How to enlarge an image with as little pixelation as possible?

Question

What technique(s) can I use to enlarge small digital (raster) image in order to best avoid pixelation? I can print the image and scan at high resolution, but I also want to preserve as close to exact color as I can. I'm happy to hear any technique using any tool or toolset.

Answer 1

When it comes to digital images, you have to worry about the PPI first of all. This is points per inch or pixels per inch. For print pieces, you'll want 150-300ppi. The higher the PPI (up to 300) the higher quality your picture will be. However, there is no great way to make raster images larger than their original size without pixelation. You can use Adobe Photoshop but still, the more you stretch your photo the more pixelated it will get.

I would suggest going into your camera settings and changing the base size your picture are taken at. If you have an image that has under 300ppi, you can pull it into Adobe Photoshop and use the "image settings" to change the PPI. As long as you keep the height and width the same, you will not see much pixelization.