GFPGAN Face Restore

Restore and enhance faces in photos using GFPGAN on Clore.ai

Restore and enhance faces in photos using GFPGAN.

All examples can be run on GPU servers rented through CLORE.AI Marketplace.

Renting on CLORE.AI

1. Visit CLORE.AI Marketplace

2. Filter by GPU type, VRAM, and price

3. Choose On-Demand (fixed rate) or Spot (bid price)

4. Configure your order:

   • Select Docker image

   • Set ports (TCP for SSH, HTTP for web UIs)

   • Add environment variables if needed

   • Enter startup command

5. Select payment: CLORE, BTC, or USDT/USDC

6. Create order and wait for deployment

Access Your Server

• Find connection details in My Orders

• Web interfaces: Use the HTTP port URL

• SSH: ssh -p <port> root@<proxy-address>

What is GFPGAN?

GFPGAN (Generative Facial Prior GAN) specializes in:

• Restoring old/damaged photos

• Enhancing blurry faces

• Improving AI-generated faces

• Fixing low-resolution portraits

Quick Deploy

Docker Image:

pytorch/pytorch:2.11.0-cuda12.8-cudnn9-runtime

Ports:

22/tcp
7860/http

Command:

pip install gfpgan gradio && \
python -c "
import gradio as gr
from gfpgan import GFPGANer
import cv2
import numpy as np

restorer = GFPGANer(
    model_path='https://github.com/TencentARC/GFPGAN/releases/download/v1.3.4/GFPGANv1.4.pth',
    upscale=2,
    arch='clean',
    channel_multiplier=2,
    bg_upsampler=None
)

def restore(image):
    img = np.array(image)
    img = cv2.cvtColor(img, cv2.COLOR_RGB2BGR)
    _, _, output = restorer.enhance(img, has_aligned=False, only_center_face=False, paste_back=True)
    output = cv2.cvtColor(output, cv2.COLOR_BGR2RGB)
    return output

demo = gr.Interface(fn=restore, inputs=gr.Image(), outputs=gr.Image(), title='GFPGAN Face Restorer')
demo.launch(server_name='0.0.0.0', server_port=7860)
"

Accessing Your Service

After deployment, find your http_pub URL in My Orders:

1. Go to My Orders page

2. Click on your order

3. Find the http_pub URL (e.g., abc123.clorecloud.net)

Use https://YOUR_HTTP_PUB_URL instead of localhost in examples below.

CLI Usage

Installation

pip install gfpgan

Download Models

# Download face restoration model
wget https://github.com/TencentARC/GFPGAN/releases/download/v1.3.4/GFPGANv1.4.pth -P ./models

# Download detection model
wget https://github.com/TencentARC/GFPGAN/releases/download/v1.3.0/detection_Resnet50_Final.pth -P ./models

# Download parsing model
wget https://github.com/TencentARC/GFPGAN/releases/download/v1.3.0/parsing_parsenet.pth -P ./models

Basic Usage

# Restore single image
python inference_gfpgan.py -i input.jpg -o results -v 1.4 -s 2

# Restore folder
python inference_gfpgan.py -i ./inputs -o ./results -v 1.4 -s 2

Options

python inference_gfpgan.py \
    -i input.jpg \      # Input image/folder
    -o results \        # Output folder
    -v 1.4 \            # GFPGAN version (1.2, 1.3, 1.4)
    -s 2 \              # Upscale factor
    --bg_upsampler realesrgan \  # Background upscaler
    --only_center_face  # Only restore center face

Python API

Basic Face Restoration

from gfpgan import GFPGANer
import cv2

# Initialize
restorer = GFPGANer(
    model_path='GFPGANv1.4.pth',
    upscale=2,
    arch='clean',
    channel_multiplier=2,
    bg_upsampler=None
)

# Load image
img = cv2.imread('photo.jpg')

# Restore faces
cropped_faces, restored_faces, restored_img = restorer.enhance(
    img,
    has_aligned=False,
    only_center_face=False,
    paste_back=True
)

# Save result
cv2.imwrite('restored.jpg', restored_img)

With Background Enhancement

from gfpgan import GFPGANer
from realesrgan import RealESRGANer
from basicsr.archs.rrdbnet_arch import RRDBNet
import cv2

# Setup background upscaler
bg_model = RRDBNet(num_in_ch=3, num_out_ch=3, num_feat=64, num_block=23, num_grow_ch=32, scale=2)
bg_upsampler = RealESRGANer(
    scale=2,
    model_path='RealESRGAN_x2plus.pth',
    model=bg_model,
    half=True
)

# Setup face restorer with background enhancement
restorer = GFPGANer(
    model_path='GFPGANv1.4.pth',
    upscale=2,
    arch='clean',
    channel_multiplier=2,
    bg_upsampler=bg_upsampler
)

# Process
img = cv2.imread('old_photo.jpg')
_, _, output = restorer.enhance(img, has_aligned=False, only_center_face=False, paste_back=True)
cv2.imwrite('enhanced.jpg', output)

Process Only Faces (No Paste Back)

# Get individual restored faces
cropped_faces, restored_faces, _ = restorer.enhance(
    img,
    has_aligned=False,
    only_center_face=False,
    paste_back=False
)

