Friday , April 26 2024
If you need to dramatically increase image size while maintaining quality, then you need Genuine Fractals 6.

Software Review: Genuine Fractals 6.0 From onOne

The problem begins with an image that's great, but because you shot it with your 3 megapixel camera, you can get a decent 4×6 inch print, but when you try to get an 8×10 or larger, it just doesn't look the same. Or you try to make an 8×10 from your digital camera file but it will only go to 8×12, or 7×10 because the sensor size on your camera is a different aspect ratio from the most common paper sizes. Well, that is where Genuine Fractals 6.0 comes in. It will do all the heavy lifting when it comes to creating crystal clear enlargements of your images.

This new version of Genuine Fractals 6.0 represents a significant update of onOne's award-winning plug-in software. This version, while retaining the same powerful scaling capabilities, has enhanced its scaling engine and added more end user control for even more fine range image management than ever before. While there are two versions of Genuine Fractals 6.0 – standard and professional – I will be looking at the professional version.

Genuine Fractals 6.0 is an Adobe Photoshop plug-in that will allow you to enlarge your images over 1000% with no loss in quality or detail. It also allows you to crop and resize your image in a single step. By using the plug-in, all that you have to do is open the image in workspace, select the size of print that you want to produce, select the resolution best for your printer, and Genuine Fractals does the rest.

What's New in Genuine Fractals 6.0

• Gallery wrap now gives you the ability to easily create gallery wrap enlargements. When making a gallery wrap for canvas, it is common to wrap a portion around the wooden stretcher bars. The problem is that important detail can be lost near the edges. This version of Genuine Fractals automatically extends the margins by reflecting or stretching the areas near the edge of the image without sacrificing any of the original image.

• Tiling now allows you to print large format images from a small format printer. This automatically divides your enlargement into smaller pieces so that you can print the individual sections. You just specify the paper size and overlap and Genuine Fractals will create the individual tiles.

• Batch processing has added an improved version of the onOne batch processing engine. This will allow you to resize an entire folder of images to a consistent size as well as create up to two new versions of an image. You have full control of the size, resolution, file format, name, location, color space, and it even gives you the ability to add a watermark.

• Texture presets give you capabilities for common image scenarios. These presets are designed to give you an easy method to set the key parameters for getting the highest quality enlargement based on the type of image that you are trying to create.

• Adobe Photoshop Lightroom and Apple Aperture integration means that Genuine Fractals 6.0 can be used as a plug-in in each of these programs as you would in Adobe Photoshop.

• Searchable HTML help now puts the pertinent information that you need right at your fingertips. Since it works just like visiting a website, you need nothing more than your browser.

• Video tutorials have now been updated to provide the training and education that you need to get the best out of Genuine Fractals 6.0. There are over a dozen built in videos that cover topics from basic to advanced techniques.

Genuine Fractals just keeps getting better. It installs easily and really requires no learning curve to begin to use it. It does take a little bit of time to analyze and reproduce your image. If you have the need to enlarge your images beyond the size that is recommended for your image size, or if you want to improve the quality of your larger images with cleaner detail with better shadow and highlight detail then you should check out Genuine Fractals 6.

About T. Michael Testi

Photographer, writer, software engineer, educator, and maker of fine images.

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