User Guide

Upscalar for Blender

Welcome to Upscalar, a simple and fast way to upscale images directly inside Blender. Upscalar enhances resolution by 2X, 3X, or 4X with a clean, detail‑preserving approach that keeps edges crisp and textures natural.

Requirements

• Blender 4.2+ (Image Editor)

• Windows 11 x64: GPU acceleration via DirectML when available; CPU fallback supported

• macOS ARM64 11+: Experimental support; not fully tested

Note: Currently tested and verified on Windows only. macOS support is experimental and may have issues. Try it on macOS at your own discretion.

• Supported formats: PNG, JPEG, TIFF, BMP, EXR, HDR (HDR/EXR require Blender's internal handling)

Quick Reference

• Panel location: Image Editor → Sidebar → Upscalar

• Buttons: Load Image, Reload (small icon), Upscale Image

• Factors: 2X, 3X, 4X

• Result name: original_name_upscaled2X|3X|4X

1) Import Image

• "Load Image" opens a file picker and loads the image into Blender's Image Editor automatically.

• The small refresh icon lets you pick a different image at any time.

• The loaded image name is shown underneath, with a "Clear" button if you want to reset.

2) Upscale Factor

• Choose how much to upscale: 2X, 2X-Ctrl, 3X, or 4X.

• No extra model buttons or validation are needed—just pick the factor.

2X-Ctrl: Advanced Control Model

The 2X-Ctrl model is a special version that gives you fine-grained control over how the upscaling corrects different types of image degradation. When you select 2X-Ctrl, three sliders appear:

Gaussian Blur (0.0 - 1.0)

Controls deblurring strength. Set higher values (0.7-1.0) if your image is out of focus or motion-blurred. Lower values (0.0-0.3) for sharp images. Default: 0.5 works well for most cases.

Gaussian Noise (0.0 - 1.0)

Controls denoising strength. Increase (0.7-1.0) for grainy or noisy images (high ISO photos, low-light renders). Lower (0.0-0.3) for clean images. Default: 0.5.

JPEG Compression (0.0 - 1.0)

Controls artifact removal. Set higher (0.7-1.0) for heavily compressed images with visible blocking or banding. Lower (0.0-0.3) for lossless sources. Default: 0.5.

When to use 2X-Ctrl: If your image has visible blur, noise, or compression artifacts, 2X-Ctrl lets you target those issues specifically. For clean, high-quality sources, the standard 2X model is simpler and equally effective.

3) Upscale Image

• Press the large "Upscale Image" button to start.

• Progress is shown in the panel; when done, the result is created as a new Blender image and displayed in the Image Editor.

• Output naming: the new image keeps the original name and adds a suffix like "_upscaled2X", "_upscaled3X", or "_upscaled4X".

Help & Info

• The Help panel provides a Quick Start, Troubleshooting, and basic system info.

• Small question‑mark toggles in each section reveal concise tips as you need them.

Output and Export

• Default behavior: Creates a new Blender image. You can immediately view and use it across Blender (VSE, Shader Editor, Compositor, etc.).

• Exporting: Use "Export Image" to save to PNG, JPEG, TIFF, BMP, or EXR.

• JPEG quality can be set during export.

• If you prefer saving directly to file during processing, you can switch the Output Mode to File and choose a folder in the addon's settings (kept minimal and defaults to Blender image for simplicity).

Performance Notes

• GPU (DirectML) is recommended for best speed on Windows; otherwise CPU fallback is used.

• Very large images: Upscalar is optimized for whole‑image processing; if you hit memory limits, consider upscaling after partial pre‑resizing or processing critical assets first. (Tiling is possible internally but not exposed in the simplified UI.)

Q: Does Upscalar change image colors or gamma?

A: No. It aims to preserve color fidelity and only enhance spatial detail.

Q: Can I use it for render outputs?

A: Yes—load any render output into the Image Editor, then upscale and export.

Q: Where do I find my result?

A: In the Image Editor's image list (named like "_upscaled2X"). Use Export to save to disk.