# How to Upscale Images Locally with Real-ESRGAN

> Enlarge photos and anime art 4x on your own machine with the standalone Real-ESRGAN binary — one command, no Python, and batch folders.

- Canonical: https://guides-ai.pages.dev/guides/upscale-images-locally/
- Plate 12.07 · Topic: AI images (https://guides-ai.pages.dev/topics/image/)
- Published: 06 Sept 2026 · 3 min read
- Source site: guides-ai — https://guides-ai.pages.dev/

Real-ESRGAN is still the workhorse for local upscaling. Use the **ncnn-vulkan** build, not the Python package: `pip install realesrgan` pulls in `basicsr`, which imports `torchvision.transforms.functional_tensor` — removed in torchvision 0.17 — so a fresh install fails with an `ImportError` before it upscales anything.

The standalone binary has no such problem. It is a single self-contained executable that talks to your GPU through Vulkan, so Intel, AMD and NVIDIA cards all work and CUDA is not involved. The catch: it is frozen at **v0.2.0 (April 2022)**. It is unmaintained, and it still works.

## 1. Download

Grab the zip for your OS from the releases page of `xinntao/Real-ESRGAN-ncnn-vulkan` — `-windows.zip`, `-macos.zip` or `-ubuntu.zip` — and unzip it. The archive contains the executable plus a `models` folder; keep them together.

```bash
chmod +x realesrgan-ncnn-vulkan
```

macOS and Linux only: makes the extracted binary runnable. On macOS you may also need to allow it once in **System Settings → Privacy & Security**.

## 2. Upscale one image

```bash
./realesrgan-ncnn-vulkan -i input.jpg -o output.png -n realesrgan-x4plus
```

```powershell
.\realesrgan-ncnn-vulkan.exe -i input.jpg -o output.png -n realesrgan-x4plus
```

Reads one image, writes a 4x larger one. Output format follows the extension of `-o`; PNG keeps the detail you just paid for.

## 3. Pick the model

`-n` selects the weights, and this choice matters far more than any other flag:

| `-n` value | Use for |
| --- | --- |
| `realesrgan-x4plus` | Photos, scans, real-world images |
| `realesrgan-x4plus-anime` | Anime and illustration — smaller and faster |
| `realesr-animevideov3` | Anime video frames; the only model with 2x and 3x weights |
| `realesrnet-x4plus` | Photos, less aggressive sharpening |

`-s` sets the scale (2, 3 or 4, default 4), but the `x4plus` models only ship 4x weights — asking them for 2x will not help. Out of GPU memory on a large image? Add `-t 128` to process it in tiles.

## 4. Batch a folder

```bash
mkdir -p out
./realesrgan-ncnn-vulkan -i in -o out -n realesrgan-x4plus -f png
```

Point `-i` and `-o` at directories instead of files and every image in `in` is processed into `out`. `-f png` forces the output format for the whole run. The output directory must exist first — the tool will not create it.

Want a GUI over the same models, still offline? Upscayl wraps this exact binary.

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Next: [remove a background with AI](/guides/remove-background-with-ai/) or [generate the image in the first place](/guides/generate-images-with-flux-locally/).