Upscaling can make a small or heavily cropped image more useful for printing, sharing, or design work—but restoring damaged edges and missing areas takes additional steps. This guide compares workflows in Lightroom, Photoshop, and Firefly, including how to choose an upscale model, clean up borders, expand a frame, and check credit use.

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Practical Tips

Choose the workflow that matches the image and the kind of repair it needs.

  • Use Lightroom Generative Upscale for photos already in your library, and create a stack to keep the new DNG beside the original.
  • Check the output dimensions and choose 2× or 4× before starting an upscale.
  • Use Photoshop when you need to remove borders, repair missing edges, or change the aspect ratio after enlarging.
  • Select only the areas you want to replace, and subtract unwanted parts from the selection before using Generative Fill.
  • Review the credit indicator before generating, since model and feature usage can vary.

Explore these guides for more workflows and comparisons for improving image quality and restoring photos.

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