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Posted on 09/06/14 00:59:16 AM |
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srawland
Pixel Perfectionist Posts: 885 Reply  |
What can be done, if anything
My mother is turning 85 and my aunt will be turning 90 this summer so their children and other assorted relatives are planning a birthday party for them. My sister thought it would be a great idea as a surprise for them to have pictures from when they were teenagers blown up and displayed behind their table. However, the only pictures we have of them when they were young come from a booklet my mother wrote for the Ely Minnesota Historical Society. We can't ask my mother or aunt for the originals because that would spoil the surprise. I told my sister I didn't think the prints are high enough in quality to blow up and that she would probably have to settle for small images on the invitations. But, I said I would post just in case someone does know something that can be done to improve the quality of these images. I have included a low res image. My mother is on the left and my aunt is on the right.  _________________ I'm still learning. |
Posted on 09/06/14 07:46:05 AM |
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Steve Caplin
Administrator Posts: 6934 Reply  |
Re: What can be done, if anything
You can just blow up the prints, of course, but you'll get very much better results if you can get hold of the originals. Is there no way you can get access to your mother's computer for a few minutes to download them? |
Posted on 09/06/14 08:59:22 AM |
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GKB
Magical Montagist Posts: 3878 Reply  |
Re: What can be done, if anything
Sounds like you'll have to organise an extra lunch or two at their favourite restaurant while somebody removes the pics to either scan or photograph them - just like they do in all the best (?) spy films. Being sneaky can be fun at times. 
Gordon _________________ You're never too old to learn something stupid. |
Posted on 09/06/14 3:33:53 PM |
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srawland
Pixel Perfectionist Posts: 885 Reply |
Re: What can be done, if anything
Thank you Steve and Gordon for your quick responses. Both of you have confirmed what I told my sister. I can only hope that your expert opinions will add substance to my assertions on this matter. If it were only so easy to obtain the originals. My mother is 1538 miles (1875 km) away in Des Moines, Iowa and now lives in a senior housing complex. She doesn't need extra care, but at 85 years old, isn't up to taking care of an entire house. Her building is being renovated and she is in the process of being moved into a different apartment. The majority of her belongings are in boxes right now. In addition, she's not very tech savvy. I doubt she has copies of these images on her computer as she typed the original for her booklet on a typewriter. My aunt is in assisted living and I don't think would remember where her photos were even if she had them. Thank again for you help, and I cannot stress enough how helpful you have been. -Sara _________________ I'm still learning. |
Posted on 10/06/14 2:06:59 PM |
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BigVern
Q Quipper Posts: 674 Reply  |
Re: What can be done, if anything
I am wondering if importing the images into Adobe Illustrator and turning them into vector graphics through live trace might work as once they are vector graphics they should be blow-uppable without quality loss. They could then be converted back into jpg images if the printer cannot take vector files. I am sure I remember seeing a tutorial on this once. _________________ "The true story of a real fake" Catch Me If You Can |
Posted on 10/06/14 4:02:10 PM |
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srawland
Pixel Perfectionist Posts: 885 Reply |
Re: What can be done, if anything
Now that is a great idea. I have Illustrator; I just haven't used it in a while. Even if I couldn't get the quality I wanted, I might be able to put a wash on them and do an Andy Warhol like effect with them. The only thing is I just got that particular locomotive derailed and I'm a little hesitant to get it back on track. Thank you for your suggestion. -Sara _________________ I'm still learning. |
Posted on 10/06/14 9:53:51 PM |
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BigVern
Q Quipper Posts: 674 Reply |
Re: What can be done, if anything
You're welcome. I've had a play with the images in illustrator and the results are ok but not great. I have also had a play with a few filters and got some passable results blowing the images up to 24 x 24 inches and 14 x 24 inches both at 240 ppi. The file sizes are large so I can't upload them here so I have put them on photobucket http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r160/BigVernphoto/th_srawland01_24x24_zps5d82d01d.jpg http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r160/BigVernphoto/th_srawland02_14x24_zps589a3be5.jpg You can preview the images there and then download the full size versions from the link on the bottom right of each web page. _________________ "The true story of a real fake" Catch Me If You Can |
Posted on 10/06/14 11:31:21 PM |
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DavidMac
Director of Photoshop Posts: 5336 Reply  |
Re: What can be done, if anything
There are third party plugins for Photoshop that use specialised algorithms for enlargement. I have Perfect Resize 7 (now in version 8 ) from onOne Software. These are not miracle workers. You can't invent information where none exists but mine does a pretty good job of guessing and interpolating. It does an excellent job on some images and a very disappointing one on others. Not sure what parameters dictate this. It's not cheap! But you can download a trial here http://www.ononesoftware.com/products/resize8/ and decide if you feel it is worth it for a special occasion. I bought it for one very specific project but I have used it lots of times since. Obviously my choice is not necessarily the best one.Try googling for other producer's plugins as well. Maybe there's even a decent freebie out there somewhere. Good luck! |
Posted on 10/06/14 11:48:22 PM |
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srawland
Pixel Perfectionist Posts: 885 Reply |
Re: What can be done, if anything
Wow, BigVern, Thank you for getting on this so quickly! They do look a little better. Thanks again, Sara _________________ I'm still learning. |
Posted on 12/06/14 07:03:38 AM |
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DavidMac
Director of Photoshop Posts: 5336 Reply |
Re: What can be done, if anything
Sara I have had a go at these with reasonable success at 200% blowup on the smaller picture. The larger however is much harder. It seems to have been scanned from a newspaper or similar. There is print through of type from the reverse side and a pronounced print screen pattern. I can get rid of some of the print through as it is largely confined to the blue channel but the screen pattern is another matter. The crisper I make the blowup the more pronounced this becomes. I will have a go at de-screening but this usually hits focus which, in this case, is a problem. You say that the images you have posted are low res. Would you be prepared to send me the full res? You can mail them to me at david.macd@me.com. |
Posted on 12/06/14 4:16:23 PM |
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srawland
Pixel Perfectionist Posts: 885 Reply |
Re: What can be done, if anything
Hi David, Thank you for the offer to help. However, other family members have pointed out that my Aunt Maryen has always been a retiring individual and in her declining years (She's going to be 90) she is even more so. It is the consensus that if we have a poster-sized image of her in the room, she will only focus on it rather than paying attention to what is going on around her. What we have decided to do is to create table tents from the images that BigVern fixed, as the family feels images of that size would not cause my Aunt any undo stress. Thank you once again for you offer to help, -Sara _________________ I'm still learning. |
Posted on 12/06/14 6:34:09 PM |
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DavidMac
Director of Photoshop Posts: 5336 Reply |
Re: What can be done, if anything
OK Sara That's fine. I learned a bit in the process of trying anyway. That's always good! 
David Mac |
Posted on 12/06/14 7:33:24 PM |
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srawland
Pixel Perfectionist Posts: 885 Reply |
Re: What can be done, if anything
Thank you for being understanding -Sara _________________ I'm still learning. |
Posted on 08/03/20 7:20:43 PM |
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mariah
* Posts: 11 Reply |
Re: What can be done, if anything
You can adjust tones or add contrast to improve the images. If you try to make the picture larger than I think focus will be lost. |