In general, one can never get more detail out of a pic than what is present in the RAW data. More specifically, you can only crop so much on a RAW file until you get down to a 100% crop. If you nailed focus and have a lens that can out-resolve the sensor, you may still have a sharp image when cropped to 100%. The problem is that even then, the files are so small that you may not be able to do anything with them regarding printing. There will be a limit to how big you can print them.
It's possible to upsample files in PS, but I've never been really thrilled with the results I've obtained. They are "bigger" blurry files, but still blurry files. Possible I'm just not that skilled with upsampling in PS.
I recently learned about Topaz Labs Gigapixel AI (https://topazlabs.com/gigapixel-ai). Topaz Labs have some nice sharpening software that can help mitigate loss in sharpness due to diffraction. So I was intrigued by their software offering that promises to both increase sharpness and also upsample the pic to increase file size.
I've been pretty impressed thus far. I've used it on two images: one of the moon (which requires extreme cropping even when using a 400mm lens) and one of my cats that was taken with a 50mm lens. In both cases, the resulting files were both sharper (without obvious sharpening artifacts) and also significantly larger in size.
The cat pic: taken in 2013 using a Leica MM and 50mm f/2 lens. Taken while I was watching TV in my bedroom during a snowfall with large, wet flakes. The cats were captivated by the snow landing on the skylight.
Uncropped image.
I cropped it to take out all of the distracting elements and ended up with this:
This crop is 606 KB in size when exported as a JPEG at maximal settings from LR. This file is really too small to print.
I ran it through Gigapixel AI and ended up with this:
This file is 10.2 MB when exported as a JPEG at maximal setting from LR. The imported TIFF file from Gigapixel AI is also large enough to allow more processing in LR--I added a radial filter around the cats' faces to darken the rest of the image. Of note, the cats are sharper and there is significantly less noise--all with a file that is significantly larger and usable for printing.
The moon pic: taken in 2017 with a Sony A7RII and 100-400mm lens @ 400mm. On a tripod using best technique.
Uncropped image.
Cropped to fill the frame with the moon:
This crop is 340 KB in size when exported as a JPEG at maximal settings from LR. The file is really too small to print.
I ran it through Gigapixel AI and ended up with this:
This file is 7.2 MB when exported as a JPEG at maximal setting from LR. Similar to the above pic of the cats, it is both sharper and larger than the crop of the original in LR. Very printable.
I've tried upsampling both pics in PS and ended up with smaller files that look worse.
It's possible the differences may not be readily apparent in the above pics, since the files were downsampled in flickr for posting here. But viewing the actual files it is night and day. Not saying it is perfect by any stretch. It is obviously better to use the proper focal length for your subject at the time of capture to avoid the need for cropping in post. But I've been pleasantly surprised using the software.
My workflow using it has been to export a TIFF of the image in question after cropping it and applying most adjustments. Then import the Gigapixel AI TIFF into LR for any final adjustments.
There is a 30 day free trial to test it out on your own. So really no downside to trying it out
It's possible to upsample files in PS, but I've never been really thrilled with the results I've obtained. They are "bigger" blurry files, but still blurry files. Possible I'm just not that skilled with upsampling in PS.
I recently learned about Topaz Labs Gigapixel AI (https://topazlabs.com/gigapixel-ai). Topaz Labs have some nice sharpening software that can help mitigate loss in sharpness due to diffraction. So I was intrigued by their software offering that promises to both increase sharpness and also upsample the pic to increase file size.
I've been pretty impressed thus far. I've used it on two images: one of the moon (which requires extreme cropping even when using a 400mm lens) and one of my cats that was taken with a 50mm lens. In both cases, the resulting files were both sharper (without obvious sharpening artifacts) and also significantly larger in size.
The cat pic: taken in 2013 using a Leica MM and 50mm f/2 lens. Taken while I was watching TV in my bedroom during a snowfall with large, wet flakes. The cats were captivated by the snow landing on the skylight.
Uncropped image.
I cropped it to take out all of the distracting elements and ended up with this:
This crop is 606 KB in size when exported as a JPEG at maximal settings from LR. This file is really too small to print.
I ran it through Gigapixel AI and ended up with this:
This file is 10.2 MB when exported as a JPEG at maximal setting from LR. The imported TIFF file from Gigapixel AI is also large enough to allow more processing in LR--I added a radial filter around the cats' faces to darken the rest of the image. Of note, the cats are sharper and there is significantly less noise--all with a file that is significantly larger and usable for printing.
The moon pic: taken in 2017 with a Sony A7RII and 100-400mm lens @ 400mm. On a tripod using best technique.
Uncropped image.
Cropped to fill the frame with the moon:
This crop is 340 KB in size when exported as a JPEG at maximal settings from LR. The file is really too small to print.
I ran it through Gigapixel AI and ended up with this:
This file is 7.2 MB when exported as a JPEG at maximal setting from LR. Similar to the above pic of the cats, it is both sharper and larger than the crop of the original in LR. Very printable.
I've tried upsampling both pics in PS and ended up with smaller files that look worse.
It's possible the differences may not be readily apparent in the above pics, since the files were downsampled in flickr for posting here. But viewing the actual files it is night and day. Not saying it is perfect by any stretch. It is obviously better to use the proper focal length for your subject at the time of capture to avoid the need for cropping in post. But I've been pleasantly surprised using the software.
My workflow using it has been to export a TIFF of the image in question after cropping it and applying most adjustments. Then import the Gigapixel AI TIFF into LR for any final adjustments.
There is a 30 day free trial to test it out on your own. So really no downside to trying it out
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