How To Enlarge a Low Resolution Image for Print, Another Way!

Has there ever been a time when you had a low resolution image you want to print?  Maybe it is a screenshot of something or an image where the quality just wasn't there?  In this tutorial I'll show you one way you can modify an image and enlarge it to be printed as an 8x12.  It only takes a few minutes and a couple of steps.

Video Summary

This particular image was at a resolution of 72 ppi and approximately 5.5" x  8.3".  The goal was to modify this image so it could be printed as an 8x10.   When preparing images for print, it’s important to keep in mind that your file resolution should be a minimum of 240 ppi to get a high quality print.  In this case I wanted to use 300 ppi.  I’ll show you how you can easily upscale an image using Photoshop. 

Step 1

Open your image, then go to the ‘Image’ menu and select Image Size.

Step 2

In the ‘Width’ and ‘Height’ boxes, input the size you would like your image to be.  In this case, I used 8” x 12”. 

Step 3

Look at the resolution box next.  It’s likely you will see something around 72 Pixels/Inch.  Change that to be 300 Pixels/Inch.

Step 4

Next, make sure the box next to ‘Resample’ is checked.  Select ‘Preserve Details (enlargement)’ from the pull down menu.

Step 5

Use the ‘Reduce Noise’ slider if you feel your image needs noise reduction.

Step 6

Click ‘OK’.

Your Finished!  Print it out and see how it looks!

If you have any questions, please leave a comment below!  Be sure to check out the rest of my YouTube Channel and website!  

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How to Make a Bad Image Look Awesome

How many times have you looked at an image you took and thought it was no good?  By capturing your photos in RAW format, it is possible to recover your photo using Adobe Lightroom and turn it into something awesome. 

At first glance, I figured this file was no good.  I started playing with it just to see what I could get out of it.  It’s not as hard as you might think to bring back images that appear to be no good.  I think the results that came out of this photo are great. 

Remember that your camera can’t always capture what you envision in your mind when you take the photograph.  The post processing you can do to an image plays a big part in the creative process and helps your image to reach the potential you have pictured in your mind. 

If you have any questions, please leave a comment below!  Be sure to check out the rest of my YouTube channel. 

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Thanks for watching!

Retouching Eyes - Part 3

This is Part 3 in a series of eye retouching tutorials. Using Photoshop, I'll show you another technique that can be used to enhance eyes in a photograph. For Retouching Eyes - Part 1 click HERE and for Part 2 click HERE.  If you have any questions please leave a comment below.  If you enjoy my youtube videos, consider subscribing.  Thank you!

Retouching Eyes - Part 1

In this tutorial series I’ll show you several techniques that can be used to retouch and enhance the eyes in a photograph.  In part one you will see a quick way using Adobe Lightroom to make the eyes in your photos ‘pop’ and draw the viewers attention to them.  Using simple techniques,   it is easy to take your images to the next level.  Enjoy!

Before/After - Dandelion in a Bubble

In this tutorial I’ll show you my post processing workflow for this dandelion in a bubble image.   I used Adobe Lightroom and Perfect Effects 8 for the post processing of this image.  In my opinion Perfect Effects is a great tool to use in combination with Lightroom. 

The image was taken with my Canon 60D using the 18-135 f3.5-5.6 IS lens at 120mm.  Camera settings in manual mode were, 1/250 sec at f8.0, ISO 400.  It was a cloudy overcast morning which created a nice diffuse light.

Step 1

Bring the image into Adobe Lightroom.

Step 2

Step 2 - Basic Panel Settings In Lightroom

Make some global adjustments in Lightroom.  Here I adjusted the exposure, highlights, shadows, whites and blacks.  I did not modify the contrast because I knew I wanted to use the dynamic contrast filter in Perfect Effects.  With these adjustments complete, I brought the image over into Perfect Effects by going to File – Plug-in Extras – Perfect Effects 8.

Step 3

Step 3 - Dynamic Contrast settings in Perfect Effects

Once the image is in Perfect Effects I started adding Filter Layers.  First, I added a Dynamic Contrast - Natural layer.  Under the Filter Options and Detail, I adjusted the settings as follows: Small = 30, Medium = 20, Large = 0.

Step 4

Add a new layer to the Filter Stack.  Choose Color Enhancer – Green Enhancer.  Using the mask tool, place a mask on top of the yellow dandelion so the effect is not applied to the flower.  The green is now a little to much, so reduce the layer opacity to 50%.

Step 5

Add a new layer to the Filter Stack.  Choose Sunshine – Glow.  Reduce the layer opacity to 20%.  Copy the layer mask from the previous ‘Color Enhancer’  layer by using Ctrl + click to drag the mask to the current layer. 

Step 6

Add a new layer to the Filter Stack.  Choose Sharpening – Amazing Detail Finder.      Using the masking bush, mask out the background and foreground of the image.  To see where you are masking, press Ctrl + M.  Since these areas are out of focus to begin with, they do not need to be sharpened. 