# Save each face separately
for i, face in enumerate(restored_faces):
    cv2.imwrite(f'face_{i}.jpg', face)

Batch Processing

import os
from gfpgan import GFPGANer
import cv2
from tqdm import tqdm

restorer = GFPGANer(
    model_path='GFPGANv1.4.pth',
    upscale=2,
    arch='clean',
    channel_multiplier=2
)

input_dir = './old_photos'
output_dir = './restored'
os.makedirs(output_dir, exist_ok=True)

for filename in tqdm(os.listdir(input_dir)):
    if filename.lower().endswith(('.png', '.jpg', '.jpeg')):
        img = cv2.imread(os.path.join(input_dir, filename))

        try:
            _, _, output = restorer.enhance(
                img,
                has_aligned=False,
                only_center_face=False,
                paste_back=True
            )
            cv2.imwrite(os.path.join(output_dir, filename), output)
        except Exception as e:
            print(f"Failed: {filename} - {e}")

CodeFormer (Alternative)

CodeFormer is another excellent face restorer:

# Installation
pip install codeformer-pip

# Usage
from codeformer import CodeFormer
import cv2

restorer = CodeFormer()
img = cv2.imread('blurry_face.jpg')
result = restorer.restore(img)
cv2.imwrite('restored.jpg', result)

Video Face Restoration

import cv2
from gfpgan import GFPGANer
from tqdm import tqdm

restorer = GFPGANer(
    model_path='GFPGANv1.4.pth',
    upscale=1,  # Keep original size for video
    arch='clean',
    channel_multiplier=2
)

cap = cv2.VideoCapture('video.mp4')
fps = cap.get(cv2.CAP_PROP_FPS)
width = int(cap.get(cv2.CAP_PROP_FRAME_WIDTH))
height = int(cap.get(cv2.CAP_PROP_FRAME_HEIGHT))
total = int(cap.get(cv2.CAP_PROP_FRAME_COUNT))

out = cv2.VideoWriter('restored_video.mp4', cv2.VideoWriter_fourcc(*'mp4v'), fps, (width, height))

for _ in tqdm(range(total)):
    ret, frame = cap.read()
    if not ret:
        break

    try:
        _, _, restored = restorer.enhance(frame, paste_back=True)
        out.write(restored)
    except:
        out.write(frame)  # Keep original if restoration fails

cap.release()
out.release()

API Server

from fastapi import FastAPI, UploadFile
from fastapi.responses import Response
from gfpgan import GFPGANer
import cv2
import numpy as np

app = FastAPI()

restorer = GFPGANer(
    model_path='GFPGANv1.4.pth',
    upscale=2,
    arch='clean',
    channel_multiplier=2
)

@app.post("/restore")
async def restore_face(file: UploadFile, upscale: int = 2):
    contents = await file.read()
    nparr = np.frombuffer(contents, np.uint8)
    img = cv2.imdecode(nparr, cv2.IMREAD_COLOR)

    _, _, output = restorer.enhance(img, paste_back=True)

    _, encoded = cv2.imencode('.jpg', output)
    return Response(content=encoded.tobytes(), media_type="image/jpeg")

# Run: uvicorn server:app --host 0.0.0.0 --port 8000

Model Versions

Version	Quality	Speed	Notes
v1.4	Best	Medium	Recommended
v1.3	Great	Fast	Good balance
v1.2	Good	Fastest	Legacy

Use Cases

Old Photo Restoration

# Best settings for old photos
restorer = GFPGANer(
    model_path='GFPGANv1.4.pth',
    upscale=4,  # Higher upscale for old low-res photos
    bg_upsampler=bg_upsampler
)

AI Art Enhancement

# For AI-generated images with face artifacts
restorer = GFPGANer(
    model_path='GFPGANv1.4.pth',
    upscale=1,  # Keep original size
    only_center_face=True  # Focus on main face
)

Group Photos

# Process all faces in group photo
restorer = GFPGANer(
    model_path='GFPGANv1.4.pth',
    upscale=2,
    only_center_face=False  # Process ALL faces
)

Performance

Image Size	Faces	GPU	Time
512x512	1	RTX 3090	~0.2s
1024x1024	1	RTX 3090	~0.3s
1024x1024	5	RTX 3090	~0.8s
2048x2048	1	RTX 4090	~0.3s

Troubleshooting

No Face Detected

# Lower detection threshold
from gfpgan.utils import GFPGANer

# Or manually crop face area first

Over-smoothed Results

• Use CodeFormer with lower fidelity weight

• Blend with original using alpha compositing

VRAM Issues

# Use CPU for face detection
import torch
torch.cuda.empty_cache()

# Process faces one at a time
only_center_face=True

Cost Estimate

Typical CLORE.AI marketplace rates (as of 2024):

GPU	Hourly Rate	Daily Rate	4-Hour Session
RTX 3060	~$0.03	~$0.70	~$0.12
RTX 3090	~$0.06	~$1.50	~$0.25
RTX 4090	~$0.10	~$2.30	~$0.40
A100 40GB	~$0.17	~$4.00	~$0.70
A100 80GB	~$0.25	~$6.00	~$1.00

Prices vary by provider and demand. Check CLORE.AI Marketplace for current rates.

Save money:

• Use the Spot market for interruptible work — about a third of servers price spot below on-demand (median ~13% off), the rest match it

• Pay with CLORE tokens

• Compare prices across different providers

Next Steps

• Real-ESRGAN Upscaling

• Stable Diffusion WebUI

• AI Video Generation