{"id":849,"date":"2018-09-07T17:46:19","date_gmt":"2018-09-08T00:46:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/plugsandpixels.com\/blog\/?p=849"},"modified":"2018-10-23T13:05:09","modified_gmt":"2018-10-23T20:05:09","slug":"topaz-a-i-gigapixel-challenge-upsizing-old-film-scans","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/plugsandpixels.com\/blog\/topaz-a-i-gigapixel-challenge-upsizing-old-film-scans\/","title":{"rendered":"Topaz A.I. Gigapixel challenge: upsizing old film scans"},"content":{"rendered":"

In my blog posts thus far featuring Topaz A.I. Gigapixel<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0(now at version 1.1.1, and perhaps the most exciting new software to come along in quite a while), I’ve shown upsizing results obtained from various quality digital images, from 1 megapixel up to 16. Those tests cover the types of digital images a contemporary working photographer might have accumulated in their stock photo archives<\/strong> over the past decade or two.<\/p>\n

But what about the scans of your even older film negatives<\/strong>? Those probably don’t look so good, unless you drum scanned them. I have never done that! I bet you haven’t either.<\/p>\n

\u2022Note:<\/strong> Topaz is not promoting a coupon code or discount for A.I. Gigapixel<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0<\/strong>but we are! Use coupon “plugsnpixels” here to save 15%<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>off the $99.99 retail price (this discount also applies to ALL Topaz products).\u00a0The latest update is FREE for existing users, as per Topaz’s longstanding policy for all of its software.<\/p>\n

I usually do my 35mm film scans with an old Nikon Coolscan IV ED at 2900 ppi or (in the case of larger format negs and slides) a Canon flatbed also at a high resolution, after which I resize the results as appropriate for my needs. In the screenshot below is a pile of 35mm scans in a folder on one of my external hard drives, in this case archived at 150 ppi as JPEGs (I mainly do web-based work and don’t print these, though I also keep higher res scans elsewhere).<\/p>\n

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I am now going to present examples of extreme upsizing results from A.I. Gigapixel in descending film size order, starting with 4×5 and working down to medium format and finally 35mm, so the challenge to get decent upsampled results will get greater as we proceed.<\/strong><\/p>\n

I will show a reduced-sized version of the original uncropped image for reference, followed by a side-by-side view of a small portion of the image as seen in Photoshop. The 600% view of the original unedited pixels will be at left and the 600% upsampled Gigapixel result at right, viewed at 100%.<\/strong><\/p>\n

These examples were all done on a 2013 MacBook Air, so your computer\u00a0will probably be better \ud83d\ude09<\/strong><\/p>\n

Here are the latest adjustment options in A.I. Gigapixel 1.1.1<\/a>. There’s not a lot to master, but a lot of power lies just under the hood! My results today were achieved with the settings you see below:<\/p>\n

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\u2022Hint:<\/strong> Right-click and open the images below in a new browser tab or window to view them at 100% size, where the results will be more accurate.<\/em><\/p>\n

First up, an early-1990s 4×5 chrome<\/strong> of an architectural subject with people. This one was archived at 27 inches wide @ 200 ppi. Note the group of three people standing in the doorway:<\/p>\n

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And here are the results. Notice the people are more recognizable and the fountain water droplets are clearly visible in the Gigapixel render:<\/p>\n

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I didn’t notice the reflection of the flowers in the window to the lower right of the people at first, but I went back and did a separate upsizing test with the entire flower box since it had so much potential:<\/p>\n

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This is absolutely amazing, and why I keep running images through Gigapixel and telling you about it! I’ve never seen anything like this before.<\/p>\n

\u2022Note:<\/strong> Topaz is not promoting a coupon code or discount for A.I. Gigapixel<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0but we are! Use coupon “plugsnpixels” here to save 15%<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>off the $99.99 retail price (this discount also applies to ALL Topaz products). The latest update is FREE for existing users, as per Topaz’s longstanding policy for all of its software.<\/p>\n

Next we switch to medium-format<\/strong>. This late-1980s Pasadena CA scenic was not taken with a Hasselblad (though I did use those cameras regularly), but with a no-name twin-lens I picked up at a camera show for cheap (not even a Yashica Mat, but even smaller). The scan of this image (taken to test the camera) was archived at\u00a08.54 inches wide @ 300 ppi. Note the top of the dome of Pasadena City Hall (famous from TV and movies) peeking up from behind the Ambassador Auditorium, to the upper right of center:<\/p>\n

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Now let’s get a 600% view of the dome!<\/p>\n

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Now we have worked our way to 35mm<\/strong>, that incredibly popular but oh-so-small film format (by comparison). I used 35mm film from 1974 through about 2001 for pretty much everything I shot, before switching to digital. The results shown here are all based on 150 ppi JPEGs, at some point in the past reduced from the original high-res scan size.<\/p>\n

Let’s go back to 1985 when I took a trip to Israel<\/strong> for an archeological dig. As poor college student, I was using a mixture of film types and speeds, based on what I brought with me from the States (mostly bulk-rolled Tri-X and color slide film plus some color negative film). I also bought some additional film in Israel, bartering in the souk.<\/p>\n

We begin with an aerial view of Tel Aviv as we arrived, shot in broad daylight with 1000 speed negative film (!). Note the arena in the top third of the photo:<\/p>\n

