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Step Enlarge Images for Better Results

Getting Started

What I do to get started is to make an action that will increase the size of my image by 5%-10% every time I run it then run the action until i reach my target size and then crop/scale the image back down exactly how I want to. Usually i will also sharpen the image with High Pass or Unsharp Mask.

Record the Action

Go the the actions panel in Photoshop (its under the window menu) and make a new action by clicking the button and the bottom of the panel. When a new action is made it automatically starts recording anything we do from here on out will be recorded at part of our action.

Now we need to enlarge the image by 10%

Notice I selected “Bi-Cubic Smoother” from the Resample Image menu. This will smooth out the blocks of color that sometimes happen when you enlarge an image.

Now click OK and stop recording your action by hitting the stop button at the bottom of the actions panel.

Run your Action

click the play button, again at the bottom of the actions panel to run the action. This will enlarge your image by 10% . Keep doing this until your image is a little over where you wanted it.

when you are done run image size again and re-size the image to the exact size you need.

Check your Results

Print out a sample of your image and compare it against simply resizing the image all at once. You should be able to see sharper lines and crisper edges. Sharpen the image using your favorite method and continue on.

Results

I’ve been able to use this method to enlarge my own 6 megapixel photos up to about 90 inches tall. The results were still very clean and hard to notice especially if you run noise reduction first and a sharpening after the enlargement.

Tags: application design, Learning Outcomes