blurring techniques

[Eric Matthes]

I have an image which consists of a rocky foreground, a tree, and a blue sky. I printed the image at 8x10, and it came out quite well. When I printed it at 11x14, the sky became speckled. This does not surprise me, as the image came from a scan of a 35mm slide. The image is printing at 240 dpi, so it is not an issue of pixellation. I believe it is a matter of the scanner creating noise in the large areas of continuous tone.
I selected the sky and applied a Gaussian blur, and the print came out significantly better. I used a radius of 1 pixel.
My question: For anyone who has experience with this, do you have any advice on how to do this well? Will I get better results with a smaller radius, repeated several times? A larger radius? A different blurring tool? I am not dissatisfied with my results so far, but I am curious to know if people with more experience have some suggestions. I do notice a slight softness to the sky, and I wonder if a different technique will get rid of the speckles, but keep a sharpness to the color gradations in the sky.
Thank you!

[imacgirl]

Eric,

You may want to give Filter>Noise>Despeckle a try. I've used it in the past with some success on 35mm color slides I've scanned. I encountered a problem with red speckles appearing in the shadows and the Despeckle filter helped to reduce it. I used that filter on the entire image. I'll have to give your Gaussian blur method a try...sounds good!

Barb

p.s. Just saw your other topics and wanted to welcome you to the forum! :-)
If you want to see the kind of stuff I shoot, create and edit with Elements 2, just click on 'imacgirl' and there are some links.

[Eric Matthes]

Barb,
I'll give the despeckle a try. Your work is absolutely beautiful! What do you use to print your work? How large do you print? I'll bet those are some stunning prints, framed!

[imacgirl]

Eric,

Thanks! I'm relatively new to the digital world and don't have a very sophisticated printer as of yet. I use an Epson C-80 to print 8 x 10's and use a local print shop for larger images.

Barb

[Eric Matthes]

Barb,
I used the despeckle, and it printed beautifully at 13x19. I am amazed to be able to do this at home. My first 13x19!

[imacgirl]

Eric,

That's terrific the Despeckle filter did the trick. Congratulations on your first 13x19 at home! The Epson 1280 sounds like a great printer I may have to invest in. How long does it take you to print a 13x19?

I'll bet your images of Alaska at that size are impressive!

Barb

[Eric Matthes]

I gave in to temptation and logged into the forum at work today. Now I'll never get anything done, but I'm guessing I'll be a little more like everyone else here.
The 1280 is excellent so far. I did not time it, but I'm guessing it was 10-15 minutes for the 13x19. It was actually a picture I took in Arizona this spring, and at that size it takes me right back to that day. One of those, "I guess I'll take my camera on this short walk" decisions that turned into a memorable experience, and a great image to go with it.

[imacgirl]

Eric,

Thanks. That's not too bad timewise, although I wish it had a firewire connection. I looked at the specs. for the Epson 1280 & the 2200 (I'm dreaming here) and it looks like a printer I could put to use. About time I got a 'photo' printer. Large size prints can really do that to you.

I make it a point to always have my camera with me, you just never know what you'll come across. I wear it as my necklace. ;-)

Barb

[Chuck Snyder]

Barb, you certainly make great use of that 'necklace'!!

:-)

Chuck

[imacgirl]

Chuck, better than a strand of pearls!

;-)

Barb

[Eric Matthes]

I know the necklace idea, that's why I got a point-and-shoot digital. My F100 is more like a ball and chain than a necklace. But I still make myself go hiking once in a while without any photo equipment. It's nice to go light, and it's nice to feel no need to make a good image. I see the world differently through the lens, and I see the world differently when I take time away from the camera. As in everything, it's all about balance.
Regarding the 1280, I don't care much about time for prints. It's a lot faster than going to the lab! The quality is great, and it is definitely a quiet machine. I don't see much advantage to the individual inks anymore - the cost of ink is quite comparable, maybe even cheaper with the single cartridge. The only real difference I have come across is the dye vs pigment inks. Now I dream of the 7600! But that's for commercial work. How many 24x36's can you hang on your walls?!

[imacgirl]

Eric,

I have to admit, I'm a little addicted to photography since I got my first digicam, the Minolta Dimage S414, this past March. So far I've shot about 11,000 images, have plenty to edit with PSE 2! ;-) I'm hoping the "balance" sets in soon. I had put my 35mm SLR cameras (the lead weights) away a while ago and the digicam along with Elements 2 have revitalized my love for photography. It allows me to shoot what I wouldn't have normally tried with film, experimenting is what it's all about! Sure don't miss lugging all that old equipment around, although the OP/TECH <http://www.optechusa.com> camera straps helped some. May have to try it with the digicam too, tired of that narrow strap.

Thanks for sharing your experience with the Epson 1280. I contacted Epson today and they are going to send me sample prints from the 1280 & the 2200 to compare. I'm really looking forward to getting a new printer! :-)

Barb