Topaz Introduces Bloom: Creative Upscaling for AI Art
A First Look at Topaz’s New AI Art Upscaler and What It Could Mean for Your Photography Workflow
The above video compares a section of an upscaled output from Leonardo AI with Topaz Bloom, which doubled the size from 1664 pixels wide to 3338. The full image is below.
Topaz Bloom–What Is It and What Does It Do?
Topaz Labs recently launched Bloom, a web-based AI upscaler designed specifically to elevate AI-generated and digital artwork. Unlike traditional upscaling tools that simply stretch pixels, Bloom introduces what Topaz calls “creative upscaling”, using diffusion-based models to both enlarge your images up to 8× and add rich, lifelike texture and detail.
Currently, AI platforms produce low-resolution outputs, even when images are upscaled within the platform. As photographers who regularly use AI to edit and transform our images, we typically rely on Topaz Photo AI or Topaz Gigapixel to upscale our AI-based work. Often, a significant amount of cleanup is needed to remove artifacts, noise, or add texture prior to or as part of upscaling. So, the idea of an AI-based upscaling tool designed specifically for AI-generated images is appealing for those reasons.
Still, there’s an important distinction from a photographer’s point of view: it’s one thing to correct artifacts or add texture where it’s lacking, but it’s quite another to alter the image’s content. Topaz does offer various creativity settings in Bloom to help guide the process, but there doesn’t appear to be an option that strictly cleans and upscales without making interpretive changes.
In the image below (and the video example above), we used the Subtle Creativity setting, without a prompt, which is the lowest creative setting, and it performed well without altering the subject. The output size was doubled from 1664 x 2496 to 3328 x 4992 pixels. This was the maximum available at the Standard subscription level (see below). That’s okay for smaller prints, but not enough for larger ones without further upscaling.
When to Use Bloom vs. Other Topaz Tools
Topaz recommends Bloom primarily for what we refer to as “digital art:” AI-generated art, digital paintings, concept art, and illustrations. That would include photographs transformed by AI platforms such as Midjourney and Leonardo AI. Their other tools, Photo AI, Gigapixel, and video upscalers, are better suited for photographs, portraits with face detail preservation, non-AI-generated images, or photographs with minor AI editing, such as those edited with Photoshop’s AI-based tools.
Why “Creative Upscaling” Matters
AI image generators often produce visuals that look crisp at low resolution, but lack detailed texture and have visible artifacts when enlarged. Bloom’s diffusion-powered model is designed to fill in those missing textures, akin to adding brushstrokes to a bare canvas. As Topaz notes, this isn’t mere resizing—it’s re-imagining with intelligent fidelity. This could be good, but as noted above, that depends on just how much re-imagining it does.
Their history of developing diffusion-based tools such as Project Starlight for video and the “Recover” and “Redefine” features in Gigapixel reinforces Bloom’s quality and builds confidence in its underlying research.
For now, here are the basics:
Core Features
8× Upscaling with New Detail — Upscale from 8 MP image to 64 MP images, while enhancing textures such as fabric, metal, skin, and even abstract shapes in an organic manner.
Creativity Control Slider — Dial between subtle enhancements that maintain something close to the original structure or unleash full creative enhancement to develop new detail. This is where the previously mentioned Subtle Creative setting resides.
Prompt Influence & Variations — Enter text prompts to guide the AI in introducing specific styles or textures, and receive 4 variations of your upscale in one go.
Web-Based & Mobile-Ready — No installs. Run Bloom from any browser, including phones, with no watermarks, even on free-tier output.
Rendering Times — Expect rendering times to range from under a minute to several minutes, depending on the size, creativity level, and server load.
Pricing & Access
Pricing is always a factor that is certainly present here. To scale up to 100MP within Bloom requires the Pro subscription, which is quite pricey if use is infrequent. For photographers, this raises the question of whether Topaz Photo AI or Gigapixel is enough. Or, you could opt for the Lite or Standard plan to produce an intermediate image, which you can then upscale further with Gigapixel. We haven’t quite rationalized it yet, which is the main reason we plan to continue testing before fully recommending where, how, or if Bloom fits into a photographer’s AI-editing or transformation workflow and at which subscription level. Watch this space.
Free Tier – 10 image exports (I think per month), up to 16 MP export size limit, non-commercial use, no watermarks. 1 render at a time. Note: After the 10 images, you may need to upgrade. Good for a quick look-see.
Lite – $14/month (or $140/yr), unlimited image exports, 16 MP export size limit, non-commercial. 1 concurrent render at a time. Probably good enough if your images are primarily used in online applications and some video uses.
Standard – $24/month (or $192), unlimited image exports, 32 MP export size limit, limited-commercial, 2 concurrent renders.
Pro – $48/month (or $392/yr), unlimited image exports, up to 100 MP export size limit, commercial license, 4 concurrent renders.
Notes:
Topaz is currently offering a 7-day free trial with their paid subscriptions and 2 months extra on annual subscriptions. Prices can change (and have recently), so double-check before purchasing a subscription.
The Topaz EULA defines “commercial” as “organizations whose consolidated annual revenue exceeds $1 million (USD $1,000,000).” It is not intended for fine-art, portrait, or wedding photographers. I’ve confirmed with Topaz support that most professional photographers do not require a commercial license for any Topaz products. For further information, please refer to the Topaz EULA or contact their support team if you've any questions.
So, where do we go from here?
Bloom is a creative-grade web tool that unlocks new possibilities for AI artists and illustrators, turning machine-made images into textured, print-ready art. We’re not yet sure about the value to photographers who use AI-based editing and transformations. One thing is sure: technology is not static. I have to wonder if the relevance of Bloom will remain in the future as AI platforms improve their quality and file size output. We know that’s coming, just not when. Until then, Bloom may fill that gap.
We’ll continue testing and watching developments closely. So, stay tuned for more.
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