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Now let’s view it at 600% (original pixel data vs. A.I. Gigapixel up-rez):<\/p>\n

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At the Jerusalem dig itself I was using B&W and both color slide and negative film. Here’s an example of a Tri-X shot of late archaeoligist Yigal Shiloh, on site in the City Of David:<\/p>\n

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The results at 600%:<\/p>\n

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On a side trip to the Sinai peninsula<\/strong> I had all the different film types going on, but this particular one was taken with slide film. The army truck on the rock had something to do with the ’67 war, so we were told:<\/p>\n

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Let’s get 600% closer to the truck without having to climb up there:<\/p>\n

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\u2022Note:<\/strong> Topaz is not promoting a coupon code or discount for A.I. Gigapixel<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0<\/strong>but we are! Use coupon “plugsnpixels” here to save 15%<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>off the $99.99 retail price (this discount also applies to ALL Topaz products). The latest update\u00a0is FREE for existing users, as per Topaz’s longstanding policy for all of its software.<\/p>\n

Back in the States in the early 1990s, I had color negative film with me during my travels in New York, Boston and Longview, Texas. Let’s start in Boston<\/strong>, with a shot of the Old State House. (Fun fact: One of my ancestors, Freegrace Marble, helped build it in 1713!). Here’s the original frame:<\/p>\n

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Now let’s look at the clock at 600%:<\/p>\n

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Down in New York City’s\u00a0<\/strong>Chinatown, I captured this busy street scene not far from where my immigrant Irish ancestors once lived:<\/p>\n

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See the delivery truck down the street at left? 600%! In some cases small mushy letters are a challenge to up-rez, but not always, as we shall see later:<\/p>\n

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Next we go uptown to The Dakota building where John Lennon once lived on the 7th floor. Here’s the wide view:<\/p>\n

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Now let’s check out the cupola at 600%. My takeaway from this is, if you need your slate shingles restored, use Gigapixel instead of a roofer!<\/p>\n

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Finally we make our way down to East Texas<\/strong> where Bill Clinton was running for re-election as President in September 1996. At the very moment I took this photo\u00a0he was actually saying<\/a>, “You need some help? Where’s my doctor? I’ve got my medical team. We’ve got somebody here who fainted. We’re coming. We’ll bring it right there. Somebody hold your hand up, and we’ll find you. They’ll be right there. Here they are. There’s nothing else we can do. You all just\u2014let’s go on with the show here; they’re going to take good care of him.”<\/p>\n

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You can’t hear him? Let’s turn up the volume 600%. He even gets his hair combed a bit!<\/p>\n

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Finally, here’s an example from the same photo where Gigapixel handled the lettering more successfully:<\/p>\n

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As I said in past blog posts, if you haven’t tried A.I. Gigapixel<\/a>, you have really got to test the free trial \u2013 especially now that it can work with your CPU as well as GPU (more computers can support it).<\/p>\n

\u2022Note:<\/strong> Topaz is not promoting a coupon code or discount for A.I. Gigapixel<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0<\/strong>but we are! Use coupon “plugsnpixels” here to save 15%<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>off the $99.99 retail price (this discount also applies to ALL Topaz products).\u00a0This update is FREE for existing users, as per Topaz’s longstanding policy for all of its software.<\/p>\n

Your purchase of any software through the\u00a0<\/i>Plugs ‘n Pixels website<\/i><\/a>\u00a0<\/i>or this blog gets you the best deal available and also helps generate a small commission to help keep these resources online. Thanks again!<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In my blog posts thus far featuring Topaz A.I. Gigapixel\u00a0(now at version 1.1.1, and perhaps the most exciting new software to come along in quite a while), I’ve shown upsizing results obtained from various quality digital images, from 1 megapixel up to 16. Those tests cover the types of digital images a contemporary working photographer Read more about Topaz A.I. Gigapixel challenge: upsizing old film scans<\/span>[…]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":871,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,3,25,31,4,7],"tags":[361,355,357,356,131,313,353,351,362,223,240,168,243,314,358,221,66,363,352,286,354,360,38,359,173,174,318],"class_list":["post-849","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-discounts","category-general","category-photography","category-post-processing","category-reviews","category-software","tag-air-travel","tag-ambassador-auditorium","tag-ambassador-college","tag-big-sandy-texas","tag-bill-clinton","tag-blow-up","tag-boston","tag-chinatown","tag-city-of-david","tag-coupon","tag-coupon-code","tag-discount","tag-discounts","tag-enlargement","tag-flower-box","tag-image-correction","tag-image-enhancement","tag-jerusalem","tag-longview-texas","tag-new-york-city","tag-old-state-house","tag-pasadena-city-hall","tag-post-processing","tag-tel-aviv","tag-topaz-labs","tag-topaz-studio","tag-upsize"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/plugsandpixels.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/849","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/plugsandpixels.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/plugsandpixels.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/plugsandpixels.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/plugsandpixels.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=849"}],"version-history":[{"count":20,"href":"https:\/\/plugsandpixels.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/849\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1018,"href":"https:\/\/plugsandpixels.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/849\/revisions\/1018"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/plugsandpixels.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/871"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/plugsandpixels.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=849"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/plugsandpixels.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=849"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/plugsandpixels.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=849"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}