Genuine Fractals vs. Photoshop

R
Posted By
rvs053063
Nov 16, 2006
Views
424
Replies
8
Status
Closed
I was told that Genuine Fractals does a much better job of upsampling photo files than Photoshop. Has anyone used this program and would you recommend it? Thanks.

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B
Bernie
Nov 16, 2006
I think it’s a matter of personal taste.

I am personally not in love with it and prefer bicubic smoother.

YMMV
DM
Don_McCahill
Nov 16, 2006
I understand that the older routines used in PS 6 or 7 were not as good, and GF was much better. However, newer versions of the program have used a better algorithm (I can’t remember which version it started in, either 7 or CS).

On older versions, you could get better results by upsampling 10% at a time, five times, rather than doing it all at once.
H
Ho
Nov 16, 2006
AlienSkin Blow Up is the real deal. It surpasses everything else.

Here is a screen grab of a white/black diagonal line test, original size 1000 pixels by 1000 pixels, upsampled 500% with BC Smoother, BC Sharper, GF and Blow Up (magnified 1600% for your viewing pleasure).

Original (note that even though *smoother* is highlighted, only *original* is visible: < http://www.pixentral.com/show.php?picture=1mET0Kv62BDhkaE43t 5cer6bF3wRn1>

BC Smoother:
< http://www.pixentral.com/show.php?picture=1ijQyDCR2Sf15eBFEn ADrCeMy5Amb>

BC Sharper:
< http://www.pixentral.com/show.php?picture=11rjSXKoyfDPQEU0JW 0YHtUqm2Hww>

GF (note the ugly artifacts in the white)
< http://www.pixentral.com/show.php?picture=1EDJjyhlTlpNK1vqX9 QYiWSg6RaOQ21>

Blow Up
< http://www.pixentral.com/show.php?picture=1zsYXnpLSkWKGlzQGi VSwHvARXOGlR>

EDIT: the difference in quality is apparent even in the thumbnails.
RB
Robert_Barnett
Nov 17, 2006
GF apparently is no longer the top dog. The reviews I have read have suggested that Alien Skin’s Blow Up and BenVista’s PhotoZoom Pro 2.0 are better than GF. PhotoZoom Pro offers a lot more control it uses S-Spline XL technology I don’t know what Blow Up uses.

Myself I don’t much care for any of them. You just can’t enlarge a small low resolution image up to something it never was. It maybe ok in a pinch, but if there is any way to get a real image the size and resolution you need you are 1000 times better off.

http://www.alienskin.com
http://www.benvista.com

It is also important to note that GF was never intended for image scaling. It was designed as a form of lossy compression. They wanted to keep the quality high but also compress a lot without loosing data. The fact that it also turned out to be ok for enlargement wasn’t by design. As a file format it is a dead duck, the enlargement I think is out of date, the program just doesn’t get updated much any more.

Robert
JW
John_Waller
Nov 17, 2006
the program just doesn’t get updated much any more.

Since buying their plugin business from Extensis in July 05, OnOneSoftware has been actively and constantly marketing their new acquisitions including Genuine Fractals.

Also GF only works on Photoshop CS and CS2 (and Photoshop Elements 3, 4 and
5) – not older versions – which suggests that development of their products
is alive and well.

Perhaps Extensis got tired of plugin development and sold it off to some fresh blood who have big plans for the products?


Regards

John Waller
RB
Robert_Barnett
Nov 17, 2006
It’s possible, but still would nice to see a major update. Extensis wanted to concentrate on font management for the Mac and asset management with Portfolio.

Robert
JW
John_Waller
Nov 17, 2006
but still would nice to see a major update

Agreed.


Regards

John Waller
MV
Mathias_Vejerslev
Nov 17, 2006
I must confess I rarely upsample, but if/when I do, I use Bicubic Smoother coupled with Smart Sharpen.

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