Step 7

Add a new layer to the Filter Stack.  Choose Vignette – Big Softy.  Reduce the layer opacity to 65%.

Step 8

Click Apply to apply the filters and bring the image back into Lightroom.

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Final Image

How to Enlarge a Low-Res Image for Print

Has there ever been a time when you had a low resolution image you want to print?  Maybe a screenshot of something or an image where the quality just wasn't there?  In this tutorial I'll show you one way you can modify an image and enlarge it to be printed as an 8x10.  It only takes a few minutes and a couple of steps.  One quick note, I did not create the original image used in this tutorial - I'm not sure who did, but I have seen the image used in various places on the web.

Video Summary

This particular image was at a resolution of 72 ppi and approximately 5.5" x 6.5".  Our goal was to modify this image so it could be printed as an 8x10.   When preparing images for print, it’s important to keep in mind that your file resolution should be a minimum of 240 ppi to get a high quality print.  In this case I wanted to use 300 ppi. 

Step 1

Open image.  Unlock background layer by double clicking on the LOCK icon on the layer.  Resize the image by going to Image >Image Size. Then change the resolution to 300.  Click OK

Step 2

Change canvas size to 8x10 by going to Image > Canvas Size.  Use 8 for the width and 10 for the height.  Click OK.

Step 3

Using Free Transform (cmd + T), resize the image so it is as large as it can be without cutting off any of the edges.  Notice we have a small area on the bottom and side that we will need to fill in.

Step 4

Extract the text.  Select the Magic Wand tool.  Change sample size to 3 by 3, and tolarance to 12.  Select a black portion of the text.  Right click and select ‘Similar’.  If there are more pixels to be selected within the text, select Similar again.  Right click in the selection and select Make Work Path.  For the tolerance, use 2.0.  The text and graphics will be extracted as a path and can be found in the Paths panel.

Step 5

Blur the background layer to remove pixilation.  Go to Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur.  Adjust the blur to your liking.  I used a 4 pixel blur.

Step 6

Fill in the missing areas on the bottom and right hand side.  Use the Marquee tool to select the blank areas.  Be sure to overlap the surrounding pixels so Photoshop knows what to fill the area in with.  After making the selection press Shift + Delete to bring up the Fill dialog box.  Choose Content-Aware and click OK.  Blend further if necessary.

Step 7

Add text back on top of image.  Create a new blank layer labeled Text.  Go into the Paths panel and highlight the work path that was created.  Right click and select Fill Path.  Use Black as the color for fill.

Step 8

Add stroke around text.  First setup your brush settings – use a hard edge brush and a width of 8 pixels in this case. Right click on the text Path again and select Stroke.  Use the Brush as the tool to stroke the path with.

Step 9

Increase Contrast.  Create a new curves adjustment layer.  Select preset called ‘Medium Contrast’. 

Step 10

Combine all layers and Sharpen.  Combine all layers using Shift + Option + CMD + E.  To sharpen the image go to Filter > Sharpen > Smart Sharpen.  Use an amount of 200 and leave the rest of the settings as they are.  You’re Done!

Step 11

Send out for print, the image is complete!  The image is now 8x10 with a resolution of 300 ppi and will make a great print.

Thank you for watching! 

Adobe Photoshop CC - Custom Trees using Pattern Fill

Adobe Photoshop CC has a way to create a wide variety of 3D trees and shrubs that can be inserted into your images!  This is an awesome new feature that is customizable and easy to use.  As a Landscape Architect, I frequently use Photoshop as a visualization tool to help clients see the potential of their outdoor space.  I have found that many clients cannot fully understand a design simply by looking at an overhead plan view of their site.  Great photographs of the existing site combined with Photoshop compositing really help to get the design idea and intent across to clients.

Accessing and using the custom 3D trees in Photoshop is simple.  First, open the image you will be working on.  Next, create a new blank layer above the background layer.  Make the new blank layer active.  To add a new 3D tree onto our blank layer we need to ‘Fill’ the layer by pressing Shift + Delete.  There are several options here on how we can Fill the layer.  In the Fill dialog box, under the Contents section, choose ‘Pattern’.  The Blending section can remain as is.  Toggle on (check mark) ‘Scripted Pattern’.  Then click the drop down menu next to the word ‘Scripts’, select Tree.

The ‘Tree Pattern’ dialog box will now appear and gives you various ways the tree can be can customized.  From changing the direction of the light so shadows match the image to reducing or removing the leaves on the tree, this dialog box is where you would make those changes.  When you have made the necessary changes, click ‘OK’.

The tree will then be rendered and placed on your blank layer.  From this point the tree can be scaled and moved around the image.  It’s important to make sure the tree is placed on it’s own layer so you have the option to change the size and positioning of it later on if you need to. 

While I think it’s still necessary to have a large library of plant material images for anything your composite might need, this feature in Adobe Photoshop CC is really great and will help speed up the time it takes to make composite landscape images.