Digital BW, The Print

--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, "Joost Horsten" <j.h.j.h@...> wrote:
>
> --- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, Tom Baker <tbaker1328@> wrote:
> >
> > If you don't already have it, try downloading Qimage for printing.  It has some really good upsizing options.  You can try it free.  And, if you like it the max amount to pay is about $75.  
> >  
> 
> Does it, wrt to upsizing, a similar job than Genuine Fractals? I did some tests with it some time ago and was pretty impressed with the results. In the end, I didn't purchase as I am hardly doing any large format printing yet.
> 
> It has a free trial option as well.
> 
> Joost
>

Since I did a lot of large (36x48", 48x60", etc) trade show posters at one time, I bought Genuine fractals and did do quite a few posters using it.  It seems to do a decent job on some images, but it tends to give an artificial, overly smooth, processed look.  It did help smooth out jaggies, but I found created new artifacts that were equally (or more) distasteful, as least to me.  I ended up abandoning it.  In fact, for trade show posters and other large images viewed from a distance, I no longer bother upsampling at all.  I ran some comparison tests on a LightJet using Genuine Fractals, Upsampled images, and the original (without resampling).  I found that below about 100 ppi, the image started to fall apart, but above 100 to 125 ppi, they looked great, even without resampling.  Again, this assumes a fairly large image viewed from a number of feet away.  Viewed close up, you will see softness.  

Like Paul mentioned, if it isn't in the original file to begin with, it will be difficult or impossible to manufacture it and still retain quality.  

Lou