Create and upscale digital art to 4K

Many AI image generators still output small, soft files. If you need to generate true 4K digital art or you want to upscale low-quality AI art you already generated, this guide shows how to do so in a few minutes.

Continue reading to learn more!

Takeaways

• LetsEnhance can create 4K AI art in a matter of seconds using simple prompts.
• If you need AI art upscaling, use LetsEnhance's dedicated Digital Art model to upscale up to 16× and increase size up to 500 megapixels (plan-dependent).
• “4K” usually means 3840 × 2160 pixels (4K UHD).
• For print, “4K” is often not enough. At 300 PPI, 3840 × 2160 works out to about 12.8 × 7.2 inches.

Generating 4K art with AI

Step 1: Sign up or log In to LetsEnhance

First, log in to your LetsEnhance.io account or create a new one.

Once registered, you’ll have 10 free credits to generate and enhance AI art on the platform.

Step 2: Go to "My images"

Once logged in, click on the My Images button at the top right corner of the screen.

Step 3: Open the dashboard

Open the Generator tool to see the dashboard. Here, you will find the image prompt box, as well as all the previously generated images if you have any.

Step 4: Write a text prompt

A fun way of generating images is allowing AI to come up with a prompt all on its own. You can do this by clicking the Surprise button on the right side.

But if you have a specific image type in your mind, you need to write a prompt of what you’d like to generate. If you need help with writing effective text prompts for image generators, check out this guide.

Step 5: Adjust settings

After writing the prompt, select the image type (photo, illustration, 3D) and adjust the advanced settings (style, colors, lighting, point of view, etc) to further improve the outputs.

Step 6: Generate and download

After you're done with the settings, click Generate to start processing. The tool will create 4 unique generations based on the same text prompt for free. After reviewing the results, you can choose the best version and get the image for 1 credit only (you can download all 4 as well).

LetsEnhance generates images with 1024x1024 px resolution, but you have the option of toggling Upscale 4x to increase the image resolution to 4096x4096 px. This is well above what is considered 4K (16:9 aspect ratio 4K resolution is 3840x2160 px).

Here’s a quick comparison between the standard 1024 x 1024 px versus the upscaled 4096 x 4096 px.

Upscaling AI art to 4K

In case you have a pre-made low-quality AI-generated image that needs to be upscaled, here's another quick guide on how to use LetsEnhance's specialized model.

Step 1: Open the dashboard and upload your image

Click on the Enhancer tab to visit the dashboard. Upload your image by dropping, browsing or importing.

Step 3: Select the right model

In the panel on the right-hand side, select Digital art. This specific upscale type is used to specifically work with digital artwork, such as illustrations, comics, anime, cartoons, etc.

Here, you can also play around with Strength (0=preserve original) or Light AI settings to balance out the colors and fix lightning in your images.

Step 4: Process and download

Click on the Enhance button at the bottom and wait for a few seconds for the image to process. After that, simply click on the downwards arrow button to save the image to your device.

Here's a quick comparison of how LetsEnhance upscaled the 320 x 175 px AI art to a crisp 2560 x 1400 px.

Why upscale AI art to 4K?

More pixels give you more room to work with. You can zoom in, crop, add typography, or export for different platforms without the image falling apart. This matters even more if you plan to print.

when people say “4K,” they usually mean a file around 3840 × 2160 px (for a 16:9 image) or something in that range. That pixel count can look great on screens, but for print, it is often smaller than people expect.

If you use 300 PPI as a planning target for prints viewed up close, 3840 × 2160 px works out to roughly 12.8 × 7.2 inches. You’ll often see this described as “300 DPI” in print guides, but the practical takeaway is the same: bigger prints need more pixels, which is where upscaling becomes useful.

This is why LetsEnhance comes with high upscale factors (such as up to 16×) and a dedicated Digital art model that is designed for illustrations, anime, comics, cartoons, and AI-generated artwork.

Why most AI generators export small images

A big limitation with many AI image generators is that their output resolution is capped. Higher-resolution generation requires more compute, more memory, and longer processing times. When a tool is serving a large number of users, keeping outputs smaller helps the system stay responsive.

That is why many creators use a two-step workflow: first, generating the image at the platform's native size and then upscaling it with a tool that's built specifically for increasing resolution and detail.

Generate and upscale with LetsEnhance

With LetsEnhance you can generate AI art, then toggle 4× upscaling to download a larger version. Alternatively, you can upscale existing AI art using the Digital art model.

Create an account and get 10 free credits to test the tool. No expensive illustration software; no high-end hardware required.

FAQ

What does upscale mean in art?

Upscaling in art is the same as upscaling any other type of image file: it's the process of increasing the resolution of a picture (e.g. from 1920x1080 px to 3,840x2,160 px). Ideally the process should be lossless, meaning it retains the same level of visual quality by maintaining 300DPI.

A good upscaler tries to add believable detail so the larger image still looks clean.

How do I make a picture 4K quality?

When working with digital art, 4K quality starts with choosing the right canvas size. So, if you wish to create 4K art, then the canvas should be of at least 4K resolution (3840x2160 px). If no settings are changed and the file is exported in this resolution, the digital artwork be of 4K quality.

Is “4K” enough for print?

Sometimes, but often not. A 4K UHD image (3840 × 2160) prints to about 12.8 × 7.2 inches at 300 PPI. Larger prints usually need more pixels, so you either start with a higher-resolution source or upscale.

Is upscaled 4K still "real" 4K?

If the tool used to upscale an image managed to successfully maintain the original's level of detail after upscaling to 4K, then yes. For example, modern AI-based upscalers, such as LetsEnhance, are very capable of taking 1080p images and upscaling them to 4K and even beyond.

However, realistically speaking, it would be close to impossible to upscale a very smaller image, such as 320x240 px to 4K, since even the most powerful AI will not be able to accurately fill in the pixelated areas. You would still get 4K resolution, however there would be tons of artifacts.

What model should I use for AI art in LetsEnhance?

Use Digital art for illustrations, anime, comics, cartoons, and AI-generated art. It is tuned to keep stylized edges and shading cleaner than photo-focused models.

Is the LetsEnhance AI image generator free?

LetsEnhance's image generator offers free 10 images generation or upscaling for new users. The free version includes 4× upscaling. Subscriptions start with 9$/month with for 100 credits.

What is the maximum resolution I can upscale to in LetsEnhance?

Limits are based on megapixels, not a single fixed width and height. Input images can be up to 64 megapixels, and output can be upscaled to 256 megapixels on personal plans and up to 500 megapixels on business plans.

This matters for print. “4K” is only about 8.3 megapixels (3840 × 2160). Once you get into posters, banners, and large-format print work, you can easily need tens or hundreds of megapixels depending on size and viewing distance. So if your use case is big prints, it helps to think in megapixels and target print dimensions, not just “4K.”