Mac Creative > All Reviews > Software > Graphic design > Professional image editing > Blow Up 3 review

Mon, 19 Dec 2011 Blow Up 3 review

A high-quality photo can be vastly increased, but it can get a watercolour-like effect

Duncan Evans

Manufacturer: Alien Skin Software
Manufacturer: Alien Skin Software
Pros: Can increase size of a good-quality picture by over three times; controls for edges and grain
Cons: Not so good with lo-res JPEGs; no texture control
Price: $199 (£126)
We rate this 4 out of 5.Star rating:

Sometimes the images you have to deal with just aren’t big enough, particularly when dealing with print media. If a photo can’t be retaken at a higher resolution then the only recourse is interpolation to make it larger. There are limits on what Photoshop can do though before the edges of lines become jagged.

Fortunately, there are plug-ins that do a much better job, such as Blow Up 3. It offers three simple options: Crop & Resize, Resize, or Stretch, which affects how the resizing parameters work. All you do is type in the new size. There are also controls for sharpening edges when enlarging and adding grain to disguise poor quality areas. There’s also some custom sharpening options for the finished enlargement. And that’s basically it.

A high-quality photo can be vastly increased, but it can get a watercolour-like effect

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