jdPixelUpscaler is a graphical application for enlarging images by repeating their original pixels. Unlike AI-based upscaling tools, it does not attempt to reconstruct detail or generate new textures.
Instead, each pixel in the source image is replaced by a square of pixels with exactly the same colour. For example, enlarging an image by a factor of three turns every original pixel into a 3×3 block. This preserves the hard edges and colour boundaries present in the original artwork.
The approach is particularly useful for pixel art, sprites, icons and other low-resolution graphics where conventional smoothing would change the intended appearance. jdPixelUpscaler also provides command-line arguments and a D-Bus interface for use in automated workflows.
This is free and open source software.
Key Features
- Upscale raster images by replicating individual source pixels.
- Enlarge each pixel into a square block of identically coloured pixels.
- Choose an integer scaling factor to control the dimensions of the resulting image.
- Preserve the original pixel colours without introducing interpolated values.
- Maintain sharp transitions between neighbouring pixels.
- Avoid smoothing and blurring the edges of pixel-art graphics.
- Preserve deliberately blocky visual styles when enlarging sprites and icons.
- Produce enlarged images without requiring trained neural network models.
- Perform image enlargement without GPU-based AI inference.
- Provide a graphical desktop interface for selecting and processing images.
- Support command-line arguments for invoking image upscaling operations.
- Offer a D-Bus interface for integration with other desktop applications and scripts.
- Support automation through its command-line and D-Bus facilities.
- Provide a lightweight alternative to more complicated super-resolution software when simple pixel replication is sufficient.
Website: codeberg.org/JakobDev/jdPixelUpscaler
Support:
Developer: JakobDev
License: GNU General Public License v3.0
jdPixelUpscaler is written in C++. Learn C++ with our recommended free books and free tutorials.
Related Software
| Image Upscaler Tools | |
|---|---|
| Final2x | Enhance your images with super-resolution |
| Upscayl | Uses sophisticated AI models to enhance images |
| Upscaler | Upscale and enhance images |
| Real-ESRGAN GUI | AI image enlargement tool |
| chaiNNer | Node-based image processing GUI |
| Anime4KCPP | High-performance upscaling for anime images and videos |
| Aeternum | Simple and minimal image upscaler |
| waifu2x ncnn | Image upscaler / denoiser built on the ncnn inference framework |
| Open Photo AI | AI-powered photo restoration, enhancement and upscaling |
| upscaler-hollowaykeanho | Image and video upscaling |
| jdPixelUpscaler | Upscale images per pixel |
Read our verdict in the software roundup.
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