Making Photogragh Pictures Out of Images

[Geraldj]

Someone sent me an image on my computer that I tought would be nice to have a picture (photograph) of. I essentially wanted to display this image in a 8x10 picture frame. It was not copyright protected. When I took the image on a CD to my photo shop, the machine into which I inserted the image indicated that there was not enough resolution (?) to make a 8x10 picture but there was only enough to make a 3x5 picture, which I did. How do I get a 8x10 picture? Is the key to producing a picture the number of pixels in the original image? Is there software to put additional pixels in an image so it can be reproduced in a larger size? How can a do it yourselfer solve this problem? Any assistance is appreciated.

[cecilc]

How do I get a 8x10 picture? Is the key to producing a picture the number of pixels in the original image? Is there software to put additional pixels in an image so it can be reproduced in a larger size?

Most of theses machines that print out enlargements do so at about 250 or 300 ppi (and the on-line labs I deal with insist that the image be at least 300 ppi) - so if you want an 8x10 image, you need a resolution in your digital image that's 2000x2500 pixels (for a 250 ppi print). For an 8x10 at 300 ppi, you'd need a digital image that's 2400x3000 pixels. And you can look at your digital image and find out the pixel depth in that image .....

If you've got a digital image that prints at 3x5 at 300 ppi, most likely that image is 900x1500 pixels - a little short on pixels to print at 8x10.

The process of "enlarging" that digital image for an 8x10 print is called interpolation - and there are several programs that can do that. Photoshop can do it; Genuine Fractals can do it (and probably as good as or better than Photoshop).

But, yes, the more pixels you have in your original digital image, the more leeway you have in the size print that you can get out of it.

Hope that helps ....

[Geraldj]

Thanks. So if I get the software you note, I will be able to get the same image quality for a 8x10 that I currently have on my 3x5? Am I understanding you correctly?


Also, how can I detemine how many pixels are in an image I receive? I am new at this so please be as explicit as you can and thanks again.
Can I assume ppi is pixels per inch?

[cecilc]

Thanks. So if I get the software you note, I will be able to get the same image quality for a 8x10 that I currently have on my 3x5? Am I understanding you correctly? Also, how can I detemine how many pixels are in an image I receive? I am new at this so please be as explicit as you can and thanks again. Can I assume ppi is pixels per inch?

Yes ... ppi is pixels per inch.

If you see an image in your e-mail or on-line somewhere, you can right click on that image and choose "Properties" and the height and width in pixels should be part of the information you see.

You know, I'd like to say "Yes", you will get an 8x10 image that is the same quality as your 3x5 image - but in all good conscience I can't do that to you. Theoretically the image should be as good, but in my experience it takes a very good image to be interpolated up and not lose some image quality.

[OceanRider]

so each time you crop, you are loosing pixels and hence loosing potential for future blow ups? Is this correct?

So taking the time and "cropping" with the lense is worth doing if blow ups are ur game? do you really need an original that big?? >>>>For an 8x10 at 300 ppi, you'd need a digital image that's 2400x3000 pixel<<<

My 20 D takes 3504 X 2236 in Large/fine I wonder how big can this go...11X14?

[LisaMarie]

Also, how can I detemine how many pixels are in an image I receive? I am new at this so please be as explicit as you can and thanks again.
Can I assume ppi is pixels per inch?

View The EXIF data to see the specs.

[Jon]

When you say "It was not copyright protected", do you mean that it didn't have an explicit copyright notice on it, or that it had been explicitly released into the public domain? Copyright exists in any creative work unless explicitly waived. If the web site had a copyright notice, that would have covered everything on the site including the picture. If they stole the picture from someone else, that doesn't remove it from copyright; it just means that they're setting themselves up for a copyright ifringement claim. Your best option would be to contact the photographer about getting a print made from the original.

[LisaMarie]

I also agree with Jon. Best to contact the original person than to go manipualting their work- unless they authorized noted release to the public for use and or manipulation. Some people only put certain size/res out for that very purpose- so people will not be able to get much out of reproducing the image.

[epeace]

you might also want to note that almost all images (jpg and gif anywa) shared on the web are at 72 DPI (ppi) . . . not 300 DPI (the minimum for print) . . . so if you have an image that is 640x480 . . the machine will say you can print 6x4 . . but the quality will probably not be that great . . but with a 6x4 photograph most people cant tell the difference at first glance . . .

Now to enlarge your image you could use photoshop although i wouldnt recommend it if quality is of utmost importance to you (and you have access to better software) . . .

The software I use is made by Extensis and is called Pixl SmartScale . . . with this software you can enlarge an image to 1600 % with no discernable degredation in print quality . . you can go greater than that but i believe thats when you start seeing artifacts of the digital manipulation . .

to answer your question about viewing the dimensions of the image (and dpi) do the following:
in windows: right click the image and click "properties" . . then click on the summary tab in the resulting window
in mac: click the file then hit apple+i the information page will come up