Artificial intelligence has fundamentally changed photo processing. Tasks that once required hours of work in Photoshop are now completed in seconds. This article reviews the best AI tools for each processing category—from quality enhancement to full stylization.
Upscaling — Increasing Resolution
Upscaling is increasing an image's resolution while preserving and enhancing detail. AI models literally "draw in" missing pixels based on the image context.
Topaz Gigapixel AI
Topaz Gigapixel AI is the industry standard for upscaling. The program runs locally on your computer and supports up to 6x enlargement.
Pros:
- Best quality among commercial solutions
- Works with RAW files
- Batch processing
- No internet required after installation
Cons:
- Cost — one-time purchase starting at $99
- Requires a powerful graphics card for fast operation
- Desktop application only
When to use: enlarging old photos, preparing images for print, processing footage from surveillance cameras.
Real-ESRGAN
Real-ESRGAN is a free open-source model that delivers results comparable to Topaz. It can be run locally or used via online services.
Pros:
- Completely free
- Excellent quality for photos and illustrations
- Can be integrated into your own pipelines via Python
- Lightweight versions work even on weak GPUs
Cons:
- Requires technical knowledge for local installation
- No convenient GUI out of the box
- Limited settings compared to Topaz
When to use: mass upscaling, integration into automated pipelines, a budget solution for freelancers.
Upscaling Quality Comparison
On a typical 640×480 photo enlarged to 2560×1920:
- Topaz: best detail for skin textures, hair, fabric
- Real-ESRGAN: excellent results for web content, slightly lags in fine details
- Photoshop's built-in tool: noticeably worse than both AI solutions
Retouching — Automatic Portrait Processing
AI retouching allows for automatic portrait enhancement—smoothing skin, removing blemishes, correcting lighting.
Luminar Neo
Luminar Neo from Skylum is a full-featured photo editor with powerful AI tools. Key retouching features:
- Face AI: automatic face recognition, eye correction, skin enhancement
- Skin AI: skin smoothing while preserving texture
- Body AI: body shape correction
- Bokeh AI: artificial background blur
- Relight AI: changing lighting on a finished photo
Cost: from $9.95/month or a one-time purchase from $149.
Evoto
Evoto is a specialized retouching tool aimed at photographers. It focuses on speed when processing large volumes of photos.
Key features:
- One-click automatic skin retouching
- Batch processing — hundreds of photos in minutes
- Preserves skin texture (the main difference from simple filters)
- Skin tone correction
- Teeth whitening and eye enhancement
Cost: from $16/month with batch processing.
Practical Retouching Tips
- Don't overdo it: AI retouching can easily make skin look plastic. Use moderate settings.
- Check textures: zoom the photo to 100% and ensure skin texture is preserved.
- Process RAW: AI works better with RAW files than JPEGs.
- Keep the original: always save the original file before processing.
Stylization — Transferring Artistic Styles
Stylization transforms an ordinary photo into a painting, illustration, or applies the style of a famous artist.
Prisma
Prisma was one of the first apps for photo stylization and remains one of the best.
Capabilities:
- Over 300 artistic filters
- Styles of famous artists (Van Gogh, Munch, Picasso)
- Video stylization
- Works on mobile devices
Deep Art Effects
Deep Art Effects offers more advanced stylization capabilities:
- High-resolution output (up to 4K)
- Ability to use your own styles
- API for integration
- Desktop and web versions
Practical Applications of Stylization
- Marketing: creating a unique visual style for a brand
- Social Media: standout content from ordinary photos
- Print: creating art prints from photos
- Gifts: personalized portraits in an artistic style
Colorization — Coloring Black-and-White Photos
AI colorization turns black-and-white photos into color by analyzing context—making grass green, sky blue, skin a natural tone.
DeOldify
DeOldify is an open-source project that remains one of the best for colorization.
Features:
- Free and open-source
- Two modes — stable (realistic colors) and artistic (vibrant colors)
- Works with video
- Can be run in Google Colab without installation
Palette.fm
Palette.fm is an online AI colorization service. Simpler to use than DeOldify.
Features:
- Upload via web interface
- Several color palette options
- Ability to manually adjust colors
- Free tier with limitations
Colorization Tips
- High-quality source: the better the quality of the B&W photo, the more accurate the colorization.
- Check historical details: AI can mistake the color of uniforms, flags, or equipment from a specific era.
- Combine automation and manual work: use AI as a base and manually adjust colors.
Restoration — Repairing Damaged Photos
AI restoration repairs old, damaged, or blurry photographs.
Remini
Remini is the most popular tool for photo restoration. Works as a mobile app and web service.
Capabilities:
- Restoring blurry faces
- Enhancing the quality of old photos
- Removing noise and compression artifacts
- Increasing resolution
Cost: free generations daily, Pro from $9.99/month.
MyHeritage Photo Enhancer
MyHeritage specializes in family and historical photos:
- Animating old photos (Deep Nostalgia)
- Restoring facial details
- Colorization
- Integration with family tree
Object Removal — Cleaning Up Photos
Removing unwanted objects from photos is one of the most in-demand tasks.
Cleanup.pictures
Cleanup.pictures is a simple and effective tool for object removal.
How it works:
- Upload your photo
- Brush over the unwanted object
- AI fills the area, recreating the background
Features:
- Works in the browser
- Free basic functions
- Excellent fill quality
- HD image processing on the paid plan
Adobe Firefly (Generative Fill)
Adobe integrated AI object removal directly into Photoshop via Generative Fill:
- Doesn't just remove, but generates new content in place of the removed object
- Can specify what to generate instead of the removed object
- Works with masks and selections
- Professional quality
Object Removal Tool Comparison
| Criterion | Cleanup.pictures | Adobe Firefly | Samsung Object Eraser |
|---|---|---|---|
| Quality | ★★★★☆ | ★★★★★ | ★★★☆☆ |
| Simplicity | ★★★★★ | ★★★☆☆ | ★★★★★ |
| Price | Free/Pro | Adobe Subscription | Free on Samsung |
| Complex Scenes | ★★★★☆ | ★★★★★ | ★★★☆☆ |
AI Photo Processing Workflow
Here is a recommended pipeline for comprehensive photo processing:
- Restoration (if the photo is old or damaged) — Remini
- Object Removal (if you need to remove clutter) — Cleanup.pictures
- Retouching (for portraits) — Luminar Neo
- Colorization (for B&W photos) — DeOldify
- Upscaling (enlargement for print) — Topaz or Real-ESRGAN
- Stylization (if an artistic effect is needed) — Prisma
Conclusion
AI tools for photo processing have made professional editing accessible to everyone. For basic tasks, free solutions are sufficient—Real-ESRGAN for upscaling, DeOldify for colorization, Cleanup.pictures for object removal. For professional work, consider Topaz, Luminar Neo, and Adobe Firefly. The main rule is that AI excels at technical improvements, but the final artistic decision always remains with the human.