Interpolation

[L Pagan]

what exactly is interpolation and do i need it..i have downloaded this from a web site (dont remember where)its for adobe elements and its called (Actions 10D Interpolation) when i double click on it, all it does is open adobe elements..i dont see or notice anything different..do i need to use this , will this help me with my 10D..or just deleted and forget about ..
please help

thanks in advance
luis

[robertwgross]

If you had a string of numbers:
1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11

... and then you wanted to "stretch" the string to see finer points, then you could interpolate data, or guess at the data points in between. You would likely get:
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11

You would not really know for sure that the guess was accurate, but it would be damned close.

With image data, if you see four pixels with colors of red, red, red, and red, then interpolation would suggest that if you needed to add pixels in between, then they would also be red.

So, some photographers get an image with 6 Megapixels of image data, and they might need to print on something really large, so they might interpolate the 6 Megapixels and try to get 24 Megapixels. The interpolation function has to guess the new pixels in between the real ones.

The 24 Megapixel image would scale on the screen and look identical to the 6 Megapixel image.

---Bob Gross---

[maderito]

Bob -
Nice explanation of interpolation.

L Pagan
Photoshop Elements doesn't support actions (as far as I know).

Actions are scripts to automate 2 or more Photoshop image editing steps. An interpolation action would be used to implement a specific method of upsizing images - undoubtedly with a claim that loss of detail is minimized.

Keep the actions if you plan to upgrade to Photoshop CS.