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August 16, 2006 – Last week, image software company FixerLabs released a Windows-compatible SizeFixer XL program to enlarge digital photos up to 400 percent, according to last Wednesday’s press release.
"Upsize your digital photos to 500 mpixel and beyond with SizeFixer XL," states the company website.
Originally introduced in 2004 as a Mac OS X version, the new Windows-based SizeFixer XL guarantees to enlarge photos up to 33x46 inches without degrading image sharpness or compromising image interpolation, according to the release.
The standalone program handles RGB, JPEG, and TIFF files. SizeFixer XL’s "super-resolution technology" provides large, unlimited file output size, according to the website, with limits only set by the user’s computer processing.
SizeFixer XL increases image size in two ways. If EXIF information is present, SizeFixer XL reads image EXIF data with its LensFIT technology. Using a super-resolution deconvulsion method, SizeFixer internally processes the EXIF information to enhance image pixels.
"Imagine a single pixel in the original image divided into four pixels in the output image," stated FixerLabs representative Tim Atherton. "SizeFixer will divide the light in the original pixel, with information from surrounding pixels, into different light levels in each of the four new sub-pixels," said Atherton. The program then creates a "guess" to compute a high-resolution image.
Size Fixer also uses its Fourier/Lanczos interpolator to improve the image with a built-in unsharp mask tool, when EXIF information is not present.
The technology has its roots in government and military use, including NASA imaging. Called a "world-first for commercial use of super-resolution deconvolution technology," according to Atherton, SizeFixer is now available to the public.
The suggested retail price of SizeFixer XL is $295.00. The program is compatible with cameras including the Canon 30D, Nikon D200, and Pentax *ist DSLRs.