Need sharpest photo resolution possible

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Guest

Hi all
Am attempting to increase the size of a 4x6 color photo to an 8-1/2x12.
Appreciate any helpful advice on how to get the clearest/sharpest resolution
possible.
I can us any of the following programs...
Adobe Photoshop Elements 2.0
Faststone Image Viewer
Microsoft Digital Image Standard 2006 Library
Instant Photo Expert
Ulead Photo Explorer 7.0 SE
Many thanks. Franktee
 
franktee said:
Hi all
Am attempting to increase the size of a 4x6 color photo to an 8-1/2x12.
Appreciate any helpful advice on how to get the clearest/sharpest
resolution
possible.
I can us any of the following programs...
Adobe Photoshop Elements 2.0
Faststone Image Viewer
Microsoft Digital Image Standard 2006 Library
Instant Photo Expert
Ulead Photo Explorer 7.0 SE
Many thanks. Franktee
First of all, you can't go from 4x6 to 8 1/2 x 12 without cropping.
Secondly, how you do this depends on the size of the image in pixels. Any of
those programs are equal to this task. How well the resultant 8 1/2 x 12
print looks depends on how many pixels the image has.
Jim
 
That would depend upon the resolution of the original before blowing it up to
8.5x12

Start by taking the photo at high resolution.

I would suggest 3.0 megapixels as an absolute mimimum.

The higher the better.

No software program can increase resolution after the fact.


Gord Dibben MS Excel MVP
 
None of them.

Best option if you send it out to print would be Costco. First use Faststone
to crop to exact size and save the file. If you use Costco, crop to 8 x 12
and save the file, there is no such thing as 8-1/2 x 12 paper size, you need
to crop to a paper size available. Upload to Costco and make sure you select
poster size for highest resolution, but better, copy the file on a CD and
take it to Costco. If no Costco around you try Wal-Mart, Walgreen (they all
have the same professional printers but Costco seems to calibrate and
maintain their printers better). They all have the same software to
increase the resolution of an image.
To give you an idea, 300 pixels/inch is top notch for great prints but you
can get a very good print at 200 pixels/inch. If you have less than this the
Costco software will do the best it can and it is very good. So you can look
at the pixel dimensions of your file and get a good idea of how good the
print will be. If you want 8 x 12, the pixel dimensions should be, ideally,
8 x 300 = 2400 pixels and 12 x 300 = 3600 pixels.
I suggested Costco above but other on-line photo printers will do the same,
like Smugmug, etc.

If you print at home, I doubt that you can beat Costco (or other on-line
printers, unless you have a printer in the $400.00 and above range) and then
the software to use would be Qimage. This is by far the best software to use
when trying to print a large print from a low resolution image, but the
interface is a little bit different than the software you mentioned, so will
need to learn it.
You can try a demo here:
http://www.ddisoftware.com/qimage/

Maybe you are worrying too much.
Place your mouse pointer over the picture file name or thumbnail. A text box
will open and will give you the dimensions in pixels. Tell us these pixel
dimensions and we can give you a better idea about printing 8 x 12.

However,
 
Appreciate all the helpful responses.
The dimentions are 1024x708 rpt 1024x708.
Also, I erred in stating the paper size I'm using.
It should be 8.5x11 not 8.5x12.
Thank you.
 
OK.
So the dimensions in pixels are:
1024 x 708.
Not very good for a large print like you want.
Divide 1024 pixels by 300 pixels/inch and you get a very good 3 inch print.
So I still suggest Costco to print or with your printer use Qimage. You are
not going to get a great large print out of a low pixel dimension image like
this, but these would be my best suggestions to get as best a large print as
you can get.
 
Appreciate your responses and the time you have taken to share this helpful
info. I will check the options you mentioned.
Again, many thanks, and have a good day.
 
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