Digital
enlargement of photos taken on film have some issues that
need to be considered. Any time you convert from one
medium to another, meaning film to digital, there can be a
slight loss in quality or a minimal shift in color values.
Even though it is possible to make very good digital
adjustments to the digitized image, precise reproduction
of the original film photograph may not always be
possible.
The main point to consider in what the quality of the
enlarged print will be, is the actual quality of the
original photo. High resolution scanning of the film photo
will produce an image that is exactly the same as the
original photo. The thing is, the original photo that most
people use is so small in comparison to the target
enlargement print size, the naked eye is not able to see
the imperfections that exist on the film photo. This would
especially apply to 35mm negatives, transparencies and
slides.
As an example, let's say you have a 4x6 photo print you
would like to enlarge to a size of 16x24. This is
enlarging the original photo 16 times. Presentation of the
photo's focus and image details will be expanded, or
magnified 16 times. What this really boils down to is
decompressing the image. The photo enlargement will only
be as sharp and clear as the original 4x6 print. The best
way to determine the quality of the enlargement is to take
a very close look at the original photograph. I recommend
viewing the photo with a good quality magnifying glass. At
least a 4x magnification will give you a pretty good idea
of how the 16x24 enlargement will appear.
Producing a 16x24 enlargement from a 35mm negative,
transparency or slide is a much greater magnification of
the original photo. It is about impossible to preview
these types of original photos. Here a rule of thumb may
be taking into consideration the quality of the photo
processing lab you used for photo developing. If you used
a high volume, low cost processor, well then the quality
may not be as good as you may think. If the film was
processed by a professional lab, you may be able to expect
much better quality.
The next point to consider for quality photo enlargements,
is the size of the original film photograph. The less you
have to magnify the original, the better the enlargement
quality will be. Also, the larger the original film
photograph, the finer the original image details and
sharpness will be for the source photo. This means less
image decompression for the target photo enlargement size.
For example, if you had a film photo you wanted to enlarge
to 16x24, and had the original photo printed as a 4x6 and
had the negative also, you would probably want to use the
4x6 print to produce the 16x24 photo enlargement. Much
less image magnification would be required. If you had
even a larger print, such as an 8x10, the enlargement
quality would even be better. The original 8x10 would
contain much better photo detail and sharpness, at a
larger size, and so would the photo enlargement.
Finally, the quality of the camera and film used for the
photograph make a big difference in how good the photo
enlargement print will appear. Obviously, a photo taken
with some cheap, disposable camera will not even come
close to the original detail and sharpness that could be
obtained using a high quality camera with a refined lens.
In conclusion, there are just a few points to consider for
producing fine quality photo enlargement from original
film photographs.
- The actual
quality of the original film photo to be used
for photo enlargement.
- The quality of
the photo lab used in film processing.
- The physical
size of the film photo used for the photo
enlargement.
- The quality of
the camera and film used for the original film
photo.
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The more of the points
above you have covered, the finer the quality you can
expect for your photo enlargement.
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