TELL ME THIS ..PLEASE!

I've seen a few notes about a program called Genuine Fractals, which is supposed to add resolution to low res. pictures and enable printing at large sizes. I print at 8X10 and 11X14 with my 3.3 p. shots but sometimes I need to enlarge pictures from scans to these dimensions. I do not own Photoshop and have no intentions of doing so. If this is a plug in for Photoshop I can't use it. I do most of my work from PhotoDeluxe 3. Is Genuine Fractals the program I've been longing for,or not? Thanks, Dav.

Genuine Fractals will bump up your resolution on your lower res digital pictures
so you can print them larger and you don't get the jaggies.

Why don't you just get a copy of Photoshop 5.0 LE? I'll have one for sale for $50,
unused...

PhotoDeluxe is based on Photoshop, and imho a big pain in the butt to use in all
but the most uncomplicated things. Get with the real thing.

If you won't move up, then you can't use GF.

Dav said:

I've seen a few notes about a program called Genuine Fractals, which is
supposed to add resolution to low res. pictures and enable printing at
large sizes. I print at 8X10 and 11X14 with my 3.3 p. shots but
sometimes I need to enlarge pictures from scans to these dimensions.
I do not own Photoshop and have no intentions of doing so. If this is a
plug in for Photoshop I can't use it. I do most of my work from
PhotoDeluxe 3. Is Genuine Fractals the program I've been longing
for,or not? Thanks, Dav.

Click to expand...

Hi Dav:

You need Photoshop to use GF.

GF works very well, but it is not the only game in town.

You can decide for yourself if GF is worth using. I have some interpolation examples comparing bicubic, Lanczos, and Fractalization. Just follow the link below.

http://members3.clubphoto.com/joe243826/

To give you a little background, the bicubic is via Photoshop, Lanczos via Q-Image Pro, and Fractalization via GF. I prefer to use Lanczos with just a tad of sharpening; this algorithm (and many others) is included with the Q-Image Pro software.

I must inform you that MANY very sharp individuals swear by GF. Also, MANY sharp individuals believe looking at images on your monitor is not the best way to compare interpolation algorithms; they suggest looking at prints is the best way to compare algorithms.

I hope this helps you out. Good luck with your decision.

Sincerely,

Joe Kurkjian

Dav said:

I've seen a few notes about a program called Genuine Fractals, which is
supposed to add resolution to low res. pictures and enable printing at
large sizes. I print at 8X10 and 11X14 with my 3.3 p. shots but
sometimes I need to enlarge pictures from scans to these dimensions.
I do not own Photoshop and have no intentions of doing so. If this is a
plug in for Photoshop I can't use it. I do most of my work from
PhotoDeluxe 3. Is Genuine Fractals the program I've been longing
for,or not? Thanks, Dav.

Click to expand...

Just to clarify a few things...

PhotoShop is not required to use Genuine Fractals. GF is a PhotoShop PLUGIN, and therefore can be used with PhotoShop-plugin-compatible software. Corel's excellent (and less expensive) PhotoPaint 9 fits into this category. (I assume Jasc's PaintShop Pro does as well, though you should check.) For simple home editing, many believe that PhotoShop is overkill. The learning curve is certainly high. The benefits are that it is the "standard" and many pros speak its language.

Furthermore, GF works best with really large image files. For example, you shouldn't expect to see much improvement (if at all) with 1MP files. In addition, the improvement will vary by the photo. Some enlarge very convincingly while others do not. In many files, I've seen identical results with PhotoShop or PhotoPaint resampling and sharpening.

Look at as many samples as possible before laying out the cash. And I highly suggest you spend a few moments with any new photoediting software you're considering before buying. (By the way, there is a demo for PhotoPaint 9 in this month's CD in digitalfoto magazine.)

Lynda Botez said:

Why don't you just get a copy of Photoshop 5.0 LE? I'll have one for
sale for $50,
unused...

PhotoDeluxe is based on Photoshop, and imho a big pain in the butt to
use in all
but the most uncomplicated things. Get with the real thing.

If you won't move up, then you can't use GF.

Dav said:

I've seen a few notes about a program called Genuine Fractals, which is
supposed to add resolution to low res. pictures and enable printing at
large sizes. I print at 8X10 and 11X14 with my 3.3 p. shots but
sometimes I need to enlarge pictures from scans to these dimensions.
I do not own Photoshop and have no intentions of doing so. If this is a
plug in for Photoshop I can't use it. I do most of my work from
PhotoDeluxe 3. Is Genuine Fractals the program I've been longing
for,or not? Thanks, Dav.

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

Dale said:

PhotoShop is not required to use Genuine Fractals. GF is a PhotoShop
PLUGIN, and therefore can be used with PhotoShop-plugin-compatible
software. Corel's excellent (and less expensive) PhotoPaint 9 fits into
this category. (I assume Jasc's PaintShop Pro does as well, though you
should check

Click to expand...

Dale:

That is extremely interesting news regarding "PS plugin compatible" software and the ability to use GF. Thanks for corrrecting me, and providing your valuable input!

Joe Kurkjian