*** From the Archives ***

This article is from October 15, 2004, and is no longer current.

Photoshop Tips: Increasing Image Resolution to Make Large Prints

This story is taken from “50 Fast Photoshop CS Techniques.”

To buy this book, click here.


Thanks to advances in digital camera technology, it’s easier than ever to take great-looking images. And thanks to improvements in Adobe Photoshop CS, it’s easier than ever make those images look good on screen.
But what about making large-size prints from those images? Is that easier, too? Well yes, it is.
For years the conventional wisdom has been to never upsample — increase the resolution of — an image. That conventional wisdom is being challenged by new techniques and better software.
In this excerpt from “50 Fast Photoshop CS Techniques,” you’ll see how to increase the resolution of an image so that it looks good when printed at a large size.

We’ve posted this excerpt as a PDF file. All you do is click the link “Increasing Image Resolution to Make Large Prints” to open the PDF file in your Web browser. You can also download the PDF to your machine for later viewing.
To open the PDF, you’ll need a full version of Adobe Acrobat (5 or higher) or the free Adobe Reader.
To learn how to configure your browser for viewing PDF files, see the Adobe Reader tech support page.
Excerpted from “50 Fast Photoshop CS Techniques” by Gregory Georges. Copyright © 2004 Wiley Publishing. All rights reserved. Reproduced here by permission of the publisher.
 

  • anonymous says:

    Rather disappointed with this article. Essentially it’s four, wordy pages that make only one simple point: Use Photoshop’s “bicubic smoother” algorithm to scale up an image.

  • anonymous says:

    The general method will work somewhat for many images but will never give you the best results. For an amature photographer it may be OK but not sutable for saleable work. Qimage sharpening seems to work better most of the time. It sharpens just prior to printing to the native resolution of the printer. View the image at full size on screen for final sharpening and viewing. Much depends on the subject matter.

  • anonymous says:

    While its true that Photoshop’s algorithms have gotten better, there is one helpful hint that would have made the authors article stronger.
    I learned at the recent photoshop world orlando, that increasing the image in 110% increments yields the best up-sampling results. For some reason 110% is the “golden number” when taking advantage of photoshops new algorithms. We’ve tried this and have found it to give good results ourselves. (For example, if I want up-sample an image 300%, I’d up-sample it three times in 110% increments, giving me a total up-sampling of 320%, but yielding better results than doing a straight 300% up-sampling) Also, According Vincent Versacae, he recommends you try both the bicubic smoother AND the bicubic sharper selection. While adobe recommends the bicubic smoother, it makes more logical sense to want to sharpen any image you up-sample. He says to try both and make your own decision on the matter.

  • anonymous says:

    This is waste of time to read his article. Who doesn’t know how to upsize files in CS? The author is trying to lead you into his publication.
    I print large prints from small files everyday. I even enlarge a file right off the internet from a 5″x7″ 150 dpi to 48″x60″ at 200 dpi (after cropping) to frame and hanging up in the middle of my livingroom. By using just PS CS2 is NOT enough, trust me. I own and have tested Photoshop CS2, Practals Pro 4.1, SizeFixer SLR and PhotoZoom Pro 2.1.10 and I found PhotoZoom Pro is the most acceptable to upsample photo files.

    All the above software that I own are not cheap for most people. There is another way that you may try to help out the quality of your upszing is to convert you original file to PDF file before doing any editing or upsizing. PDF file seems to hold way better quality than try to work from JPG file when you try to upsize the file. Give it a try. You have nothing to lose. You may contact me at [email protected] if you want samples (send a file along) or info. I don’t charge.

    Good luck and have fun!

  • anonymous says:

    As a college adult continuing education instructor who teaches image editing, I advise most readers here to be appreciative of the gift they have to comprehend the powers of Photoshop and image editing far beyond the scope of the average digital photography shooters. In other words, exercise your style, class and maturity and be charitable towards those less gifted than you.

    Georges’ article is for those people who are frustrated when they see the disparity of image transmitted on their computer monitor versus that which is translated by reflective paper surface. He provides a first option solution. Of course, as WE know, there are many more, enhanced options to improved image resizing and improvement. Let the amateurs start with Georges and then, if so inclined, progress on their own to a higher Photoshop level. Hey! This is America, home of the Capitalist entrepreneur; so let Georges market his book.

  • arulprakash says:

    how to increase resolutions in photoshop 7

  • Anonymous says:

    I need Photoshop free

  • Anonymous says:

    Page 282 of the PDF from the above link (Increasing Image Resolution to Make Large Prints) is blank…

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