Photographers are in a constant race for image quality: maximum clarity, detail, and sharpness. It’s very difficult to keep your finger on the pulse, but we’ll help you with that. In this article, step-by-step we can try to explain how to quickly and easily increase the resolution of the image in a photo editor and compares several popular options that exist today to improve picture quality.
If you don’t want to stop there, be sure to learn the basics of photography further. You can check out how to make a photo larger on Skylum`s blog. Believe me, it will be useful!
So, let`s start!
Let`s speak about the resolution
In photography, resolution reflects the level of detail in an image, which is determined by factors such as focus accuracy, lens quality, and the number of pixels in the camera sensor. If the picture is to be printed, other factors – image size, print quality, etc. – also come into play. At the same time, however, resolution can also refer to more specific aspects such as lens resolution, the number of pixels per inch in the printed version, and the total number of pixels in the digital image.
Photographers generally refer to an increase in image resolution as an increase in the number of pixels, such as turning a 200×200 photo into a 1000×1000 pixel photo.
Of course, simply adding pixels is not enough if it does not improve the visual quality of the photo. Unfortunately, getting a good picture from a low-resolution original is not simple, but not impossible. You’ll have unbelievable results if you do it right. How to do it right?
Increasing the resolution in Photoshop and other photo editors
Most basic post-processing programs allow you to increase the number of pixels in an image. The difficulty, however, is getting any meaningful detail (or illusion). Depending on the software, at best the picture will just look out of focus, but without any conspicuous pixels. But that’s not the result you want, is it?
But this does not mean that the situation is hopeless. To help increase the resolution of the image (in this case, the number of pixels) in post-processing comes with upsampling. As a consequence, the clarity and quality of the images are improved.
How to do it in Photoshop
If you can’t call yourself a guru of this program yet, don’t feel bad. In Photoshop, this is done very quickly and easily. After that, you can also sharpen the photo slightly, depending on the particular image.
This is what the process looks like in Photoshop CC (Hint: if you have Photoshop CC, choose to Preserve Details 2.0.):
- Head to Image> Image Size;
- Enter the desired dimensions in pixels;
- Choose the upsampling method.
And in the last, you need to select the desired width, and height and use the resampling algorithm. See how easy it is? And then we’ll deal with the alternative methods.
Using specialized software for upsampling
The most popular editor for working with image resolution (besides Photoshop) is called Genuine Fractals. Later it was renamed Perfect Resize, and now it is ON1 Resize.
The fact that it is standalone software doesn’t mean it’s the best. As you’ll see in the comparison below, Photoshop CC’s Preserve Details 2.0 algorithm is noticeably superior to ON1 Resize. However, if you don’t have Photoshop CC, you can try some of these specialized image resizing software.
GIMP
GIMP is a great alternative to Photoshop, mainly because the product is free and has more tools. GIMP’s landscape shot is a little better than trying to smooth it out in Photoshop, but the illustration has more uneven edges. But overall it’s a pretty good result. If you are a beginner, don’t be afraid to try this app and you will be surprised by how good it is.
In addition, a good option is GIMP, a free open-source photo editing software, which is one of the most popular alternatives, and not just for upsampling. Also, don’t forget about free online photo editors. In GIMP you should go to Image > Scale Image and enjoy!
Photo Enlarger
One of the most popular options for online services to increase photo resolution is Photo Enlarger. Well, it’s capable of showing great results. Many experts prefer to use it In general, it has many additional features that will be useful for both newcomers and professionals.
Closing Thoughts
Now you know how to increase the photo resolution. This is a very useful skill that will enable you to create real photographic masterpieces. But don’t stop there! You can read a lot of interesting things, for example, about how to make a photo larger on Skylum`s blog.
