Help with enhancing a photo
 

Does anyone have photo enhancement software that can be used to clean up a photo? I need a little help clearing up a photo so that I can read names on it!

Thanks in advance!
Travis

tlwise12@aol.com

Picasa has some rudimentary photo enhancing ability (sharpening, etc.) and is free. If you're looking for the kind of thing you see on CSI, where blurry text magically becomes clear, in which case, I would suggest you go to the CBS studios :)

What Matt is saying is that the impression given on CSI type shows as to what can be done with low-res images does not represent reality. You can't recreate visual information that was lost in the reprodution of the image - it's gone. All you can do is sharpen things up a bit. In this case it probably won't help you much.

Changing contrast might help a little.

In real crime scenes, forenic examiner change contrast and lighting sources to make things stand out/contrast from the background-- stuff like eyelashes and blood stainss. But that 's when looking in person physical objects. Stuff in a photo would be different.

As a software developer, I always cringe when I hear those familiar phrases "Zoom in right there!", and "Enhance it!"

Email me the highest resolution scan you can and I will be happy to try and help you.

What!?! CSI has been lying to me all these years? :D

I have long suspected that DNA results weren't available in 7 minutes, either!

Memorial Day is ruined now for all of us!

I'm pretty sure Jim's only allowed to ruin the hobby.

Photoshop
 

Photoshop has a feature called sharpen, but without going into to detail the answer is it can not/will not help. Every scan or print (generation) made from the original is only going to loose information. Also a little trick is to you can view it in reverse negative so see it a little diffrent.

But if you cant see it with a 10X loop no software will help.

I always liked the original CSI. It stayed somewhat grounded, if exaggerated with it's technology.

I can't stand the spin-offs though. By the time they got to New York and were reading license plates and getting mug shots from Google Earth type images and B&W surveillance cameras, 3 blocks from the scene of the crime, I just couldn't stand it anymore.

:)

The show 24 did a lot of that as well.

You often get this wrong. Rob D is ruining the hobby. I am ruining humanity!

It's at least the second time I've made that mistake - thanks for correcting me, however counter-productive that may seem to your greater cause.

Agreed, David Caruso is the worst actor to grace a series since William Shatner's Captain Kirk.

Whadaya mean, he's got that cool sideways stance and that cool removes his sunglasses motion. Think of all the work involved to perfect all that. Hours upon hours of standing in front of a mirror to get it just right :p
Not to mention all the episodes of Hawaii 5 0 he must of watched to find his character.
http://www.tv-nostalgie.de/Sound/hawaiifiveo8.jpg