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I don't often get excited over the myriad of Photoshop compatible plug-ins being offered today. However, I recently ran across one that every graphic artist who resamples images greater than the original size should have. When I say should have, I really mean must have if you want to eliminate the need to re-sharpen and tweak your images after resampling with the Resample commands in either PHOTO-PAINT or Photoshop. The results obtained with this plug-in are to say the least, dramatic.
The name of of this plug-in is Genuine Fractals developed by the Altamire Group. They offer two flavors. Genuine Fractals 2.0, which works with all RGB, Multi-channel (up to 16 channels), Duotone, and Grayscale images and indexed color. Genuine Fractals Print Pro version 1.0. This version adds the ability to work with CMYK and CIE-Lab.
I recently started a side business creating large format murals on ceramic tile. The techniques I use to create these murals requires that I enlarge virtually every image I work with, even poster size Photo CD images. I quickly discovered that enlarging images with the resample command in either PHOTO-PAINT or Photoshop resulted in a blurring of the image. When this happened, I would then have to use the Unsharp Mask command in PHOTO-PAINT or Photoshop to sharpen the images, which gave an acceptable result at best. You may on reading this think you don't make large files like I do, so why do you need to be concerned about enlarging files. Do you ever use PHOTO-PAINT's floating objects? If you do, you know that they are extremely small in size if you want to use them for print. I have included an simple example of what I mean. The image at left shows the original image taken from PHOTO-PAINT 9's floating objects located on CD #3. The floating object measures .65333" X 1.0" at 300 dpi. The image below shows before and after examples of using the resample command in PHOTO-PAINT and the re-sample method provided in the Genuine Fractals plug-in. The image on the left was enlarged 400% using the Genuine Fractals plug-in. The image on the right was enlarged 400% using the Resample command in PHOTO-PAINT. Notice the obvious difference in quality between the Genuine Fractals method and the method used by using the Resample command in PHOTO-PAINT. The new images size for both resampled images is 2.5" X 4.0" at 300 dpi, a closer to a real world size you would use for print. If you're wondering if the image on the right would look just as bad if it were resampled with Photoshop's resample command? The answer is yes.
Editor's Note: When compressing this image for display on the Web, some of the difference between the two images was lost. The true result is much more dramatic!
The results speak for themselves. I was so impressed I bought the plug-in immediately after trying the downloadable demo version. To put it in perspective, I rarely buy software. Most of the time, companies give me software in hope that I like it and then write reviews like this one. This plug-in has more than met my needs and it is worth every penny it cost.
How does Genuine Fractals work you ask? Here's the simple non-technical answer. You first save your original file in the Genuine Fractals format call STN. This file becomes your master file. Then anytime you want to use the file at any resolution (size) you simply open the STN file and tell it how big you want it. The software automatically resizes the file with no degrading of quality.
Note: I will pass on a little tip regarding re-sampling more than 400%. I found if I re-sample the first time at 400% save the file as a .TIF, and then create a new Genuine Fractals STN file at that size I can resample again another 400% without any degrading of quality.
The benefit to all this besides the obvious resizing quality improvements is that the Genuine Fractals parent file called with the STN extension is all you need to save thereby saving hard drive space by keeping several sizes of a single image.
How much does this fantastic plug-in cost you ask? Well a plug-in that works as well as this one does that will save you the time/money that this one will, is not cheap, but it will pay for itself quickly in the time you save and most importantly the quality you will be able to give your clients.
If you are still not convinced, it doesn't cost you anything to try it. You can download a free demo version at http://www.altamira-group.com/
After you buy your copy, there is a tip I want to pass along to you regarding installation.
The manual may only refer to installing into Photoshop. When the installation program runs it will probably search for your Photoshop folder to install into its plug-in folder. So before installing Genuine Fractals do the following:
Create a new folder for Genuine Fractals on your hard drive. Now, run the Genuine Fractals installation program. If you see a dialog box asking to install in Photoshop’s plug-in folder, simply type in the path to your new Genuine Fractals folder.
After the installation program runs, it's time to load the Genuine Fractals plug-in into Photo-Paint. Select Tools/Options/Plug-ins. Click the ADD button. The Select a Plug-in folder dialog box will appear. Navigate to the Genuine Fractals folder you created earlier and click the OK button.
The next step is extremely important or the plug-in will not be available. While still in the Tools/Options/Plug-ins dialog box, you MUST put a check mark in the Initialize plug-ins at Start up box located under the window containing the list of plug-ins already loaded. Click the OK button and Re-Start Photo-Paint so the Genuine Fractals plug-in gets initialized.
Note: An important reminder! The plug-in does not show up in the Effects menu. It appears in the File types drop down list when you save a file.
You're now able to save a file with the Genuine Fractals extension of (.stn). Open an existing file or create a new one. Do a SAVE AS and scroll down to the bottom of the list of the file type drop down list. The STN extension will now be available.
When you open your new STN master file a dialog box will appear letting you set the dimensions for the new file.
Happy enlarging!!!
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