two problems with pictures

[eippob]

I was trying to find out how to change picture resolution. I needed some pictures for a cookbook project and was told the pictures were too low resolution. Can anyone tell me how to do that? The other problem is I clicked on Paine shop with one of my pictures and now they are all only showing part of the picture very large. How can I get them back to the way they were? I dont know what other info you need so please let me know if anyone can help. Thank you very much. I dont know if I explained myself clearly or not.

[SpywareDr]

Irfanview

Changing Resolution and/or DPI Instructions

[eippob]

Thank you for your reply. I am going to try to figure out changing the resolution. Can you please tell me how I can change where my photos open? I do not want them in paint and dont even know what I did to make it happen. Thanks

[eippob]

I got that one figured out thanks

[Shinma]

... I needed some pictures for a cookbook project and was told the pictures were too low resolution. Can anyone tell me how to do that? ...

? If the original source of image contains too low of a resolution, one can not increase it.
One can lower a resolution of an image but not raise it...

[eippob]

Is it ok if I paste and copy part of an article that talks about changing DPI i do not understand it. If its ok please let me know

[Shinma]

Sure. Paste it here.

[eippob]

Actually it was posted by Spyware dr a couple posts back on Changing resolution and or DPI but I didnpt have any of the programs so I downloaded adobe photo but had a hard time with it. Maybe you can check out the post by spyware dr. Thank you so much

[falcon2000]

Short Version:

What is the pixel dimension of these photos and what size are they going to be published. The chance is that the files you have now may be high enough in resolution. Nowadays, unless you use an antiquated digital camera or you scan the photo in with the wrong setting, one should seldom encounter the “low resolution” problem in most applications except when you are printing posters and murals.


*********** If you are interested ************

Long Version:

Like they say in the article SpywareDr linked to, it is sad that in these days and age, many “professionals” like “many graphics designers, magazines and print shops” are still ignorant with the basics of digital imaging. To fully understand it, you should read the article "The Myth of DPI" on that same web site.

An analogy may help to understand it. Imagine that your photo is a 1”x 1” rubber sheet filled with 100 color dots – 10 rows by 10 columns. This means there are 10 dots on every linear inch. Therefore, it is 10 dpi. Now, imagine you stretch this rubber sheet to 10” x 10”. You still have the same 100 color dots on it. But since it is stretched out to 10” x 10”, there is now only 1 color dot on every linear inch. Therefore, it is now 1 dpi. Nonetheless, it is the same photo with the same 100 color dots – same pixel resolution. It’s just stretched out larger.

So, you show this 10” x 10” photo to the editor and he says, it’s only 1 dpi and so is too low in resolution. You leave his office and un-stretch it back to 1” x 1” square. The editor looks at this now and says, this “new” version is 10 dpi and so it’s now high enough in resolution! He is wrong because it is the same photo before and after. It’s just being displayed to him in different sizes.

Now image the same 10” x 10” rubber sheet with the same 100 color dots on it, i.e., 1 dpi. The editor erroneously thinks that it’s not high enough in resolution and tells you to come back with a 10 dpi version. So, you take out your inks set and start painting in 9,900 color dots in between the 100 original dots, paying close attention to the hue, saturation and density of the surrounding original dots so the new dots will “blend in”. So now you have a photo that is 10 dpi. But the dots you’ve painted in are not the real thing. It’s just simulations. They don’t make your photo any higher in real resolution. They just increase the dpi in the mathematics term. This is what Shima means when he says, “If the original source of image contains too low of a resolution, one can not increase it."

The process of adding those “artificial” dots is called interpolation or resampling. Actually, to satisfy the editor without pointing out his mistake, you can simply un-stretch the 10” x 10” sheet (1 dpi) back to 1” x 1” (10 dpi) without having to add any “artificial” dots. Not only that it’s simpler, it’s also much better because you are not adding any artifacts to the photo. This is in essence what the article SypwareDr linked to is trying to tell you.

You'll probably be better off to download IrfanView because it is easier to use. Just make sure the under "Set New Size" you select "Pixels" in "Units" and in "Width" and "Height" you put in the same pixel amount as the original - it should be filled in automatically like so by default when you click the "Set New Size" button.

[eippob]

Falcon thank you very much for the answer it helps a lot. You asked the size of pic 640 width and 480 height 72 Dpi

[eippob]

I just wanted to say thank you to everyone that replied to my problem. I figured it out with all the help I got here. A big thank you to everyone.

[falcon2000]

It is indeed rather low res. How is the cookbook is going to be published - printed or in electronic form? How did you obtain the image? You shot it with a digital camera; scanned from a print; downloaded from the web?

[eippob]

I am doing the cookbook on one of those sites that do all the printing. The pictues I have were taken by me of food I cooked I used a digital camera not a very expensive one. I have hundreds of pics taken by this camer so they must all be low resolution. I am a complete novice with this stuff. It will take me forever if I just try to change the pics I want for the cookbook. Maybe I need a better camera. Thank you again.

[General Winters]

640 x 480 (vga) is less than a third of a megapixel, most $10 webcams take a higher resolution still than that.

Have a look in your cameras manual, check if you can set the resolution higher, many cameras can be set to vga for quick shots for uploading to facebook etc, you may just have set it to that accidentally.

[eippob]

Well I paid over a hundred for it LOL not ten dollars I have had it a long time so I will have to check my file drawer for manual. Thank You.