Computers & Electronics

Depixellating software?

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  • Oct 17th, 2004 10:30 pm
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Deal Fanatic
Dec 9, 2003
5132 posts
981 upvotes
Calgary

Depixellating software?

I have some digital photos where I want to print out a portion in a large format - but the enlargement is so great that individual pixels are showing. Is there some software that can intelligently interpolate and add pixels (such that each pixel resulting is correspondingly smaller.) I realize the resolution wont be enhanced (unless I sharpen the image) but at least the pixel blocks won't be quite so obvious.

I have photoshop but I cant figure out an easy way to do it. Blur and smudge seem to add pixels, but at the expense of blurring.....

Any advice please?
17 replies
Deal Guru
Apr 17, 2003
10644 posts
7234 upvotes
As far as I know, there's no real way of making the big pixels look smaller or disappear.

But you can try applying a blur mask and resharpen on the image.
Deal Addict
Nov 18, 2003
1170 posts
28 upvotes
If I'm not mistaken, there might be a plug in available for PS and it does fractal interpolation. I read an article about it and it looks pretty impressive.
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Deal Fanatic
Nov 19, 2003
5335 posts
3149 upvotes
A Place to Stand
Most interpolation procedures end with poor results. It depends what you need the pic for (ie. maybe ok for a candid snap of your dog, but not your wedding day) and how picky you are.
Deal Fanatic
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Dec 19, 2003
7931 posts
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Burnaby
http://thepluginsite.com/reviews/enlargingplugins/

here is from the help file in photoshop CS
[QUOTE] When an image is resampled, an interpolation method is used to assign color values to any new pixels Photoshop creates, based on the color values of existing pixels in the image. Photoshop and ImageReady use sophisticated methods to preserve the quality and detail from the original image when you resample.

The General Preferences dialog box lets you specify a default interpolation method to use whenever images are resampled with the Image Size or transformation commands. The Image Size command also lets you specify an interpolation method other than the default.

To specify the default interpolation method:

1. Do one of the following:
* In Windows, choose Edit > Preferences > General.
* (Photoshop) In Mac OS choose Photoshop > Preferences > General.
* (ImageReady) In Mac OS, choose ImageReady > Preferences > General.
2. For Interpolation, choose one of the following options:
* Nearest Neighbor for the fast but less precise method. This method is recommended for use with illustrations containing non-anti-aliased edges, to preserve hard edges and produce a smaller file. However, this method can result in jagged effects, which become apparent when distorting or scaling an image or performing multiple manipulations on a selection.
* Bilinear for a medium-quality method.
* Bicubic for the slow but more precise method, resulting in the smoothest tonal gradations.
* Bicubic Smoother when you're enlarging images.
* Bicubic Sharper for reducing the size of an image. This method maintains the detail in a resampled image. It may, however, over-sharpen some areas of an image. In this case, try using Bicubic.[/QUOTE]

so if you want to stick with CS without the plugins
try bicubic smoother

this reminds me of sci fi tv shows where the military enhances a picture digitally and extrapolates the image of a criminal

hehehe
Deal Fanatic
User avatar
Dec 19, 2003
7931 posts
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Burnaby
or if you are serious about what you want to print
you can look into Genuine Fractals

one of the best programs for this purpose

http://www.lizardtech.com/solutions/gf/


on this link, http://thepluginsite.com/reviews/enlargingplugins/ , when you scroll down to the thumbnails, click on them
then you will really see the differences btwn these different algorithms
Deal Guru
Apr 17, 2003
10644 posts
7234 upvotes
Evil Techie wrote:or if you are serious about what you want to print
you can look into Genuine Fractals

one of the best programs for this purpose

http://www.lizardtech.com/solutions/gf/


on this link, http://thepluginsite.com/reviews/enlargingplugins/ , when you scroll down to the thumbnails, click on them
then you will really see the differences btwn these different algorithms
Wow...impressive. I like that!
Deal Fanatic
Dec 9, 2003
5132 posts
981 upvotes
Calgary
Thanks for all the suggestions. I am not a PS expert. but I will check them all out. :)
Dec 31, 1969
While Genuine Fractals does work rather well it's really expensive. Have a look at Qimage, it's interpolation method (Pyramid) works incredibly well and the price of the program isn't bad either. Qiamge website:

http://www.ddisoftware.com/qimage/

This is possible in Photoshop but not with the results that you would get from the FREE trial of Qimage. To do it in Photoshop you need to do the stair interpolation method. You can go to this website for a free download of an action for Photoshop:

http://www.interpolatethis.com/actions.html

From my (professional) experience I have found that Qimage matches the quality of Genuine Fractals for fraction of the price.

Hope that helps.
Newbie
Oct 10, 2004
34 posts
theres a trick in photoshop to resize your photo 10% for as many times as you need
so 200% would resulting in creating an action to resize your photo 20 times

It's worked wonders before.
Dec 31, 1969
Pent wrote:theres a trick in photoshop to resize your photo 10% for as many times as you need
so 200% would resulting in creating an action to resize your photo 20 times

It's worked wonders before.
Yep, that's the stair interpolation technique I mentioned above. ;)
Newbie
Oct 10, 2004
34 posts
I don't bother clicking links, it just leads to other links and then the links that I was going to look at in the first place I forget about and then suddenly I'm doing something completely different ^_^ :lol:
Deal Guru
Apr 17, 2003
10644 posts
7234 upvotes
Pent wrote:theres a trick in photoshop to resize your photo 10% for as many times as you need
so 200% would resulting in creating an action to resize your photo 20 times

It's worked wonders before.
LoL...not quite 20 times.

say I have a pic that's 100 pixels across. If I increase that by 10% for 3 times, I should get 100x 110% x 110% x 110% blah blah blah...

Anyway, you get the idea.
Deal Guru
User avatar
Nov 30, 2003
11504 posts
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Toronto
Hmm, I always thought stair interpolation was bad? Aren't you interpolating based on interpolated results, which leads to guesswork based on guesswork? :|
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Deal Fanatic
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Dec 19, 2003
7931 posts
48 upvotes
Burnaby
selpats wrote:While Genuine Fractals does work rather well it's really expensive. Have a look at Qimage, it's interpolation method (Pyramid) works incredibly well and the price of the program isn't bad either. Qiamge website:

http://www.ddisoftware.com/qimage/

This is possible in Photoshop but not with the results that you would get from the FREE trial of Qimage. To do it in Photoshop you need to do the stair interpolation method. You can go to this website for a free download of an action for Photoshop:

http://www.interpolatethis.com/actions.html

From my (professional) experience I have found that Qimage matches the quality of Genuine Fractals for fraction of the price.

Hope that helps.

wow thats cool
yeah genuine fractals is really expensive
for professionals that dont mind wasting money for something that could have been done with something you suggested
hehe

ill look into Qimage now
Sr. Member
Mar 29, 2004
744 posts
1 upvote
Pent wrote:I don't bother clicking links, it just leads to other links and then the links that I was going to look at in the first place I forget about and then suddenly I'm doing something completely different ^_^ :lol:
You mean Hypertext has a downside?

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