Massive upsizing from a 5x7 minilab print....

Hello

 

A friend has asked me to help her blow up a really small photo up to A1 size.

 

She doesn't have the negative - the print is pretty poor to start with - but she has promised a poster to

her friend for a christmas present.

 

I tried to dissuade her saying even with a drum scan of the original it would still only really be good at

5x7, but she says her friend won't mind etc etc etc

 

So I thought I'd ask here.

 

Assuming we get a good enough flatbed scan of the thing and then upsize it with Genuine Fractals (is

there a better way?) how would you guys suggest we mask the fact that this is a massively overblown size

?

 

It seems her friend isn't that fussed - just likes the pic. I was thinking maybe convert it into newsprint or

billboard style (ie lots of tiny dots) but don't really know how to go about it. Or maybe posterize it....

 

Any ideas ?

 

Cheers

 

RX

Or lots of BIG dots! Roy Lichtenstein style.

 

But how to realize that....

I've done A4 enlargements from a very poor 5x7 print and it looks better than the original. It's all about playing with it in Photoshop and knowing what to do. I think I could've done an accetable A3, however an A1 would be a stretch

A3 is a stretch from the negative, let alone a print. A1 from 35mm, with reasonable quality, is one of those CSI myths (infinite resolution). You could probably get a decent A4 from a print scan, if you didn't look too close, or limited viewing to those with a sentimental involvement with the subject.

A1 is about 36" x 24", right?

 

A 600 dpi scan should give you a 3000x4200 pixel raw file. That's more than 100 pixels per inch which is plenty sharp enough especially at normal viewing distances.

 

The dynamic range of the scan will be the limiting factor in picture quality. The limit is more likely the print than the scanner. But as has been mentioned, you can probably tweak it sufficiently with Photoshop.

Stair Interpolation.

Thanks for the responses guys but as I have said the original is no way gong to be able to go

that big without looking terrible.

 

 

I was hoping someone might be able to tell me how to turn it into newsprint dots....?

<I>A 600 dpi scan should give you a 3000x4200 pixel raw file. That's more than 100 pixels per inch which is plenty sharp enough especially at normal viewing distances.</I><P>

 

Uh . . . no. Unless the 5x7 print is a contact print (i.e., made from a large format, 5x7-inch negative), there's no way it has that much detail to begin with. If it's a standard digital minilab print, very likely it was printed at either 300 or 250 (probably actually 254) ppi. (And no, if the print is from an optical minilab, it is not likely to have much better resolution.) You can't get information that isn't there by using a higher-resolution scan. If the 5x7 is 300 ppi, and you perfectly capture and preserve all of that resolution (a questionable assumption), then going to A1 (about 23x33 inches, right?) will give you 63 ppi.<P>

 

But wait, there's less. Any grain or noise in the print is going to get enlarged too. And the odds of near perfectly capturing even what color is in the print aren't super high; there can be gamut and matching issues too.<P>

 

All that said, I never cease to be amazed by what trash people like, as pictures or otherwise. Pictures that are out of focus, destroyed by direct flash, etc. regularly make it onto displays at people's homes. Just get the costs in advance, because there's no way to promise even decent results.

I have taken thumb nail images and blown them up (not quite the same ratio as you require) and have got some half decent results. It does depend on the original print/scanned quality and your expectations.

 

Using PhotoShop I increase the pixel count using bicubic interpolation in steps of about 10%. After it has doubled in size I look to see if it needs noise reduction and use my Neat Image add-in in Photoshop. I then continue to increase the image size to give about 300 dpi for the print size. I guess that for an A1 print this would be about 200Mb in size. At some stage I would look at contrast to see if some 'sharpening' could be achieved but it will depend on the subject.

 

Good luck.

I just enlarged in PS an 18MB 3000spi Noritsu minilab scan of a

35mm negative to 24x31inches at 200ppi 80MB. Looks fine

zoomed in to where the rulers measure slightly larger than a

ruler held to my 1024x768 rez 19" CRT.

 

I would not do this with a Fuji Frontier scan/print because of its

weird cross hatch sharpening artifacts. And their laser printer

prints actual square pixel dots at 300dpi.

 

The Noritsu prints AND scans look more like the extremely fine

dithered pattern I used to get before when it was an optical

enlarger only the actual image definition is noticeably sharper in

the scan and print.

 

You also need to consider that you'll be viewing such a larger

print farther away which will also allow less image artifacts if any

from becoming noticeable. The Noritsu enlargement looked

even better viewed from my monitor at a distance of 4 feet away

at which most would view a 24x31 inch print.