Is there a program that...

[Original Freak]

Does anyone know if there is a program out there that allows you to enlarge pictures for printing without pixelising them? I know when you watch T.V. you see people zooming in on pictures all the time and it adjusts iself to be crisp and clear. I was wondering if there is a program out there that actually allows you to do this.

Reason being that I have the option of printing large format pictures. My 5.1MP camera, apparantly, will print up to 27X36 pictures without pixilazation, and even though the size is fine I want to crop out parts of these pics and then enlarge them again to about this size without any noticable lost in quality. Any help is appreciated. Thanks.

 

[Fluffy]

Well as far as I understand it, any computer generated picture is made up of pixels. When you enlarge it, these pixels get bigger. What you want is to get something that seperates the pixels apart and fills the area in with more pixels of an appropriate colour. Such a program would have to be massively advanced though and I doubt you could get one for home usage. I could be wrong though.

 

[Tawn]

What happens if you use photoshop, and make sure in increase the resolution BEFORE enlarging the picture??? If that doesnt work, perhaps increase resolution, do some slight blurring.. you know about as little as possible and then enlarge.. ???

 

[Fat Old Sun]

I would check with a good camera store. They would have knowledge of higher end software and its capabilities. You might even be able to do it there. The store that I bought my digital camera from has a rediculous digital photo printer. I cropped and printed a bunch of pictures with their equipment.

 

[michel]

Just one point - which may or may not help; If you save your pictures as the default .bmp extension (Windows default) - every pixel on the image is stored in memory; hence the size of the files.
If you save them in -say .jpeg, one pixel of each colour is 'memorized', and repeated everywhere that that same colour appears.
Therefore, I woukd have thought that if you save in .bmp format, select your area to print, enlarge and then airbrush out the pielisation 'shpe', you would end up with a good picture.

Not that I have tried this, but it is something I would try - and, as far as I know, Adobe photoshop is one of the best - I use it (although I must admit that I use only a minimum of it's potential).

 

[Original Freak]

One thing I didn't think of is to use the Maximum setting on my camera. Not just the 5 MP setting but the least amount of compaction. I was told at this setting I should get a very minimal amount of distortion at the sizes I'm looking for. I have Photoshop on my computer but I know very little about it. Anyone know a web site that will help me learn?

 

[cis4life]

Yeah, the mega pixels and the camera picture setting is what you need to look at for what your trying to do. Get a decent MP cam (at least 3) and set it to its highest setting (height and width wise) this way if you shirnk it or expand it, you will have some room to play with before it start to pixelize.

 

[Original Freak]

I've actually printed one off at 3'X2' and it looked alright. Ijust have to set the print set up and the printer to do it right, as well as paper the won't wrinkle with that amount of ink on it.

 

[michel]

One thing I didn't think of is to use the Maximum setting on my camera. Not just the 5 MP setting but the least amount of compaction. I was told at this setting I should get a very minimal amount of distortion at the sizes I'm looking for. I have Photoshop on my computer but I know very little about it. Anyone know a web site that will help me learn?

Ah, photoshop - yes it is a bit daunting, isn't it ? - I was lucky, I found a book on it at the local library.

BTW I've found what seems to be a good freeware program at :-
http://www.go-dorset.co.uk/; I have just tried it, and it works fine - you could give it a go - and there are help files, and tutorials.
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PhotoFiltre
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[font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]PhotoFiltre 6.1.2 / Jun 2005 / 1.6 Mb[/font][/font]

 

[Terrywoodenpic]

Yes there is a programme called Genuine Fractals. used just for this purposeMostly used bu professional and serious amateur photographers. I think there is a trial version.
It works very well !!!!!! but will not do the impossible. Key it into Google and you will find it.
Terry

 

[Scuba Pete]

You want a RIP... or a vector imaging program. Adobe Illustrator will do this, but not Photo Shop.

 

[EnhancedSpirit]

I use Roxio for all my images. It enlarges clearly unless of course I try to enlarge a one inch photo into a 12 inch photo. I am sure there are more advanced programs than this for mine is a couple of years old, now. But I do a lot of graphic work and use Roxio and simple Paint to get all my work done.

 

[Original Freak]

Ah, photoshop - yes it is a bit daunting, isn't it ? - I was lucky, I found a book on it at the local library.

That's what I'm doing now. I've got this program that i know is powerful so I decided to learn it, I've got 3 books sitting on my desk right now. It was fustrating knowing I can do all this stuff I would love to do so here I am.

 

[michel]

That's what I'm doing now. I've got this program that i know is powerful so I decided to learn it, I've got 3 books sitting on my desk right now. It was fustrating knowing I can do all this stuff I would love to do so here I am.

I wish you luck, my friend; I find that learning how to use programs 'dry' from a book doesn't suit me. I find it so much easier when shown how to use the program by my sons; unfortunately they aren't here now, so I have to do as you are doing!