The AI Upscale Prompt: Make AI Portraits Look Like Real Photos

By Clayton H · Published 7 November 2026 · Tools: Nano Banana

Upload your AI portrait to Nano Banana (Gemini’s image model) and paste the upscale prompt below. It tells the model to keep the exact framing, pose, face, clothing and background, and to change only the surface detail: visible pores and freckles, sharp irises and lashes, flyaway hairs, lip texture, fabric weave and natural light through the skin. The result reads as a photograph instead of a smooth, plastic AI image.

Why do AI portraits look fake?

Most AI portraits fail on surface detail, not on the face itself. The skin is airbrushed and poreless, hair melts into soft blurry shapes, the eyes are flat with no moisture or reflections, and fabric has no weave. An upscale prompt fixes that layer while leaving everything else alone.

What you get

• The upscale prompt, organised by area (skin, eyes, hair, lips, fabric, light, finish) so nothing in the frame is ignored.
• A close-up prompt for sharp zoom shots of the eyes or lips that line up with your original.
• Tips for clean before/after comparisons.

What you need

• Nano Banana (image generation in Gemini).
• One portrait you want to improve. A head-and-shoulders shot shows the most difference.

How to upscale an AI portrait

1. Open Gemini and start a new chat with image generation.
2. Upload your portrait.
3. Paste the upscale prompt below. Replace the text in the [FABRIC] brackets with what your subject is wearing.
4. Generate, then compare it with your original at full size. Zoom into the eyes and hairline; that is where the difference shows.
5. If anything moved (a strand of hair, the collar, the head angle), generate again. The prompt locks the composition, but some runs still drift.

The upscale prompt

Upscale and enhance this exact image to ultra-high-resolution photographic realism. Keep the exact framing, composition, pose, face, expression, hairstyle, clothing, colours and background: nothing moves, nothing is added and nothing is removed. Change only the surface detail. Skin: real texture with visible pores, fine lines, natural variation in tone, individual freckles with soft edges, faint peach fuzz along the cheek and jaw, and no airbrushing or smoothing. Eyes: sharp iris detail, a natural wet line along the lower lid, small catchlights from the light source, and individual lashes. Hair: separate strands across the fringe, flyaways and baby hairs at the hairline catching the light, and a natural sheen rather than a plastic gloss. Lips: fine vertical lines and a soft natural texture. Fabric: [FABRIC: the weave and sheen of the silk taffeta and the crisp individual pleats of the ruff]. Light: gentle subsurface glow where light passes through the ear and the edges of the nose. Finish: true optical sharpness like a medium-format photograph, subtle film grain, no over-sharpening halos, no artificial HDR.

If your subject has no freckles, delete “individual freckles with soft edges” so the model does not add them.

Bonus: the close-up prompt for zoom shots

Zooming into a portrait digitally makes it soft. For sharp close-ups that still match the full image, crop the area you want (for example one eye, or the eyes and lips) from your upscaled portrait, upload the crop and use this prompt:

Upscale this exact image to the highest resolution with photographic realism. This is a crop of an existing photograph: treat it as a restoration, not a new image. Keep every shape and position exactly as it is: the eye shape, eyelids and brow shape, the iris colour, the hairline, the lip shape and cupid’s bow, [ANY ACCESSORIES OR CLOTHING IN THE CROP]. Do not move, reshape, redraw or add anything. Change only the surface detail: real skin texture with visible pores and fine peach fuzz, no airbrushing; sharp iris fibres, individual lashes, a natural wet line along the lower lid and small catchlights; individual hairs in the brows and hairline; fine lines in the lips; the texture of any fabric or accessories. Subtle film grain, true optical sharpness, no over-sharpening halos, no HDR look.

Always check the close-up against the full image before you use it. If the eye shape or hairline has changed, regenerate.

How to make a convincing before/after

• Use the same image for both sides. The comparison only works if the two images line up exactly, which is why the prompt locks the composition.
• Compare sharpness, not lighting. If the “after” also looks brighter or warmer, viewers read it as a filter. Match the tone so only the detail changes.
• Label both sides clearly with BEFORE and AFTER.

Things worth knowing

• This adds detail, not pixels beyond the tool’s limit. Nano Banana outputs up to 2K, so think of this as a realism upgrade rather than an 8K enlargement. For print-size files, run a dedicated upscaler afterwards.
• Do not ask for a “low-quality” before image. Image models tend to ignore that and produce a good image anyway. Use your existing AI portrait as the before.
• Small changes can still happen. Check jewellery, hairline and collar edges at full size.

FAQ

Can Nano Banana upscale an image?

It can regenerate an uploaded image with much more detail when you tell it to keep the composition and change only the surface.

Will it change my face?

The prompt tells the model to keep the face, expression and pose. Most runs stay faithful, but always compare with the original and regenerate if anything shifts.

Does it work on real photos?

The prompt was written and tested on AI portraits, which are the ones that tend to look smooth and plastic. You can try it on a real photo, but check the result carefully, since the model may add texture that was not there.

Does it work in ChatGPT?

It was tested in Nano Banana. Other image models that accept an uploaded image can follow it, but results vary, so test one image first.