To this day, there are still graphic rules that should not be broken.  For example, resizing a 100px wide web photo to fit a 2 foot wide printed space.  Talk about jagged edges.

We all have had the client that pushes for a photo that they only have a low res version of, and with enough kicking and screaming their once beautiful website or brochure now has an ugly pixelated image right smack dab in the middle of it all.

So how do we tackle this issue without breaking the golden blowup rule?  We BEND the rule a tad.

Using Photoshop alone may work, but for those special cases, you need to bring out the big guns.  I’m talking about “Genuine Fractals“.  Whenever you absolutely need to blowup an image past it’s original capacity and keep it as sharp as possible, accept no substitutes.  This snazzy Photoshop plugin will run you $300, but is well worth the price.

Check out these side by sides to see Genuine Factals vs Photoshop alone!

Up close you will still see some impurities, but if you’re making a billboard, then who is going to be up close anyway?  So keep this in mind.  When all else fails try Genuine Fractals.  I’ve been using it for about 4 years now and it seldom lets me down.  When I do get let down, it’s usually because I’m trying to blow up an image that is waaaay to small.

Good luck fellow designers!

This entry was posted on Thursday, May 21st, 2009 at 2:05 pm and is filed under News Articles. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.