Enlarging an old print (no negative)

[Steven001]

Hi,

I was wondering if it's possible to enlarge an old photograph in order to have it framed as a Christmas gift? Would I just scan it at the highest dpi avaliable, crop it to desired print size and print at 300dpi? I onlu have an average 'home' Epson printer and scanner, would I get better results sending the photo away to an online company?

(The reason I haven't tried yet is I don't have the photo, it's a favour for someone)

Thanks in advance

 

[AJQS]

Depends how good the print is in the first place. If it's a really good wet printed one that's perfectly sharp then you can get a pretty decent enlargement on a home scanner.

 

[Chappers]

Photographic paper inherently has a low resolution ( as it doesn't normally need a high one) . Plus there may be a surface texture on the print itself, which wont help. I've got a fairly inexpensive Epson Printer /Scanner I use primarily for letters and forms, but I have used it to scan prints, which it does remarkably well. However I suspect the limitations are going to be in the print, not just for resolution but also for quality. If the print is 6 x 4 you won't get an 8 x 10 at a similar quality to the 6 x 4. However it's not always the absolute quality that's important, it's often the content.

Best option see what the print is like, and make a sample scan and if you want a sample print. I don't think sending the print to an online company will produce better results . The original is the limiting factor

 

[ChrisR]

I was surprised when I tried this; it wasn't as good as when I scanned negatives, but you don't have that option.

Recently I simply photographed a print that my sister had, using her X20 (12mp). At 100% there was detail there that we had not noticed on the original print. Best way to do this is with a copy stand, failing that a tripod that will let you shoot downwards. I did it handheld and it was fine for the purpose.

[Edited:] Definitely, give it a go! BTW the reason we used a camera rather than scanner was the size of the original print...

 

[4wd]

It could be a bit like looking at a photo with a magnifying glass - which we used to do sometimes - really quite surprising how much extra detail could be seen.
Got to be worth trying, and you could do some photoshopery like clone out any specks or even change colour balance.

 

[Nod]

Best bet would be to give it a go for yourself. Play with a few settings and see how big you can take a print before it gets too soft. You needn't do the test prints of the whole picture, a 6x4 section of the most important part of the shot (e.g. the eyes if it's a portrait) should be enough to make a judgement.

 

[Alastair]

Depends how good the print is in the first place. If it's a really good wet printed one that's perfectly sharp then you can get a pretty decent enlargement on a home scanner.

+1

Have you got any idea of the age of the photo? - I've been amazed at the detail I can get from scanning very small Victorian prints, but a 1970s budget Truprint of a shot taken on budget 110 film might be something else entirely..

 

[Anthony.Ralph]

I scan old prints from time-to-time using an Epson Perfection 3200 and have had some good results. Without exception, the resulting files need spotting and minor blemish removal at least: sometimes significant repair work (why do people use sellotape to fix their pictures in albums ) Invariably the pictures improve with a little sharpening and sometimes a touch of extra contrast. So give it a go... you cannot damage a print by scanning after all.

If the resulting image cannot be enlarged to the size you want satisfactorily, how about using a larger frame and geting a matt cut to show off the image, albeit at a small size? This technique can give the impact of a larger picture, whilst maintaining the quality of a smaller one.

Anthony.