As a journalist I am sent many software packages for review. Testing software and hardware takes a considerable amount of time, I don’t just read the manual and take their word for any claim or specification, I test each item fully, probably more than necessary. Only after exhaustive testing do I feel I can give you, the reader, a full unbiased review. Some of the software – in fact a lot of software, doesn't warrant reviewing because I end up being too honest and debunk many of the claims or it simply doesn't work. I have received a Photoshop plug-in which may help to improve your resized images.

Resize Magic

This application optimise images when you resize them up or down “Resize Magic is a Photoshop plug in that resizes images using a high quality algorithm, similar to the Lanczos algorithm used by other programs, with some modifications.

It integrates perfectly with your imaging program: it will not ask you to save the resized image in a temporary file, but you will see the output in the same window as the original image. You will even be able to use the undo and redo command!” Quote from Fulvio Senore, of the Italian software house, Fsoft.

I don’t know of many plug ins that output to a new window, most place the result on the picture you are working with and I would expect any filter to have an undo command, nothing too spectacular here.

Resize Magic is a small download (100k zip file), which can be found at www.fsoft.it/imaging. After unzipping the file you must manually place the ResizeMagic.8bf file in your Photoshop Plug-in folder (or other Photoshop plug-in compatible application) and you are ready to go. It would have been easier if the installation found the correct folder and installed the plug-in automatically.

Why do you need to upsize images?
If you have just shot a picture, but only a small part of it warrants enlargement, you have two choices: lower the file resolution and make the image bigger (this can cause the image to become pixelated); or resample the image to give the file size you require. The first method can produce an ugly blocky picture, whereas the second method can leave you with a blurry looking picture. Neither method is entirely satisfactory.

Too much background	Will I get a decent 8x6 print from this crop?

Fulvio writes "Let's start with upsizing: I like to be honest (at least I try), so in the site it's clearly written that you need to enlarge to poster size to see the difference. This holds for every program, not only Resize Magic, since Photoshop does a good job if you do not enlarge more than, let's say, 300%."

On my first test picture I have taken a Nikon D1 file (2.7 megapixels) and made a crop of just the cat's head. This leaves me with a file size of 492K, I want to produce a 6x8 print. To achieve this by lowering the resolution I have to reduce the resolution to 58 dpi - horrid! The second method is to up sample the picture to 516%, this produces a blurry looking picture. So let's see what Resize Magic can do.

With the picture cropped, launch the Resize Magic filter. This copies the current state of the image to the clipboard. Next, using Photoshop's own tools, adjust your image to the required size and press OK.

The first screen tells you the image has been copied to the clipboard	In Photoshop enter the document size required

With the image now resized, re-launch the Resize Magic filter. Your file size is displayed, on my sample it is a 361 x 465 pixel image which has been re sampled to 1863 x 2400 pixels, an enlargement of 516%. On this same palette you can also select the sharpness level, Lower, Normal, and Higher (on my tests there was little difference between each of the settings). Press the OK button and the image on the clipboard is processed to fit your new image size.

With the image is resized, re launch the filter and press OK - done.

So how does the filter perform?

No filter	With Resize Magic
Using Photoshop's USM	Using Photoshop Sharpen More & USM

The difference between the Photoshop Image size and the Resize Magic images are very, very subtle. There is an improvement in the Resize Magic image, you can just see it on the samples above. I tried to equal this result using Photoshop's USM and Sharpen More filters but they didn't quite match the result of the Resize Magic filter. As you can see, over magnification of images is not always the best solution. But as Fulvio says "you need to enlarge to poster size to see the difference" The un cropped original picture resampled would generate a picture size of 34 x 22 inches at 300 dpi (a 200 mb file). I have printed the cropped version (8 x 6), using the filtered and non filtered versions. The Resize Magic filtered version is marginally sharper, but also highlights a slight amount of pixelation. The Photoshop re sample print looks softer but hides the pixels. The conclusion is that you can't always win here, but Resize Magic has put in a good performance.

Fulvio says Resize Magic is both good at making images larger, but exceptionally good at reducing the sizes of images: “Resize Magic is designed to reduce images with the maximum quality too. It's hard to believe, but Photoshop and similar programs are really weak when they reduce the size of images: if you reduce a lot you obtain a blurred image. Most resizing plug-ins and programs do not create good images when reducing, too.”

Downsizing images is just as easy, the procedure is exactly the same, only you make the image smaller. I ran a test on several images using Resize Magic and Photoshop with the USM filter, again Resize Magic came back with results that couldn't be equalled, albeit the results were subtle. One of the most difficult things I do is make screen grabs of palettes, these are then reduced in size. They always end up looking soft or have nasty halo's around the text. Here is a sample grab which has been reduced in size - which can you read the best.

Photoshop resize	With Resize Magic

The picture of Scotney Castle shows the advantage that Resize Magic has. I am surprised at how well this filter performed when downsizing images. I started this review sceptically expecting to totally slate the plug-in, but as the review progressed I could see the advantages that this plug-in offers. There is no doubt that the real strength of this filter lies in its ability to downsize images and yet still maintain image sharpness. Up sampling images, especially digital camera images, relies on having superb camera optics and not pushing your files too much. In the picture of my cat, it would have been better to take a few steps closer rather than apply a 516% magnification.

Despite the clumsy method of applying the filter, Resize Magic worked as claimed. The results on re sampling the picture upwards were not as dramatic as I would have liked, but the results on downsizing images were very, very good, I will use this filter often.

Resize Magic at present only works on 8 bit RGB files, the image must only have one layer and no selections. An enhanced version which will work with Grayscale & CMYK is under development.

The current Resize Magic filter is modestly priced at EU€24, about UK£17 or US$28 and can be downloaded from www.fsoft.it/imaging - a trial version is also available.

Pros:
Very good on downsizing
Price

Cons:
Results on upsizing too subtle
Applying the filter should be one action.

© Vincent Oliver 2003 www.photo-i.co.uk
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