How to Resize images without loosing detail? Thanks

[Aurangabadkar]

I shoot with the 7D and 15-85 IS, 100 macro 2.8 L and 100-400 L. I want to know which is the best way to resize for posting on the DPR forums so I can retain good sharpness & detail. I use DPP and PSE/PS5.

Thanks in advance.

Cheers
--
Dr. Sanjeev Aurangabadkar MD
Hyderabad, India

 

[Network41]

Just save in raw, use photoshop or something to enlarge it.

 

[paparios]

I use either of two free available programs:

a) Irfanview is one of them. You use the Image/resize-resample function. For a good quality version I would use resize to 1600/1000 pixels.

b) Faststone Image viewer. You use the Tools/resize-rename function. This is nice since you can resize a group of pictures.

Miguel

I shoot with the 7D and 15-85 IS, 100 macro 2.8 L and 100-400 L. I want to know which is the best way to resize for posting on the DPR forums so I can retain good sharpness & detail. I use DPP and PSE/PS5.

Thanks in advance.

Cheers
--
Dr. Sanjeev Aurangabadkar MD
Hyderabad, India

 

[Steve Balcombe]

I shoot with the 7D and 15-85 IS, 100 macro 2.8 L and 100-400 L. I want to know which is the best way to resize for posting on the DPR forums so I can retain good sharpness & detail. I use DPP and PSE/PS5.

Photoshop does a good job. My personal preference is to use Bicubic downsampling (in the Image Size dialog) and not 'Bicubic Sharp'; then sharpen separately using Smart Sharpen as it gives you more control.

I find I get best results if I produce a nicely sharp full-size image first, then downsample, then apply just a small amount of sharpening to bring the downsized image back to life. Leaving all the sharpening until after downsampling (which some tutorials do recommend) seems to result in more visible sharpening artefacts.

 

[birdbrain]

Open the image you wish to resize in DPP, I think this does the best conversion. Select 'Convert and Save' from the file menu. Next select the type of format you want, either TIFF or JPEG, you will want JPEG I assume. Leave the 'Output Setting' as is, the default seems to be 350 dpi.

Now it's the next bit you want to resize the image, so check the 'Resize' check box and I also usually have the 'Lock Aspect Ratio' checked. I tend to carry out any cropping of the file using the 'Trimming Tool' in DPP. So all you need do is change one of the values like the width and the height will change in proportion. Then save the file to the location you want.

Hope that helps.

You can do a number of files at the same time, select the files you wish to resize in the main window of DPP. Now click 'Batch Process' in the main window top right. In the resultant dialog box select the type of file TIFF or JPEG and then click the resize box and enter the new value.

DPP will then process all the files selected and save them to the location specified.

Phil

 

[Aurangabadkar]

Thanks a lot for the suggestions! Much appreciated. I shall follow the steps as directed. And how about watermarking? Can we do that in DPP as well? And do we apply sharpening again after resizing?

Thanks
--
Sanjeev

 

[birdbrain]

I personally don't do any more sharpening myself, but others may have a different take on that.

As for a watermark you would probably be better off resizing the image in PS then add a watermark. I personally can't get Adobe Camera Raw to produce images as good as I can get with DPP. So to watermark images I would probably 'Convert and Save' or 'Batch Process' the relevant files in DPP as TIFF's. If you use Batch Process and have Photoshop and not Photoshop Elements you can send the files to Photoshop. Then resize in Photoshop, to do this select 'Image Size' from the 'Image' menu. In the resultant window you can type in a new size, if 'Constrain Proportions' is checked the height and width are locked, denoted by a chain symbol linking them together or not as the case may be.

Then you can add a Watermark as a layer, flatten image and save as a JPEG.

Phil

 

[dsjtecserv]

Thanks a lot for the suggestions! Much appreciated. I shall follow the steps as directed. And how about watermarking? Can we do that in DPP as well? And do we apply sharpening again after resizing?

In general you always want to plan on sharpening after resizing, matching the type and amount of sharpening to the intended output. The instructions Steve Balcombe gave above is the best approach. I do something similar -- downsize using regular BiCubic, then make two duplicate layers, and convert each of the duplicates for SmartFilters. For the top layer, set blend mode to Soft Light, and then use the High Pass Filter; I find about 0.5 works for most web sized. Then on the next lowest layer, I use USM (could use Smart Sharpen instead), with a very small radius (0.2) to tweak the shapening applied by High Pass. Having them converted for Smart Filters allows you to go back and adjust either the HighPass, the USM, or both, and you can also us masks. When done, flatten the image and save as a high quality jpeg. That seems to work pretty well for gallery and forum samples.

Edit: the above is for Photoshop; I'm not sure if you can do the equivalent in DPP.

Dave
--
http://www.pbase.com/dsjtecserv

 

[Aurangabadkar]

Thanks Phil and Dave for your great inputs. Very useful indeed. I agree with Phil that the raw conversion from 7D via DPP yields better results than ACR.
--
Sanjeev

 

[tonyjr]

Thanks

 

[gdanmitchell]

If you work in layers, flatten a copy of the image.

Working on the copy, do your typical sharpening on the full size image. There are all sorts of ideas about what is best here, and different images might require different settings. If you started with RAW images (hence not sharpened in the camera), one generic approach that can be a starting point would include:

USM at amount:12 and radius: 50
Smartsharpen at amount: 300 and radius: .3

Yes, both of them. (I typically do this before flattening, but my workflow is probably different than yours. Among other things, my primary target output is print not web.)

Resize using whatever method your normal software provides. What you are most concerned about here will be the pixel dimensions - resolution isn't really relevant here.

At this point you may want to do a bit more USM sharpening to "compensate" for detail necessarily lost during the resizing operation.

Once you get a workflow that you like, you might turn the whole thing into one or a series of actions so that you don't have to repeat all of the manual steps every time.

Dan

I shoot with the 7D and 15-85 IS, 100 macro 2.8 L and 100-400 L. I want to know which is the best way to resize for posting on the DPR forums so I can retain good sharpness & detail. I use DPP and PSE/PS5.

Thanks in advance.

Cheers
--
Dr. Sanjeev Aurangabadkar MD
Hyderabad, India

--
---
G Dan Mitchell - SF Bay Area, California, USA
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[Aurangabadkar]

Thanks Dan, isn't a radius of 50 too high?
--
Sanjeev