3.2 – Upscale Lesson

Lesson Overview

This lesson explores Midjourney’s upscaling feature in detail. Upscaling is essential when you need an image that’s larger and more detailed for uses like sharing online, printing, or incorporating into presentations. By default, Midjourney creates images at 1024x1024 pixels—a size suitable for many purposes, but often too small for higher-quality needs.

Upscaling offers two routes: Subtle and Creative. Subtle upscaling enlarges the image to 2048x2048 pixels while closely maintaining the original details—making it a strong choice when you’re already satisfied with your creation. Creative upscaling not only doubles the size but also adds new details, which can refresh an image or introduce novel creative elements.

This lesson helps you weigh the visual impact and practical costs of both options, clarifies how to upsize your images, and discusses trade-offs, like increased consumption of “fast hours” (Midjourney’s unit for quick image generation). The skills covered here are useful anywhere you need higher quality visuals from your AI-generated images and want control over the final look.

Who This Is For

Whether you’re new to Midjourney or seeking more polished results from your AI images, this lesson offers practical insights. It’s especially relevant if you:

• Want to elevate the quality of images for professional use or printing
• Are curious about how upscaling affects different types of images (e.g., portraits vs. landscapes)
• Aim to manage Midjourney’s fast hours efficiently
• Create digital content, marketing visuals, artwork, or educational materials
• Regularly share or distribute Midjourney images and want consistent outcomes

Where This Fits in a Workflow

Upscaling is typically performed after generating and selecting an image you want to keep or further develop. When you find an image that fits your needs, you use the upscale tool to prepare it for its final use—such as posting, printing, or delivering to a client. For instance, a designer might generate a set of images, select one, use upscale subtle for print-ready quality, or choose upscale creative to add artistic flourishes. In either case, upscaling is a finishing step to ensure your image looks polished at higher resolutions.

Technical & Workflow Benefits

In the past, making a small AI-generated image suitable for printing or high-quality display meant you’d have to use separate tools or risk losing detail with manual resizing. Midjourney’s upscaling tool provides a direct solution inside the same workspace. Subtle upscaling gives a clean, enlarged version, preserving the essence and detail from the original, which is vital for portraits or precise graphics. Creative upscaling can invent new textures or fill in areas, especially useful for art or imaginative images.

Both methods save time compared to external editing, and deliver consistent results with fewer manual adjustments. However, be aware that upscaling uses double the fast hours, so planning is important if you work with many images at once. This feature ensures your final outputs meet higher standards without unnecessary back-and-forth between multiple tools.

Practice Exercise

Try applying upscaling on a recent Midjourney image that you like. Choose an image with clear subject matter (such as a portrait or landscape).

1. Open your image in Midjourney and access the creation actions menu.
2. Use both upscale options: first select ‘Upscale Subtle’, then repeat with ‘Upscale Creative’ on the original image.
3. Download both upscaled images. Compare them side by side and note any changes in detail, texture, or style.

Which version better matches your needs? Think about the outcome you want (faithful enlargement or creative embellishment) and how the upscaling choice affects the image.

Course Context Recap

This upscaling lesson builds on your understanding of Midjourney’s image sizing and prepares you for exporting images for professional use. In earlier lessons, you learned to generate and select your best results. Now, you can make those images larger and ready for final output. Coming up, the course moves into ways to use your upscaled images and additional techniques for maximizing Midjourney results. Continue with the course to master every stage of creating impressive, shareable AI art.