Has anyone blown up photos? [ Like enlarge them? ]

[jusane]

Hiya i plan on enlarging a 5x7 photo of my family to give to my mother.
i think there are stores that do this kind of stuff, but i've never done this stuff before, so i dunno what's a good deal or not.

if anyone has done this before, or if anyone knows about it...

does it lose quality? like terribly? haha would it show like pixels and crap?
i dont think im gonna make it HUGe but like a medium to larged size. i cant think of the dimensions right now.

would i need the original negatives? is that what its called? the actual film ppl keep if they want to make more copies...

and is it expensive?
i dont have a job so i dont have a large amount to spend.
if anyone has any info, sites, anything that can keep will be greatly appreciated.

thanks a bunch

_Justin

[kaycee8877]

my sister just did that at future shop (theres a photo outlet in ours) ... also london drugs will do it ...

we had a family portrait (they just scan it) and we cut everyone out and cropped out one persons head and shoulders then had that blown up to 8 x 10 and 11 x 14. Cost like 60 bucks (i think) but that included the cutting and cropping.

ended up being like a wallet sized pic head shot blown up to those sizes .. the original quality oif the pic was older and slightly grainy (pic from the 80s) and i was impressed with the qualtiy of the final product

we just went and talked to the guy and he was super helpful .. went to blacks photography first and it was like twice the price and would take a week .. this took a day

[ariel]

Last week I got 5x7 pictures enlarged at Blacks. It cost me $0.39 (they're having a sale, you can search for the thread). Anyway, the camera that took those pictures was a 3.2 and the pictures are beautiful and not pixelated. I don' t know how far up you can go with your camera. I think 3.2s can go up to 11x14.

Good Luck

P.S. I went in with a CD, if you bring DVDR it takes longer. It takes about an hour

[jusane]

hey thanks a bunch for the info guys. ill check out those locations.

[jusane]

hey guys and gals.
i plan on doing it at a local place called MotoPhoto

the guy says there's two ways he can do it.
either with some kodak machine that just uses a scanner and enlarges it to the desired dimensions. the 8x10, the size i want, is only 10 bucks on that machine.

i asked him if theres like a better way, better quality way of doing it.
he said, he could do it himself and fix things up for about $25

now i just found out the original photo is only 4x6. will this stretch in size really screw up the quality? its an old pic [id say about 15 years ago. lol its not in black and white] taken from a normal film camera, not a digital.

the photo i have is in great condition, still glossy and not bent with no markings.

what do you guys suggest i do? use the do-it-yourself kodak kiosk machine [ you may have seen them before, they are there for you to use yourself, the whole thing is like yellow, and theres a scanner in the front, and a touch screen i believe ] for about 10 bucks, or should i let the guy that works there do the job?

has anyone used that kodak machine?
i dont want to cheap out and get a crappy photo [what i pay for anyways]
but if someone has had past experience with it and its good quality, ill go for it.

thanks a bunch.

[u_slo]

I've seen blown up photos, and they don't come out so hot...

If you really want this done right, give him a shot for the $25... When you get it back though, take a good look at it. If it still looks crappy tell 'em to forget it.

He's basically told you that with the '10 buck' deal, it's not going to come out that great... pretty much what would be expected.

just my .02

[jusane]

thanks for the input.
another idea my friend gave me is to just use photoshop with a really good scanner, then print it at the place.

i bet that guy is just gonna use photoshop, but i dont have a scanner...

thanks

[Maximaro]

I've done this many times [I actually worked at a photo imaging place :lol:], but it's best if you have the negatives.

Enlarging a 4x 6would generally not go larger than an 8x10 because after that, there is a dramatic quality loss. Also, if it's just a scan in to print [i.e. you do not have the negatives], do not expect perfect picture quality. And by that, I mean do not expect the colors to render out the same. They will be different and that's because its' from the computer to hte printer as opposed to from the negative [which retains the original color] to the printer. Another thing to keep in mind is that if you are scannign the picture in and printing it [generally known as a 'print-to-print'], that you will not get all of the picture, mainly due to the proportion. If you desire to get the full frame, then I suggest the 8x12.

If you have a negative, it is by far easier and better in quality, but from readint the posts, I assume you can't find it :|

I would recommend going to Digital FX at Scarborough Town Centre to get it done, the price for the 8x10 enlargement is $10 and if you plead with them nicely and explain to them taht you don't have much cash, they'll clean it up for you too. And pritning an 8x10 generally takes half an hour :) The 8x10 is printed as an 8x12, but often which, the stores just cut off the unimportant part without asking if you would like to keep the full frame :)

The difference between the Kodak machine and the man doing it himself are the color adjustments and perhaps some clean-ups of scratchs and dirt. Pictures from the machines generally come out too dark and perhaps a tinge magenta at times...

If you do decide to do it at Digital, you could also probably get a nice frame (11x14) with a matte (8x10 opening of course) and they'll put in the picture for you and everything =]

[Blood_Lust]

I've done this many times [I actually worked at a photo imaging place :lol:], but it's best if you have the negatives.

Enlarging a 4x 6would generally not go larger than an 8x10 because after that, there is a dramatic quality loss. Also, if it's just a scan in to print [i.e. you do not have the negatives], do not expect perfect picture quality. And by that, I mean do not expect the colors to render out the same. They will be different and that's because its' from the computer to hte printer as opposed to from the negative [which retains the original color] to the printer. Another thing to keep in mind is that if you are scannign the picture in and printing it [generally known as a 'print-to-print'], that you will not get all of the picture, mainly due to the proportion. If you desire to get the full frame, then I suggest the 8x12.

If you have a negative, it is by far easier and better in quality, but from readint the posts, I assume you can't find it :|

I would recommend going to Digital FX at Scarborough Town Centre to get it done, the price for the 8x10 enlargement is $10 and if you plead with them nicely and explain to them taht you don't have much cash, they'll clean it up for you too. And pritning an 8x10 generally takes half an hour :) The 8x10 is printed as an 8x12, but often which, the stores just cut off the unimportant part without asking if you would like to keep the full frame :)

The difference between the Kodak machine and the man doing it himself are the color adjustments and perhaps some clean-ups of scratchs and dirt. Pictures from the machines generally come out too dark and perhaps a tinge magenta at times...

If you do decide to do it at Digital, you could also probably get a nice frame (11x14) with a matte (8x10 opening of course) and they'll put in the picture for you and everything =]

Sounds like a photoshop savvy in here.. ;). Same here, these steps are the best way to get a that enlargement job perfectly done.

[jusane]

hey thanks man, ill check that place out.

hey would there be a difference of technique of what the guy does at MotoPhoto than from Digital FX
im saying this cause STC is kinda far for me with ttc as trans and MotoPhoto is 5 min away.
haha and how do you get to STC by ttc?
thanks a bunch

[Maximaro]

It depends where you're coming from. If you're coming from the Yonge line, simply transfer to the Shepperd lien and ride taht east to Don Mills station, head up the stairs to the bus platform and take the 190 Rocket, or during rush hours you would like to have a quiet and comfortable ride but don't mind spending an extra twenty minutes... take the 169 Huntingwood.

Techqniue wise, it's all generally the same. Perhaps a different printing machine would be the difference, but other than that, nothing else.