Enlarging Photos

mcorton · 05-19-2009, 07:57 AM

Hi all, I was wondering if there's a software program for making photos larger without losing alot of quality. My niece often sends me photos of her kids from a site that only has wallet size photos to save. I'd love to be able to blow them up to at least 5 X 7 without pixelizing them. Thanks for any suggestions.

yustr · 05-19-2009, 09:50 AM

Can she send you the photos directly via email? Or perhaps use a different site that allows higher resolution?

If not, there's not much you can do with a small image. Photoshop can blow it up and you can soften the image which might make them acceptable at 5x7size. I'll leave it to DonaldG or one of our other PS jockey's to comment.

But I'd first see if she can't send them some other way. Perhaps burn them to a CD and mail that. Or have her use a USB thumb drive - they're now very inexpensive.

**zuluclayman** · 05-20-2009, 02:32 AM

As yustr says - photoshop or any other image manipulation software can only work with the image information it has - if you start with a small image and attempt to resize it over 120% or so you are going to get a lot of pixellation happening.
sites such as Photobucket or Imageshack allow (for free) file hosting of much larger images and are used by many people reliably.
All they need to do is start an account, upload images there and send you a link via email and you can access the images.
All images I post on forums etc. are stored on Photobucket and I have been very happy with them.

mcorton · 05-21-2009, 03:52 PM

Thanks very much for the responses.

froggie · 06-03-2009, 01:49 AM

Have you tried "High Quality Photo Resizer" it's free and does quite a good job. Obviously the more you 'blow' it up, the greater the quality loss. This programme is worth a try though.

www.naturpic.com

Zed101 · 06-20-2009, 12:49 AM

Here is a way that just may help! Don't know for sure, probably would depend on the type and quality of scanner you have.

With your very best photo, scan it in the highest resolution (dpi) to a size you want to go to. (This works fair in some conditions.) Save it in the highest resolution before attempting to print. Printout with best or highest quality priter setup and best quality paper.(per your printers instructions).

If the quality of the print is good enough, it may print out to a useable photo, worth a try anyway! Good luck.

05-19-2009, 07:57 AM	#1 (permalink)
mcorton Registered User Join Date: Apr 2009 Posts: 60 OS: Windows xp SP2	Enlarging Photos Hi all, I was wondering if there's a software program for making photos larger without losing alot of quality. My niece often sends me photos of her kids from a site that only has wallet size photos to save. I'd love to be able to blow them up to at least 5 X 7 without pixelizing them. Thanks for any suggestions.

05-19-2009, 09:50 AM	#2 (permalink)
yustr Asst. Manager, The Conversation Pit Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: Connecticut shore Posts: 6,038 OS: XP Pro My System	Re: Enlarging Photos Can she send you the photos directly via email? Or perhaps use a different site that allows higher resolution? If not, there's not much you can do with a small image. Photoshop can blow it up and you can soften the image which might make them acceptable at 5x7size. I'll leave it to DonaldG or one of our other PS jockey's to comment. But I'd first see if she can't send them some other way. Perhaps burn them to a CD and mail that. Or have her use a USB thumb drive - they're now very inexpensive. __________________ If there are lawyers or politicians involved, logic may be a very poor tool for reaching a conclusion.

05-20-2009, 02:32 AM	#3 (permalink)
zuluclayman Design Team Member Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Newcastle, Australia Posts: 3,049 OS: Windows Vista Home Premium My System	Re: Enlarging Photos As yustr says - photoshop or any other image manipulation software can only work with the image information it has - if you start with a small image and attempt to resize it over 120% or so you are going to get a lot of pixellation happening. sites such as Photobucket or Imageshack allow (for free) file hosting of much larger images and are used by many people reliably. All they need to do is start an account, upload images there and send you a link via email and you can access the images. All images I post on forums etc. are stored on Photobucket and I have been very happy with them. __________________ AutoGordianKnot Audacity K-Lite codec pack Irfan View GSpot TSF Photographer's Corner

05-21-2009, 03:52 PM	#4 (permalink)
mcorton Registered User Join Date: Apr 2009 Posts: 60 OS: Windows xp SP2	Re: Enlarging Photos Thanks very much for the responses.

06-03-2009, 01:49 AM	#5 (permalink)
froggie Registered User Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: originally London, now France Posts: 47 OS: XP Pro	Re: Enlarging Photos Have you tried "High Quality Photo Resizer" it's free and does quite a good job. Obviously the more you 'blow' it up, the greater the quality loss. This programme is worth a try though. www.naturpic.com

06-20-2009, 12:49 AM	#6 (permalink)
Zed101 Registered User Join Date: Jun 2009 Posts: 39 OS: Win XP Prof, SP-3	Re: Enlarging Photos Here is a way that just may help! Don't know for sure, probably would depend on the type and quality of scanner you have. With your very best photo, scan it in the highest resolution (dpi) to a size you want to go to. (This works fair in some conditions.) Save it in the highest resolution before attempting to print. Printout with best or highest quality priter setup and best quality paper.(per your printers instructions). If the quality of the print is good enough, it may print out to a useable photo, worth a try anyway! Good luck.