I finally had a chance to perform a test with Genuine Fractals that’s been on my mind for some time. This test was performed on an image from a Canon 10D with a 6 M pixel sensor. The image was blown up to 24″ long at 180 ppi.
Now, there’s no way you can get a super sharp image of that size with a 6 M pixel sensor. So that wasn’t the point of the test. When I previously blew this image up there were a lot of artifacts that were enhanced, especially when I performed the output sharpening. I spent about an hour with clone stamp and healing brush removing these artifacts one by one.
So the point of the test was to see how well the smooth areas were enlarged; that is, if GF could enlarge them without creating these artifacts.
It’s important to say that I know a lot more about enlarging images now than I did then. I have a much better idea of when to sharpen, when to reduce noise and the like. So if one were to notice that this is not an apples to apples comparison I’d have to agree. So, before giving the results, here’s the process I followed.
Starting with the master file with all the adjustment layers, I first flattened the image. Next I ran Noiseware Professional to reduce the rather considerable noise. Third, I ran Genuine Fractals to enlarge the image about 250% (24″ long at 180 ppi). Finally, I ran the Photokit output sharpener for matte paper at 180 ppi.
And how did it turn out? Great. The sharpness was OK considering the size of the sensor. But what was really great was the lack of artifacts. No more spending hours brushing them out.
So to my way of thinking Genuine Fractals is worth it not only for the way it holds the sharpness when it enlarges but the way it handles the smooth areas.
Genuine Fractals Impressions #2
Genuine Fractals Impressions #1
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