How to Upscale 12 Images 10X on a Mac Without Breaking a Sweat (or Paying a Dime)

by
NightCafe

So you’ve got a dozen images — half of them .jpg, the other half .webp because the internet is chaotic like that—and you need to upscale them by 10X. Not 2X. Not 4X. Ten. You want to take a humble 500×500px image and turn it into a majestic 5000×5000px beast.

Here’s the twist: you’re on a Mac, and you want to use only native tools. No paid apps, no shady websites that swear they’re “free” until they drop a paywall like a Marvel plot twist.

Good news. macOS ships with a surprisingly powerful secret weapon: Preview. Yes, the thing you use to occasionally check PDFs or that one time you accidentally opened a .heic file and your brain blue-screened.

Let’s dive in.

Step 1: Herd Your Cats (a.k.a. Put All Images in One Folder)

Drop your 12 images — .jpg, .webp, .whatever—into a single folder. Desktop, Documents, “Misc Stuff I’ll Organize Later”—doesn’t matter. Just round them up.

If your .webp images are acting like they don’t want to hang with the rest, you might need to convert them. You can do this in Preview too:

  1. Right-click a .webp → Open With → Preview.
  2. File → Export → Select JPEG → Save.

Congratulations, your .webp is now less weird.

ChatGPT

Step 2: Select All the Images and Open in Preview

Highlight all 12 images, right-click → Open With → Preview.

Now pause and take a moment to marvel at how Preview just accepted all 12 like a chill bouncer at an exclusive club.

Step 3: Enter the Matrix (a.k.a. Thumbnails Sidebar)

In Preview, make sure the thumbnails sidebar is visible on the left (View → Thumbnails). If not, you’ll be resizing one image at a time like some kind of digital peasant.

Click any thumbnail, then press Command + A to select all images in the sidebar.

Step 4: Open the Secret Resize Portal

With all 12 thumbnails selected:

  • Go to Tools → Adjust Size…

Now you’re in the resizing cockpit. Strap in.

Step 5: Crank It to 10X

Here’s the trick: in the size window:

  • Make sure “Scale proportionally” is checked.
  • Uncheck “Resample image”, then recheck it. (I don’t know why, it just makes Preview behave. Trust the ritual.)
  • If your images are originally, say, 1000px wide, change the width to 10,000px.
  • The height will auto-adjust, unless you’ve decided to live dangerously and unchecked proportional scaling. (Don’t.)

Hit OK.

Boom. All 12 images just got the digital equivalent of a protein shake and 6 months at the gym.

Deep Dream Generator

Step 6: Save Your Masterpieces

Now go to File → Save All or, if you’re feeling dramatic, close the window and click Save when it prompts you.

That’s it. You’ve just scaled 12 images to 10X using nothing but Preview, pure willpower, and zero dollars.

Bonus Round: Batch Rename Like a Boss

Want your images to be named something like Upscaled-01.jpg, Upscaled-02.jpg, etc.?

  1. Select all images in Finder.
  2. Right-click → Rename X items → Format.
  3. Use “Name and Index” or “Name and Counter” depending on your vibe.
  4. Enter something like Upscaled and start from 01.

Now your folder looks like you actually know what you’re doing.

In Case You’re Wondering: Why Not Use [This AI Tool]?

Because sometimes you don’t want to upload 12 images, wait forever, find out the free tier only does 3, and then get spammed by emails about upgrading to Premium Ultra Mega Platinum.

Preview. Is. Enough.

Want to Upscale Even More Images?

You can also use Automator (also native on macOS) for batching, or dive into Shortcuts if you like your resizing with a side of programmable flair. But that’s another blog post (or another rabbit hole, depending on your energy level).

Tell Me Things

Did this work for you? Did Preview betray you mid-resize? Do you secretly love .webp and want to start a support group?

Drop a comment and let’s talk. And if you liked this guide, follow me — I do this kind of thing more often than I update my macOS (which is both frequent and mildly terrifying).

Art Prompt:
A soft-focus riverside scene at dusk, painted in gentle, swirling brush strokes reminiscent of Monet’s late works. The sky glows with pink and lavender hues reflected on rippling water, dotted with small boats drifting lazily. In the foreground, reeds and lilies blur into the water with hazy texture, while tall trees on the opposite bank dissolve into the mist. Emphasize light and shadow interplay, with visible brushwork and an impression of tranquility rather than detail. Impressionist style, oil on canvas, 19th century.