REPAIRING A LOW RES JPEG IMAGE using 'The GIMP'
Lets have a look at ways we can fix those Horrible Low Res Jpeg's that customers always often send as final art claiming sadly 'That's all we have'. So it's up to us Artists to try and fix the image or completely re-create the artwork.
In this lesson I'm going to use 'The GIMP' because its free and also because I want to show you how to use some of it's filters in ways you would probably not expect.
Firstly I opened a 75dpi low quality image in 'The GIMP' I Zoomed in using the Navigator and below is the close up of the Image.
You will have to use the Navigator or zoom tools to Zoom out because you just made the Image a lot bigger.
This is a typical close up of a low res jpeg with a lot of compression. Small file 'crap' quality.
The first step is to re-sample the image and increase it's pixel size.
We do this by choosing Image > Scale Image to bring up the Dialog below.
I increased the Width to 1000 pixels from 200 pixels.
Click the Scale button to make the changes
Look at all that 'worming' around the outside and inside the Image elements.
The Image is smoother because we increased the amount of Pixels. Stay Zoomed in close.
From the menu choose Filters > Artistic > Van Gogh
Use the settings as as I have above and Click the OK button. If you don't get rid of all the 'worming' then choose Filters > Repeat "Van Gogh"
i did a great deal of experimentation and found that it was easier to use the settings above and just apply the process again rather that set it in one go. But hey if you have a few spare hours you might find a better setting. Experimentation is what it's all about. How many people would have thought of using this filter in this way in the first place. That's why its so important to spend a few hours every week exploring and fiddling.
I must add at this point that this filter really does other great things with Photographic Images. Have a look, have a fiddle with a Photo....... anyway back to our lesson.
Our Image now looks like the one below. Look across at the other Images and see the Improvement.
Next we will use the Unsharpen Mask to Sharpen the Image. Choose Filters > Enhance > UnSharp Mask and use the settings as I have below.
Press type OK button and your Image should look like the one below.
Now Choose Save As to save your file. Look at the difference between the first Image and the fixed Image.
You can achieve the same results in Photoshop and Corel Photopaint using the 'Smart Blur' filter.
If you want to go one step further Open Inkscape and Import the Image you have just enhanced. Inkscape is a FREE Open Source Vector Illustration program.....and a good one at that.
Choose Path > Trace Bitmap
Use These settings and press OK
You now have an editable scalable Vector Image that you can adjust, change colors and prepare for final Print. Again compare this with the original on the far left. And it only takes a few minutes.
Corel Draw and Illustrator also have Trace programs that will convert Bitmap Images To Vector Images......Oh by the way this is a real customer and a real job...and that really was all the artwork I got and I really did fix it up for print using this method. - Cheers -ED.
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