Best way to sharpen overenlarged images ?

[rain]

I have this design ( I lost the original ) Im trying to recreate / alter for a potential t-shirt that I did a few yrs ago ,problem is there is lot of grey / grainy midtones here and there ( some fine /thin lines basically ) because I had to enlarge it from a smaller screen print .

The image itself is basically 3 tones , though the bulk of it in black n white.

Does any one have any shortcuts or tips on how I can resolve this ( Im using PSP5 ) ?

Heres part of image itself , Ive circled the area which Im trying to emulate so its clean/er compared to the fuzzy midtones round the edges of the other shapes.

thanks,

rain

 

[ibclare]

Would you post your original image so we can see what you're working with? What kind of a design it is will influence the solution to your problem.

For instance, is it something you could reproduce with the pen tool or shape tool? could you use the quick select or color range and refine edge to smooth the edges and increase contrast? Would it be better to blur or sharpen the edges. Is it the whole image, the design that needs sharpening. Things like that.

From what I see there, you would do best to smooth the edges, but really, without seeing it all, no idea. Sometimes your best solution is reproducing it. Often takes less time and looks tons better.

 

[rain]

Would you post your original image so we can see what you're working with? What kind of a design it is will influence the solution to your problem.

For instance, is it something you could reproduce with the pen tool or shape tool? could you use the quick select or color range and refine edge to smooth the edges and increase contrast? Would it be better to blur or sharpen the edges. Is it the whole image, the design that needs sharpening. Things like that.

From what I see there, you would do best to smooth the edges, but really, without seeing it all, no idea. Sometimes your best solution is reproducing it. Often takes less time and looks tons better.

I usually try cleaning it up with magic wand and the contrast / colours , but I have to focus in so much it can get confusing ,like most designs these days I tend to do it with a brush ( mainly due to my physical issues ) and because most of the shapes are too complex ( I assume ) for path .

Here is the design any way , so you can see what I mean.



thanks again,

rain

 

[ibclare]

It's a very tiny image as you have posted it. If this is the actual size you are working with, the only thing I think might help is to select the area -- hopefully this is on its own layer -- that you want cleaner edges on. Then you can use select>modify>refine edge and smooth it. That will soften the edges. You could alternatively try a tiny gaussian blur, zooming in like your original post and see if that works. Smooth edges does approximately the same thing. At that size you're limited to very few pixels defining the shapes and you'll get compensation for curves by giving you the pale color pixels making harsh edges.

What size do you want the image to be when you use it. I imagine quite a bit larger? It's hard to say what would happen to the surrounding parts at a larger size unless you have downsized it to post here . . .

The best bet would be to make a larger file and reproduce it there. You can always bring the image over and use the resulting shapes to guide your reproduction.

I don't know if I am answering your question. Let me know.

 

[rain]

It's a very tiny image as you have posted it. If this is the actual size you are working with, the only thing I think might help is to select the area -- hopefully this is on its own layer -- that you want cleaner edges on. Then you can use select>modify>refine edge and smooth it. That will soften the edges. You could alternatively try a tiny gaussian blur, zooming in like your original post and see if that works. Smooth edges does approximately the same thing. At that size you're limited to very few pixels defining the shapes and you'll get compensation for curves by giving you the pale color pixels making harsh edges.

What size do you want the image to be when you use it. I imagine quite a bit larger? It's hard to say what would happen to the surrounding parts at a larger size unless you have downsized it to post here . . .

The best bet would be to make a larger file and reproduce it there. You can always bring the image over and use the resulting shapes to guide your reproduction.
ou
I don't know if I am answering your question. Let me know.

I need my image to be 600 x 600 at least , so far Ive managed to do alright by pretty much doing as you suggest , that was until I tried playing around with design again, which of course had changed the dynamics of everything else .