AKVIS Magnifier 2.0
Reviewed: Geetesh Bajaj
Date Created: November 11th 2008
Last Updated: February 27th 2009
Introduction
If you tried resizing an image larger than its actual size, you might have come across the problem where the quality of the image gets degraded and pixelated.
AKVIS Magnifier, a Photoshop compatible plug-in upscales the images with advanced enlargement algorithms, preserving the edge to edge image sharpness while improving image appearance by removing unwanted noise and compression artifacts.
AKVIS Magnifier is from AKVIS, a company based in Russia that specializes in graphics programs. Apart from Frame Suite, AKVIS also creates other Photoshop compatible plug-ins like Retoucher, Chameleon, Stamp, Sketch, Enhancer, Decorator and Coloriage.
You can download a free 10 day trial version of Magnifier from the AKVIS site...
My contact at AKVIS for this review was Kat Kharina, thank you Kat.
How To Use
Follow the steps to use AKVIS Magnifier:
- Choose a small sized image and open it in Adobe Photoshop.
- Choose File | Automate | AKVIS Magnifier, as shown in Figure 1.
Figure 1: AKVIS Magnifier
- This will open the AKVIS Magnifier interface that you can see in the Figure 2 below.
Figure 2: AKVIS Magnifier Interface
The interface is explained below:
- Preview has two tabs -- Before and After, which show the original and changed images.
- On the top right, you'll find the Navigator.
- New Size: allows to set the new required size (either in pixels or in percent).
Note: The output image can not exceed 30000 pixels in any specified direction.
- Parameters allows you to tweak options such sharpen edges, edge smoothness, simplicity, etc.
- Unsharp Mask: this tool sharpens the image by increasing contrast between the pixels. enable the check-box and make changes.
- Presets: here you can save the parameters changes and save them as preset and use them in the future.
- Preview has two tabs -- Before and After, which show the original and changed images.
- After done with the applying parameters, click the either the Autorun or Run icons (see icons below).
The difference between both of these options is that while the Autorun option shows you automatic previews of any changes, the Run icon only shows you changes when clicked.
- This applies and creates a preview of the image.
You can preview the changed image in the
After tab, as shown in Figure 3.
Figure 3: The Before and After tabs
- Once you’re done with playing with the parameters, apply the result to the image by pressing the Apply icon (see icon below) to return to the image editor.
Note: Although the instructions above showed how you can use AKVIS Magnifier as a Photoshop plug-in, the product also works in the same way in standalone mode -- just launch the application through its icon in the AKVIS Magnifier group in your Windows Start Menu.
Specifications
 Photoshop Versions: |
6+ |
Platforms: |
Windows, Mac |
Site: |
AKVIS |
Price: |
US $129 and above |
Trial Version: |
10 days |
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