Need a software to make an image larger. Please read

[scracker]

Hi

Does anyone know any software that could help make an image larger, but still, it does not make that image blurred. The image is still as sharp as the original one. Thanks.

[Hi Ho]

You are asking the impossible. A small image will get blurry and pixelated if it's blown up too large no matter what software is used. How small is the image you want to enlarge? How large do you want it?

[Stryker]

The only way this is possible is with a "vectorized" or "mechanical" image. Usually with a file extension of .ai (Adobe Illustrator) or .eps (Encapsulated PostScript), these files are much more complex than a standard image (most likely what you have... .gif, .jpg, .bmp, etc...). If you can find a vector version of your image (if it's a corporate logo or something), the size is virtually limitless... BUT... you can't just stick a vector image into MS Paint. You need more heafty software to work with them.

Forgot to mention... you can't "convert" a standard image into a vector image either. It has to be created using vectors and then you can create other image types with the vector image (.jpg, .gif, etc...).

Let me know what the image is you are working with and I might have a little treat for you...
Stryker

[sky2k4]

http://www.stoik.com/mobile/mobile_resize.htm

it works great!

[Stryker]

Originally Posted by sky2k4 http://www.stoik.com/mobile/mobile_resize.htm it works great!

This will only work to a limited extent. Any software that has the ability to Anti-Alias an image (i.e. compensate for pixelation) will help a small amount. Less advanced software like windows Paint does not do this and so the distortion is much more noticable (don't get me wrong though, I use Paint all the time but only for specific tasks).

Originally Posted by scracker The image is still as sharp as the original one.

If this is what you are looking for then I'm affraid you are out of luck. This is, quite frankly, physically impossible. Depending on your current software you may be able to improve your results a bit, but you will never be able to have an increase in size without quality loss. That's why Vector images exist!! (as I was talking about earlier).

Sorry I don't have better news for your,
Stryker


Edit: sorry forgot to mention that the software posted by sky2k4 seems pretty specific to digital photographs. Digital photos are usually taken at higher resolution (around 300dpi or so) than a normal graphic you would find on the web (usually around 72dpi) and therefore the digital pic would not be as distorted after resizing because the original is higher resolution. Your original image has a lot to do with the results once it's enlarged.

[Eaglefeather]

With most image software, if the original is sharp, you can resize up to 100%, (a 640X480 to 1280X960) without much loss of definition using Paintshop Pro. After that the image begins to fragment, but a 200% enlargement still comes out fair to good.

Here is a method to enlarge an image 4 or 5 times it's original size without much loss of definition. However it has a limitation, you can only resize to the maximum amount of the image that will appear on the screen of your monitor, which means the image must not be too large to begin with. (A 640x480 image cannot be enlarged much by this method.) Now don't laugh, just try it and you will see that it works for most images.

Method:

Open Wordperfect. Next go to the top menu and click on INSERT/FILE. Browse to your image and double click on the file to open the image in Wordperfect. The image will appear with nodes at each corner. Right click & hold on the lower right hand node and drag it to the size you want. Release the node and then click anywhere in the blank part of the document to turn off the nodes.

Notes:

1. This probably work with MSWord as well, but I haven't tried it.

2. To give more space within the document for your resize you may want to move the right and left margins as far to the left and right as they will go.

Next take a screen shot, and you will now have a copy of your image enlarged. It will need some cropping and you are limited by the size of your screen, but the point is it works, if the image was good quality to begin with. Also, and this applies anytime you make a copy of an image, you should hit the Sharpen tool once. Most photo programs have a sharpen tool.

Notes:

1. You will need a program for taking screen shots, I use PSP.

2. If you do not have a program for taking screen shots there are free utilities available from any of the freeware sites for this purpose.

Hope this helps.

[Stryker]

Actually Eaglefeather, I have used this method myself. It works pretty good if you don't have another option to get the results. I have found that Photoshop will give you about the same results as the method you described, but if you don't have access to imaging software, it's a great alternative.

By the way... I was born in North Bay ON... nice to see I'm not the only person who had/has to endure the inceasant snow in winter and blackflies in summer.
I escaped many years ago now but I remember it well.
Stryker

[Eaglefeather]

Actually Photoshop and Paintshop Pro give identical results when enlarging an image, so if you want a clear, sharp image you are pretty much restricted to a resize of approximately 100% before slight distortion begins. Mind you for most uses 200% will also give a fairly good resized image. But beyond that forget it unless you are willing to sit down and correct all of the problems that will develop. It can be done, but it takes hours of tedious work to accomplish.

But using Wordperfect, enlargements of 400 to 500% are possible without noticable distortion, if the original image is sharp. Also as stryker mentioned resolution is an important factor. The maximum resolution for web graphics is 72dpi so obviously images posted on a web site may not enlarge well at all. However images stored in large web archieves are not always posted at 72dpi, so often you can download images from these archieves that have been saved at a higher dpi/resolution setting.

When scanning an image, that you intend to work on, it is advisable to set the dpi at a minimum of 150, but you must becareful about the maximum. The higher the dpi, the larger the image will be in kbs. For example a black & white image at normal 8.5x11 inches, set at 150dpi, will give a scanned .bmp image of approximately 15+megs. This uses up a lot of resources when you are working on the image in a photo program. There have been a few times when I have been working on large colour images that I ran out of resources and the puter froze up on me. So this must be kept in mind when deciding the resolution and the format you use.

Note: Saving a scanned image in .bmp format gives you more latitude for enlarging and other enhancements.

The same applies to digital images you take with a digital camera. If you intend to work on the image set the resolution at maximum and if your camera has the capability, save the image in .bmp format.

Remember that .jpg, jpeg, and .gif formats are lossy formats. That means,for those that don't know, that during the compression into the format some of the pixels are removed. These removed pixels cannot be replaced, therefore the formats are known as lossy formats.

If you are working on images that you want to print, it is advisable not to compress them. Leave them in the .bmp format. Your printed image will be much sharper and the colours more vibrant from this format. The big problem, as mention above is the huge size of these files. I keep all the images I print on a CD rather than the hd, if I didn't I would have filled my hd drive years ago.

Hey Stryker, good to hear from a Bay boy. No slight intended but to be perfectly honest, I would much rather have all this cold and snow then the smog and congestion of Burlington or any of the large citys down south. I was born in Scarborough, before it was part of Toronto, but grew up in Cabbage town. My father was raised in North Bay and his family still resides here. The CF posted me here in 1985 and when I retired in 96, I decided that North Bay was the perfect place to live out ones retirement years. If you are ever coming up this way, let me know, always happy to meet a fellow PC Mech'er.