancing your images and experience Cloudinary’s capabilities firsthand.