How to make compressed .jpg pictures larger, and in better quality?

Question

How to make compressed .jpg pictures larger, and in better quality?

Dear Apple Communities,

I have a Mid 2012 13.3 MacBook Pro, macOS Sierra (10.12), MacBook Pro 13.3 Mid 2012 with 8GB RAM and 500 GB Hard + dual 500 gb Hard Drive in place of the DVD Drive.

I am having a bit of an issue, with certain photos, I have in the Photos App on Mac. The problem is that some of my photos are small and compressed and very pixelated, and I understand that while it is possible to make a photo bigger, the problem with that is there is certain information that is not available, and not there. See my intentions are to edit the photos I have from years ago from a trip I took, with my church 6 years ago. I want to make these photos 4x6 so I can print them on hp 4x6 Advanced Photo Paper, with my HP printer. So here is what I am asking, is there any FREE Photo Software I can use to enlarge and edit my small compressed photos? This is off the Record I really want to stay away from paying for software, simply because I am trying to SAVE not SPEND money, as that is a horrible trait of mine. Nor do I want to pay a professional to do it, ether. Also one example of the size of one of my photos is 93 × 124 10 KB, this is one example but I have several photos that are 7KB, 8KB, 9 KB and 10 KB. Any help that someone can give me would be great.

Thanks,

Marshall D.W.H.

Mid 2012 13.3 MacBook Pro-OTHER, macOS Sierra (10.12), MacBook Pro 13.3 Mid 2012

Posted on Oct 12, 2016 8:36 AM

Reply

Answer 1

stedman1

Level 10

264,688 points

Oct 12, 2016 8:39 AM in response to Marshall Waha

With the size of the photos you have quoted, it is impossible to make anything even close to a 4X6 print. You would need a photo file of at least 800X1200 pixels

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Answer 2

Oct 12, 2016 9:09 AM in response to stedman1

Thats not really helpful.

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Answer 3

stedman1

Level 10

264,688 points

Oct 12, 2016 9:44 AM in response to Marshall Waha

Would you like me to lie to you and tell you that such miracle software exists?

It doesnt.

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Answer 4

Old Toad

Level 10

215,808 points

Oct 12, 2016 9:46 AM in response to Marshall Waha

How to make compressed .jpg pictures larger, and in better quality

As you've already been informed you can't. There's no way to add pixels to an image to make it larger and better quality.

For example here's a picture with dimensions of 140 x 93 pixels:

Using Photoshop to increase it's pixel dimension so it can print a 4 x 6 photo at about 180 dpi here's what it looks like:

If that kind of quality is suitable for you can get a 3rd party image editor like GraphicConverter, Photoshop Elements for Mac, etc. and to a upsize to about 1080 x 720. That will give you 180 dpi. Adding more pixels in this manner will not improve image quality. It'll look like this:

Helpful or not steadman1 was dead on with his assessment of the situation.

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Answer 5

Oct 12, 2016 10:56 AM in response to Old Toad

First I appreciate you showing me what a picture looks enlarged, and its image quality and I don't think your wrong. But You know I don't have to take what you say, at your word, quite frankly Technology has expanded enough to the point where it should be possible to blow a photo up and still get an excellent result. So Im going to go get a second opinion and I'll go ask a personal friend who is a local professional photographer, and get her advice. And if I'm wrong, well then I accept I am wrong. But I am getting a second opinion from a professional.

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Answer 6

léonie

Level 10

200,657 points

Oct 12, 2016 11:37 AM in response to Marshall Waha

What you need is a software that will enlarge the photo and interpolate the pixels while preserving the sharpness.

Some applications can give quite a good impression of a sharp photo by detecting edges and avoiding to blur the edges when enlarging the photo.

Try the online image enlarger at this web page: http://www.imageenlarger.com

I used it to enlarge stamp sized photos of 300x400pixels, so Apple would print them in a Photo Book.

The online Image enlarger offers several different interpolation methods. Compare the results for each method and use the one for each photo that will give the best results. One problem is, that the JPEG artifacts will be enlarged as well. Use the Retouch tool in Photos to smooth the artifacts, if they are too prominent in the enlarged images.

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