Graphics Software

Increasing Image Resolution

Make Your Photos Bigger With Minimal Loss in Quality
By Sue C hastain, About.com Guide

... Continued from Page 1 1 Other Interpolation Methods A few other image enhancement programs offer other resampling algorithms that claim to do a better job even than Photoshop's bicubic method. Some of these are Lanzcos , B-spline, and Mitchell. A few programs that offers these alternate resampling methods are Qimage Pro 2 , IrfanView 3 (a free image browser), and Photo Cleaner4 . If your software offers one of these resampling algorithms or another one not mentioned here, you should certainly experiment with them to see which one gives you the best results. You may even find that different interpolation methods produce better results depending on the image used. Stair Interpolation Some folks have discovered that you can get better results when upsampling by increasing the image size in several small increments rather than one extreme step. This technique is referred to as stair interpolation. One advantage to using stair interpolation is that it will work on 16-bit mode images and it requires no additional software other than a standard photo editor, such as Photoshop. The concept of stair interpolation is simple: rather than using the image size command to go directly from 100% to 400%, you would use the image size command and only increase, say, 110%. Then you would repeat the command as many times as it takes to get to the size you need. Obviously, this can be tedious if your software does not have some automation capability. If you use Photoshop 5.0 or higher, you can purchase Fred Miranda's stair interpolation action for $15 US from the link below. You'll also find more information and image comparisons. FM Stair Interpolation Examples and Photoshop Action 5 Genuine Fractals LizardTech's Genuine Fractals software (formerly from Altamira Group) attempts to break through image resolution limitations with its award-winning resolution-on-demand technology. Genuine Fractals is available for Windows and Macintosh. It operates as a plug-in to Photoshop and other Photoshop plug-in compatible image editors. With it, you can encode low to medium resolution files to a scalable, resolution-free format called STiNG (*.stn). These STN files can then be opened at any resolution you choose. Until recently, this technology was your best bet for increasing resolution. Today, cameras and scanners have gotten better and come down in price, and the investment in Genuine Fractals is not as easily justified as it once was. If you have the option of putting your money into better hardware rather than software solutions, it's usually the better way to go. Still, for extreme upsampling, Genuine Fractals is pretty amazing. It also offers other benefits such as smaller encoded files for archival and storage. Follow the link below for my full review and comparisons of Genuine Fractals. Genuine Fractals Review 6 More Software and Plug-ins New developments are being made in this area all the time and with more people trying to get the most out of their equipment, it's not likely to slow down anytime soon. For a constantly updated listing of latest software products designed for high quality image upsizing, visit the link below. Software and Plug-ins for Increasing Image Resolution 7 Closing Thoughts When evaluating these methods for increasing resolution on your own, try to avoid getting caught up with how the images look on-screen. Your printer capabilities are going to play a big factor in the final results. Some comparisons may appear distinctly different on screen, but barely discernible when printed. Always make your final judgment based on the printed results. Back to Part One8 Join the Discussion9 : "I have never thought of increasing the resolution as capable of degrading the quality of the image. Is there something I have failed to consider?" - Louis 10
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