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Question: Way to improve picture resolution!?
I want to try my hand at photomanipulation but I don't want to have to worry about licenses and giving credit to models so I wanted to try using myself or friends as a model the only problem is that I have a very basic camera that often doesn't give me good resolution no matter how steady I hold it!. Is there some program or method that I can use to enhance the quality of the picture so that I can see details more clearly!. Preferably a free program!. Www@QuestionHome@Com


Best Answer - Chosen by Asker:
a free program that you could use for this (and many, many other things if you want to get into photo manipulation) is GIMP, which stands for GNU Image Manipulation Program!. feature for feature its almost as good a photoshop, better in some ways i would say!.

to up the pixel resolution of the image you open it in GIMP and go to Image -> Scale Image in the image pane, and adjust the image size Width and Height as desired, changing only the x and y resolution will shrink your image and keep the original size in pixels, causing no change!. then choose the type of interpolation (this is the important part for quality), the dropdown should have Linear, Cubic and Sinc!. Linear is not as good but faster, cubic is better but slower, and Sinc is the best but the slowest!.

photoshop can also do this, and it has more, better options for interpolation, but photoshop is expensive!. if youre seriously into photomanipulation though, i would recommend buying it!. if you have photoshop you can then get plugins like OnOne's Genuine Fractals, which is probably the best up-rezzer ive ever seen!. photoshop and genuine fractals is gonna be running you $1000+ though for both, so that could be a new camera for you like others are saying, so thats your choice!. buying a new camera is definitely a must, but for now id use GIMP and see if this is something you really like doing before shelling out all that cash!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

Not knowing your camera or mega-pixel size, it's really hard to say much other than it sounds like it's a new camera time!.

Nothing beats - pixel density!. However, nothing beats lens and electronics quality too!. There are some mighty cheap 5, 6 and even 8Mp cameras out, all in the Point & Shoot class that are really cheap!.!. The trouble is - quality is the sum of all the parts!.

When you try to enhance a bad image all you do is make a bad image, worse!. From bad to - badder!.!.!

You may want to use what you have, and practice, practice and practice - until you can either get a much better P&S camera or a low end D-SLR (Nikon D-40)!. By then you should have a lot more of the basics down!.

Just work with-in what limits you have until the new camera can come home!.

Bob - Tucson

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Save up for a better camera!. You could also try to use a tripod for difficult light situations to keep your camera 'shake free'!. Another possibility is using a mono pod (A single rod that helps you steady your camera!.

Always take your images at the highest possible resolutions!. You can't add more pixels to an image afterwards without degrading the photograph!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

Holding the camera steady has nothing to do with resolution!.

Resolution is expressed in Megapixels!.

So whatever resolution your camera is, here's all you can do - shoot ALWAYS at the highest possible file size and resolution your camera is capable of!.

And, no, there's no magic bullet free software that will make your images better than they are!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

Nothing will replace the pixel quality of an image than by just using a better camera with higher pixel counts!. Sorry!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

maybe photobucket!.com(free), lunapic!.com(free) corel!.com(not free but very good)Www@QuestionHome@Com