Enlarging Small Digital Photos?

[cegerer]

Is there software available to convert a small digital photo file into a larger, higher-quality file? For instance, could this photo be 'enlarged' by some type of software that recreates the details in the image?

[id10t]

Problem is that screens display at about 72 DPI (dots/pixels per inch) and printers print at 300-1200 DPI. You have X number of dots/pixels to work with... you can enlarge the image somewhat using photoshop/the gimp/fireworks/paint shop pro/etc. but when you do that, you are "creating" information that isn't there already, which is what leads to pixelization, etc.

Try printing it as high quality as you can, then scan that print at as high a DPI as you can, and it may come out OK.

[RickM]

What you're asking for is similar to the Fuzzy Logic used in digital zoom on cameras/camcorders. Results are usually less than impressive.

BTW, cool pic.

[Teutonics]

I think there is software available for use with the large-scale printers. I know my father has one at work, and has printed wall-sized prints from smaller photos with surprising results. Of course we're talking big bucks though...

[gchappel]

There is no real way to add detail to a print, so as you enlarge it to print, the detail gets worse. There are some tricks that help. A program like adobe photoshop can resize pictures, and there is an old trick of upsizing the file 10% at a time, rather than in one big step. Sometimes the results are surprisingly good. There is a program called Qimage that also helps enlarge and print- no miracles but it does a good job. It is about $50, but there is a free trail available

[john_colasante]

Try color printing it and then scan it at hi-res. This may help to reduce the artifacts that are created by software-only enlarging. It will look more blurry than pixelated using this approach.

[techweenie]

Photographers who create the images have ownership, and to protect ownership, but show their work, usually give access only to low-res versions of their work.

Bicubic interpolation is the technology PhotoShop uses to enlarge photos, but it cannot add detail. Nothing can add detail. The example image above is soft even at 72 dpi. It'll look like mush printed at anything over about 3" across...

The best route to getting a high quality large image is to find the owner of the photo and buy a print.

[techweenie]

Here's a copy of the above photo run through Focus Magc... it's crisper, but still won't survive much enlargement.

[cegerer]

Thanks! There are photos similar to the one above that I occasionally run across on the internet, but they are VERY small. I was hoping for some kind of miracle product that could evaluate the image, create detail and generate a high-quality file ..... anyway, I'll play around with printing, then scanning some of the images and see what happens.

[arcsine]

One real issue in making this image (and most captured fromthe intenet) bigger is that is has a lot of artifacting from the JPEG compression process (The blotchyness of the sky especially above the rear wing). Impossible to over come but I have used the 10%-at-a-time process to make things bigger with some success.