Anyone used Blow Up by Alein Skin Software?

Duckys54 · December 22, 2006

What are your experiences with it?

http://www.alienskin.com/blowup/index.html

Art Scott · December 22, 2006

I have not tried it...I absolutely depend on GENUINE FRACTALS PRINT PRO
it has worked wonders for me. Been using it since it was at v3...now it is 1000's better as now you can save as a jpg not their proprietary .stn and now you can uprez in 1 step using either %'s or actual size in inches.

Other people I know swear by pixel smrtscale and others swear by their labs RIP software, so it is quite a matter of personal choice....I would say to use the trial versions and compare...GFPrint Pro gives you a 30 day trial and you can save 20 prints.....I have had it installed for almost a year now and I still have 14 prints to save...it is still active

photobug · December 25, 2006

Duckys54 wrote:

What are your experiences with [Alien Skin "BlowUp"]?

http://www.alienskin.com/blowup/index.html

I have exactly the same question ... and the need is pressing to make a decision, since if I opt to get Genuine Fractals, it's on sale for 50% off ($79) until 12/31/2006... I hope someone can provide the benefit of their experience.

drdane · December 28, 2006

Another Upsizing Program
I have no experience with upsizing beyond PSCS Bicubic, but I've boon looking around for something better. Sounds like these programs all have their problems - like magnifying noise or creating some in the process.

Here is a review of one called SizeFixer, which costs $185 (as of that date).
http://www.outbackphoto.com/workflow/wf_92/essay.html
Seems like a good review, as it covers the cons, too.

I would appreciate input from anyone who's worked with this, especially in comparison to Genuine Fractals.

Thanks!

drdane · December 28, 2006

Here's an update - I just explored http://www.fixerlabs.com/New_Website/pages/index.htm

They have free downloads for 30 day trial.
The current price for SizeFixer is $135 (dwnld version).
If bundled with their 4-Plugin bundle (includes one to correct OOF) (bundle goes for $70 - which I think I'm going to get), the SizeFixer price drops to $87.75

Have any of you used any of their programs?

Muchas Gracias!

photobug · December 30, 2006

drdane wrote:

I have no experience with upsizing beyond PSCS Bicubic ... Here is a review of one called SizeFixer, which costs $185 (as of that date).
http://www.outbackphoto.com/workflow/wf_92/essay.html
Seems like a good review, as it covers the cons, too.

drdane, your reference to SizeFixer just led me to another product from FixerLabs.com, "FocusFixer". I am in your debt!

I just bought FocusFixer (actually the whole FixerBundle for just a few $ more) because FocusFixer helped me salvage some good but slightly out-of-focus shots into quite usable ones (especially important to me because they were part of one of my first paying gigs). FocusFixer gave nearly jaw-dropping results! "Sharpening" tools don't address focus problems, but FocusFixer does You move a slider to tell it how large the radius of confusion is (the amount of defocus) and it recovers a reasonably-focused image from a defocused one. It's always better to get focus dead-on to start with, but if you're off, at least with FocusFixer you have a chance for a decent recovery. I've never heard of any Photoshop intrinsic function or other plug-in that does this.

It's sure great to be part of this DGrin community!!

[I've re-posted this as a separate DGrin thread]

drdane · December 30, 2006

photobug wrote:

drdane, your reference to SizeFixer just led me to another product from FixerLabs.com, "FocusFixer". I am in your debt!

I just bought FocusFixer (actually the whole FixerBundle for just a few $ more) because FocusFixer helped me salvage some good but slightly out-of-focus shots into quite usable ones (especially important to me because they were part of one of my first paying gigs). FocusFixer gave nearly jaw-dropping results! "Sharpening" tools don't address focus problems, but FocusFixer does You move a slider to tell it how large the radius of confusion is (the amount of defocus) and it recovers a reasonably-focused image from a defocused one. It's always better to get focus dead-on to start with, but if you're off, at least with FocusFixer you have a chance for a decent recovery. I've never heard of any Photoshop intrinsic function or other plug-in that does this.

It's sure great to be part of this DGrin community!!

Well, Yee-Haw PhotoBug!

And thanks for the feedback on their focus fixer - I'm planning on getting that bundle as well (just trying to wait till Jan 1 for tax reasons):cry

photobug · December 30, 2006

drdane wrote:

Here's an update - I just explored http://www.fixerlabs.com/New_Website/pages/index.htm

They have free downloads for 30 day trial.

That's what I did -- took the demo version, used it for about 5 minutes on one photo, and based on the FocusFixer results bought the bundle immediately.

I do have to say that the demo version works but is kinda lame. I couldn't find a way to actually save the image that FocusFixer had "fixed". I could only scroll around in the tiny Preview window to verify that it would do what it claimed to do. Maybe I missed something, and maybe you can save with other tools but not FocusFixer.

bham · January 6, 2007

Hey photobug can you show us some examples of the focusfixer, this sounds interesting.

I have an older version of Genuine Fractuals and use it regularly.

photobug · January 6, 2007

bham wrote:

Hey photobug can you show us some examples of the focusfixer, this sounds interesting.

I started a new thread for it -- I should have included the link to it in this thread right away. That thread, which includes quick example "before" and "after" images, is http://www.dgrin.com/showthread.php?p=450024 .

FocusFixer helps a lot with focus problems, but does not change the image size, so does not compete with BlowUp, Genuine Fractals, etc.

benson · May 9, 2007

SizeFixer trial just released
Just downloaded the trial version for SizeFixer. Has anybody got any feedback yet?

Anyone used Blow Up by Alein Skin Software?

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