Enlarging a Postcard

[queenofthehive]

Not sure if this is the correct place for this question but you folks are on the techie side so I thought you might run into this same problem for old photos (kinda same concept). I have postcards that I would like to enlarge so I can hang as pictures. I would like to enlarge to 8 x 11 and up. What is the best way to do this? Thank you in advance for your help.

 

[photo_chick]

A high quality scan should get it done for you. Then you can just print from that.

If you do it yourself you may have to do some math and the formula you need is inches x DPI = pixels. To put that into practice (with generic easy to round numbers LOL).... if you have a 4x6 postcard and want to make an 8x12 print you need to make sure you scan at a high enough resolution for the 8x12 print. The file needs to be 300 DPI to print well so we multiply 8 x 12 by 300 and get 2400 x 3600. That is how many pixels our scan needs to be. Next we figure out the scanning resolution we need. Take that 2400 x 3600 and divide by 4 x 6 (the size of the original). You get 600. So you would scan your original at 600 DPI. The actual DPI you need to scan at will depend on the size of your original and the size you want to print at.

Some will suggest just taking a picture of it but this can be a lot more complicated than you think. You have to have the lighting right as well as make sure the postcard is absolutely parallel to your sensor and unless you have a copy stand or similar setup you're making a lot more work for yourself than just a scan.

 

[Bstanley]

Depending on the details of how the postcard was printed you may need to adjust the resolution that you scan at, as well as selecting certain options like 'de-screening' so that your resulting enlargement looks good.

You may see waves of color or patterns appearing across the resulting enlargement - you'll know it when you see it.