How to Make Photos Bigger With Minimal Loss in Quality

.icon-envelope{stroke: #FFF;}
.st0{fill:#6FD5F2;}
.st1{fill:#FFFFFF;}

HOW TO › SOFTWARE

Increasing Image Resolution

Make your photos bigger with minimal loss in quality

Share
Share Pin
Pin Email
Email PRINT
Print

Hero Images / Getty Images

by Sue Chastain

Updated November 23, 2018

One of the most commonly asked questions in relation to graphics software is how to increase the size

https://www.lifewire.com/increasing-image-resolution-1700422[11/03/2019 07:48:05]
How to Make Photos Bigger With Minimal Loss in Quality

of an image without getting blurred and jagged edges. New users are often surprised when they resize
an image and find that the quality is severely degraded. Experienced users are all too familiar with the
problem.

The reason for the degradation is because bitmapped or

raster image types are limited by their pixel resolution.
When you attempt to resize these types of images, your
software either has to increase the size of each
individual pixel (resulting in a jagged image) or it has to
"guess" at the best way to add pixels to the image to
make it larger.

Not long
ago, there
weren't
many
options for
increasing
resolution
other than
using your
editing
software's
built-in
resampling methods. Today, we are faced with more possibilities than ever. Of course, it's always best
to capture the resolution you need right from the beginning. If you have the option to rescan an image
at a higher resolution, by all means, you should do that before resorting to software solutions. And if
you have the money to put into a camera capable of higher resolutions, you might find that money is
better spent than if you were to put it into a software solution.

Having said that, there are often times when you may have no other choice than to resort to software.

Resizing vs. Resampling

Most software only has one command for both resizing and resampling. Resizing an image involves
changing the print dimensions without changing the total pixel dimensions. As the resolution is
increased, the print size becomes smaller, and vice versa. When you increase resolution without
changing pixel dimensions, there is no loss in quality, but you must sacrifice print size.

Resizing an image using resampling, however, involves changing the pixel dimensions and will always
introduce a loss in quality. That's because resampling uses a process called interpolation for

https://www.lifewire.com/increasing-image-resolution-1700422[11/03/2019 07:48:05]
How to Make Photos Bigger With Minimal Loss in Quality

increasing the size of an image. The interpolation process estimates the values of the pixels the
software needs to create based on the existing pixels in the image. Resampling via interpolation
results in serious blurring of the resized image, especially in areas where there are sharp lines and
distinct changes in color.

Another aspect of this issue is the rise of the

smartphone, the tablet, and the corresponding focus on
the device pixel. These devices contain two to three
pixels in the same space occupied by one pixel on your
computer screen. Moving an image from your computer
to a device requires you to create multiple versions of the
same image (eg 1X,2X and 3X) to ensure they display
correctly on the device. Does one increase the size of
the image or increase the number of pixels?

Common Interpolation Methods

Photo editing software generally offers a few different interpolation methods for calculating new pixels
when an image us upsampled. Here are descriptions of the three methods available in Photoshop. If
you don't use Photoshop, your software probably offers similar options although they may use slightly
different terminology.

Bicubic is the slowest but produces the best

estimation of new pixel values.

Bilinear is faster than bicubic but does a poorer job.

Both bicubic and bilinear interpolation result in a
blurred image, especially when upsampling.

Nearest Neighbor doesn't use interpolation. It simply

takes the value of the neighboring pixels and adds
new pixels without averaging them. This is when you
get the jaggies or stair-step effect.

Note that there are more than just these three methods
of interpolation and even using the same method in different software may produce different results.
Photoshop offers the best bicubic interpolation of any other software that we have compared.

Other Interpolation Methods

A few other image enhancement programs offer other resampling algorithms that claim to do a better

https://www.lifewire.com/increasing-image-resolution-1700422[11/03/2019 07:48:05]
How to Make Photos Bigger With Minimal Loss in Quality

job even than Photoshop's bicubic method. Some of these are Lanczos, B-spline, and Mitchell. A few
programs that offer these alternate resampling methods are Qimage Pro, IrfanView (a free image
browser), and Photo Cleaner.

If your software offers one of these resampling

algorithms or another one not mentioned here, you
should certainly experiment with them to see which one
gives you the best results. You may even find that
different interpolation methods produce better results
depending on the image used.

