Adobe Firefly Upscaler (4x Super-Resolution) · Image upscaling
Adobe’s upscaler delivers watermark-free 4× output within its free allowance, with clear scale and size controls; login and daily limits apply.
US-West (California, AS2914)
No native export attached; page screenshot evidence only
Subsequent pricing and service checks are shown separately without altering historical scores.
One run does not establish all complex scenes, untested paid maxima or long-term uptime.
Plans & historical pricing
US individual Firefly web free feature and four monthly subscriptions; excludes student/business, full Creative Cloud and other regions; includes four generative credit add-on subscriptions · 2026-10-20
Count and free export specification are not stated; subsequent generative editing may require separate credits
First-year promotion advertised through October 21; regular price USD 49.99/month. Renewal and eligibility follow the offer terms.
Rules [1]First-year promotion advertised through October 21; regular price USD 199.99/month. Renewal and eligibility follow the offer terms.
Rules [1]9 plan / billing-period records, all listed; — means that period is not recorded.
Four US individual Firefly monthly plans and four credit add-on subscriptions are listed. Pro Plus/Premium first-year promotions end October 21, with regular prices separately shown. Official pages do not quantify daily free removal counts or regional tax amounts. Generative credits concern other AI features and do not establish a payment requirement for free removal.
Verification has gaps; unknown prices and quotas are not inferred.
Cancellation, sources & verification record
Self-serve cancellation in Adobe Account (monthly plans cancel anytime; annual billed-monthly plans subject to Adobe terms)
Official plans and usage terms ↗ · 2026-10-20 Capture 1 ↗
US individual Firefly subscriptions ↗ · 2026-10-20 Capture 1 ↗
Official generative credit add-on subscriptions ↗ · 2026-10-20 Capture 1 ↗
Pricing recorded on the test date · 2026-10-16
Free tier includes daily free 2x/4x upscales; Firefly Standard $9.99/mo
Daily free allowance + Creative Cloud / Firefly subscriptions
Historical context only; not current purchase guidance.
Delivery & access
- Free delivery record
- 2048×2048 (4.0x Unwatermarked JPG)
- Watermark
- None (100% watermark-free)
- Free allowance
- Free Adobe accounts receive daily complimentary upscales ('2 generations left today' shown live) with full 4x (2048×2048) access
- Account requirements
- Free Adobe account sign-in via Google, Apple, Facebook, or email
- Maximum specification record
- 2048×2048 (4.0x Unwatermarked JPG)
May include advertised capabilities; this does not establish a tested paid tier.
- Batch & API
- Seamlessly chains upscaled results into Generative Remove or Remove Background within the same canvas
- Manual refinement
- Not recorded or not verified
Tested result & sample
Adobe Firefly Upscaler ('Powered by Photoshop') excels at faithful super-resolution: it unlocks 4x (2048×2048) on the free tier, achieves 26.91dB PSNR and 0.8839 SSIM, sharpens the brass robot's finger joints and carved sign text, and preserves the fine calibration plate text and frequency gratings without hallucination.
- Fixture
- anchor_upscale_v1
- Recorded environment
- US-West (California, AS2914)
- Network-observed server wait
- 7.4 s
- End-to-end reference
- 8.2 s
Network wait includes round trips, queuing and polling error, not pure inference time. Local timings depend on the device; repetition counts are not standardized in legacy records.
No native export is attached. Screenshots show the visible page, but do not independently establish export properties or file validity.
Experience, rules & trust
- Disclosure
- Remaining daily free generations and exact output dimensions (2048×2048) are displayed upfront in the bottom toolbar
- Interaction
- Clean workspace ('Powered by Photoshop') displaying live target dimensions ('W x H 2048×2048') next to the 2x/4x selector, with zero upsell popups or countdown timers.
- Entity record
- Adobe Inc. (NASDAQ: ADBE)
- Origin
- San Jose, California, USA
- Domain history record
- Founded 1982 (Creator of Photoshop and Adobe Firefly)
- Third-party tracking record
- Not recorded or not verified
- External information
- Not recorded or not verified
- Processing
- Adobe Firefly Upscaler cloud 2x/4x super-resolution engine (~7.4s for 4x)
- Retention statement
- Governed by Adobe enterprise privacy standards; user uploads are not used to train foundation models
A recorded statement does not verify deletion or all data-processing behavior.
Verifiable audit trail & evidence
Four SHA-256-verified stages link the benchmark fixture, same-run interface screenshots, native exported artifact and archived pricing sources.
anchor_upscale_v1 · Inspect fixture & file inspector →
Captures entry rules, result view and export disclosure.
Page screenshot evidence only
Official plans and usage terms (snapshot ↗) · US individual Firefly subscriptions (snapshot ↗) · Official generative credit add-on subscriptions (snapshot ↗)
Screenshots, native output and official claims support different conclusions. Evidence grades are not product safety certifications.
Evaluation basis & full scores · Overall 88.4/100
Overall = honesty & reputation × 30% + capability × 70%. Component maxima follow this report’s rubric. List scores are rounded for display; original precision is retained here.
Scoring version 2.3.1 · Test fixture anchor_upscale_v1
Honesty & reputation · 88/100 · 30%
| Criterion | Score | Rationale | Basis |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pricing transparency | 28 / 35 | Landing page accepts direct uploads (01_landing.png) and opens the unified Firefly Image Editor upon free Adobe login; bottom toolbar unlocks both 2x and 4x upscaling for free users while displaying '2 generations left today' (02_workspace.png), and exports a 2048×2048 unwatermarked image (Firefly.jpg, 03_download.png). | Evidence A → |
| Interaction restraint | 26 / 30 | Clean workspace ('Powered by Photoshop') displaying live target dimensions ('W x H 2048×2048') next to the 2x/4x selector, with zero upsell popups or countdown timers. | Evidence A → |
| Background & reputation | 20 / 20 | Official Adobe Inc. (NASDAQ: ADBE) Firefly Upscaler built on Photoshop Camera Raw Super Resolution and Firefly vision research. | Evidence A → |
| Engineering & privacy | 14 / 15 | Supports 2x and 4x cloud super-resolution (expandable up to 8192×8192) while preserving exact typography and geometry without hallucination. | Evidence A → |
Capability · 88.5/100 · 70%
| Criterion | Score | Rationale | Basis |
|---|---|---|---|
| Task quality | 56.5 / 65 | Full-image PSNR=26.91 dB · SSIM=0.8839 · Edge Correlation edge_corr=0.5729 · High-Frequency Ratio hf_ratio=0.3894 · Calibration Plate PSNR=15.43 dB: at 4x (2048×2048), both the large wooden sign 'REALTEST 2026' and the fine calibration text 'REALTEST 2048px GT / 4X UPSCALE BENCHMARK / 0123456789' remain legible with zero hallucinated characters | Evidence B → |
| Deliverable specifications | 20 / 20 | Unlocks full 4.0x (2048×2048) unwatermarked export on the free tier (20/20) | Evidence B → |
| Processing speed | 12 / 15 | Firefly Upscaler cloud 4x (512px -> 2048px) super-resolution completes in ~7.4s | Evidence B → |
Legacy scores may include advertised maximum capabilities. Read tested output separately from paid capabilities. Records without matching tiers and scope are not ranked together.
Revisions & corrections
- 2026-10-16
Initial 4x real-machine benchmark using Mode A synthetic degradation ground-truth anchor (anchor_upscale_v1: 512px -> 2048px GT).