Is there any way to print a "GOOD" 13" X 19" photo from my new Canon I 9100. Camera is a Nikon coolpix 990 3.3 mpixl. Just bought Photoshop Elements 2.0 w/photoshop album 2.0 Is there some plug in or setting that will enlarge file size to get better resolution?
Help, Kent
#1
Kent,
I have the Canon S9000 (the older bro of your printer). The largest prints I made from an image file of around 3Mpx was 11"x14", upsampled in steps of 10 percent. The prints were beginning to loosen up and were best viewed from about two feet away. The original images were taken intended for 8x10's in mind. Read about Genuine Fractals software that is supposed to allow large enlargements out of smaller files, but I have no personal experience. FWIW, you may care to try the small incremental upsampling and make trial prints. You can save some paper by printing test strips of various stages as work progresses and see what degree accutance as they are enlarged is acceptable to you. Good luck.
Shan
#2
The bicubic resampling that is built in to Elements is one of the best at doing this, but you're asking a whole lot from it. I'm adding instructions for a specific way to resample upwards that will increase its effectiveness, but there's just nothing magic that will create an enlargement that big from a 3mp camera and retain the quality found in a smaller, unresampled image. People have done comparisons between the bicubic resampling in Elements and other - pricier - programs like Genuine Fractals, and Elements stands up with the best.
Before trying this, make sure you're working on a copy!
Open your image and go to Image>Resize>Image Size. First make sure there is a checkbox next to resampling, and that you have the resolution set to something within the usual target range for inkjet printing, which is between 150 and 300ppi. If I were doing this, I'd probably go for something about 240ppi.
In the box next to where the size in pixels is given, you'll see an arrow. Click on it and change from pixels to percent. Now type in 110%. Make sure this is done for both width and height. Now hit OK. This will increase the size of your image by 10%. Keep repeating this until you have the picture the size you want it. Doing incremental upsampling at 10% seems to produce a better image than making the leap all at once.
Like I said, though, you're asking a whole lot, because your 3mp camera is probably at its peak when printing something closer to 5 X 7.
Edit: Hi Shan! You got in ahead of me, but our responses seem complementary.
#3
I've turned out "decent looking" 13 x 21 inch images on my Epson 1520, from a resampled digital photo. All you can do it try, and see whether the output meets the quality you can settle for.
:-)
Brent
#4
I would add that you need to start with the sharpest possible original - any degree of of out of focusness or camera shake shows up badly at large size. If you still haven't taken the photos that you want to enlarge, I would strongly suggest using a tripod.
Susan S
#5
Susan is right. I have the i9100 and while the big prints are fun, it is really dismaying to see all my photographic inadequacies blown up so large.
#6
I'll bet the gradients in Ray's museum would look great in 13x19 size!
#7
Thanks I will try that. I have been looking at Genuine Fractals, and am not sure if it is worth the money. I have some nice water fall pics and look fine in 8 X 10 but any larger, waste of ink and paper. How can I tell my wife, "Its time for a new camera? " LOL Thank you for your help, I'll work on it and see what I get.
Kent
#8
No problem. Beth is right. Bicubic upsampling with 10% increments works wonderful. I printed 20"x30" images from my Fuji S2 camera without any trace of degradation of the image quality.
Recently I read a comparison between the various software that were supposed to produce better results than PE, but I wasnot impressed. In my opinion there were slight differences, but I couldnot tell which one was the best, so I will stick to Elements.
Leen
#9
There is a demo of Genuine Fractals, or at least there was. I think you could use it something like five times before it would self destruct. You might look around for it and give it a try, although it doesn't seem any better than the 10% approach.
#10
On Mon, 29 Dec 2003 13:31:52 -0800, wrote:
Is there any way to print a "GOOD" 13" X 19" photo from my new Canon I 9100. Camera is a Nikon coolpix 990 3.3 mpixl. Just bought Photoshop Elements 2.0 w/photoshop album 2.0 Is there some plug in or setting that will enlarge file size to get better resolution?
Help, Kent
You can try upsampling a copy of your original image using the "bicubic" option. This should be done in 10-20 percent increments to be most effective. You could also try Genuine Fractals Print Pro (v3) as a one-step way to upsize the image while maintaining an illusion of sharpness and detail. It also allows a wide range of adjustments to suit.
#11