Stair Interpolation
Some folks have discovered that you can get better
results when upsampling by increasing the image size in
several small increments rather than one extreme step. This technique is referred to as stair
interpolation. One advantage to using stair interpolation is that it will work on 16-bit mode images and
it requires no additional software other than a standard photo editor, such as Photoshop.

The concept of stair interpolation is simple: Rather than using the image size command to go directly
from 100% to 400%, you would use the image size command and only increase, say, 110%. Then you
would repeat the command as many times as it takes to get to the size you need. Obviously, this can
be tedious if your software does not have some automation capability.

If you use Photoshop 5.0 or higher, you can purchase Fred Miranda's stair interpolation action for $15
US. You'll also find more information and image comparisons. Since this article was originally written,
new resampling algorithms and software technologies have been developed which make stair
interpolation essentially obsolete.

Genuine Fractals
LizardTech's Genuine Fractals software (formerly from Altamira Group) attempts to break through
image resolution limitations with its award-winning resolution-on-demand technology. Genuine
Fractals is available for Windows and Macintosh. It operates as a plug-in to Photoshop and other
Photoshop plug-in compatible image editors. With it, you can encode low to medium resolution files to
a scalable, resolution-free format called STiNG (*.stn). These STN files can then be opened at any
resolution you choose.

Until recently, this technology was your best bet for increasing resolution. Today, cameras and
scanners have gotten better and come down in price, and the investment in Genuine Fractals is not as

https://www.lifewire.com/increasing-image-resolution-1700422[11/03/2019 07:48:05]
How to Make Photos Bigger With Minimal Loss in Quality

easily justified as it once was. If you have the option of putting your money into better hardware rather
than software solutions, it's usually the better way to go. Still, for extreme upsampling, Genuine
Fractals is pretty amazing. It also offers other benefits such as smaller encoded files for archival and
storage.

Alien Skin Blow Up

Although Genuine Fractals was the early leader in upscaling technology, Alien Skin's Blow Up plugin
for Photoshop is worth a look if extreme enlargements are something you require. Blow Up supports
most image modes, including high bit-depth images. It has the ability to resize layered images without
flattening, and options to resize in place, or as a new image.

Blow Up uses a specialized sharpening method and simulated film grain to improve the appearance of
extreme enlargements.

The Bottom Line

When evaluating these methods for increasing resolution on your own, try to avoid getting caught up
with how the images look on-screen. Your printer capabilities are going to play a big factor in the final
results. Some comparisons may appear distinctly different on screen, but barely discernible when
printed. Always make your final judgment based on the printed results.

What Resolution Is
The Effects of Best for Photo
Interpolation in Printing?
Digital Photography Here Are Tips on How
to Resize Multiple

https://www.lifewire.com/increasing-image-resolution-1700422[11/03/2019 07:48:05]
How to Make Photos Bigger With Minimal Loss in Quality

Files in Photoshop
Elements

Make a Photo Fit for

Faxing By Converting
Greyscale to a Dot Settings That Will
Pattern Help You Get the
Best Quality Photo
When You Need to
Change the Print Size
of a Digital Photo

How to Reduce
Photos to Use Online

How to Make Text

Bigger on the iPad

https://www.lifewire.com/increasing-image-resolution-1700422[11/03/2019 07:48:05]
How to Make Photos Bigger With Minimal Loss in Quality

Effective Versus How to Use Batch

V
Actual Pixels: Processing to Resize
How Many Pixels Do I W
Understand the Multiple Images with
Need for Sharing K
Difference XnView
Photos Online?

Get the Most From Your Tech HOW TO About Us

With Our Daily Tips
FIX Advertise
Enter Your Email Sign up
SIGN UP
Privacy Policy
BUY

https://www.lifewire.com/increasing-image-resolution-1700422[11/03/2019 07:48:05]
How to Make Photos Bigger With Minimal Loss in Quality

Follow Us Cookie Policy

DO MORE
Facebook Careers

Lifewire is part of the Dotdash publishing family. Editorial

Guidelines
The Balance | ThoughtCo | The Spruce | TripSavvy and more
Contact

Terms of Use

https://www.lifewire.com/increasing-image-resolution-1700422[11/03/2019 07:48:05]