When you scrapbook or dabble in photography, owning a scanner is a great thing. It can be used in so many different ways for either hobby and can do things that once you could only do at a printing place.
Photo enlargement is one of those things.
Recently I created a scrapbook layout of two of my children’s elementary years. I used the larger wallet sized photographs and kept that consistent throughout the two page layout. At some point I realized that my son’s third grade picture and my daughter’s kindergarten picture (the same year) were missing. I haven’t a clue what happened to the package, and I know I ordered one. I keep them all in the same place and yet they aren’t there. How was I going to complete a flowing two page layout of both of these kids elementary years if I was missing a year.
The first place I turned was my wallet. I tend to place photographs from each year in there and carry them with me. I did indeed have both photographs in my wallet, however they were very small sized. They would not fit correctly on the layout and would keep the layout from flowing freely.
Enter in the scanner.
The first thing I did was to change the resolution on the scanner output. I changed it to 400dpi (dots per inch) which allowed me to create a larger version of the photograph and lose little to no clarity. The eventual output was an 800x1200pixel photograph. I was able to manipulate it enough to get it to be the same size as the other photographs I had used.
The key to creating a larger image from a smaller one is to scan at a higher dpi rate, and the standard rate is 400. This should give you a nice workable size.
I hope this help end any confusion that many have as to how to enlarge a photograph that is way too small. If you have any questions, feel free to post them below.
Nicole Humphrey writes articles for the Scrapbooking Blog and for the Frugal Blog. She also guest blogs on a variety of topics. You can read more of her articles by clicking here.
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