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Upscaled small rasterized objects look pixelated


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I just downloaded the trial of Affinity Photo for Windows and so far I'm really impressed! :) I'm checking it out to see if it's a viable replacement of Photoshop before purchase.

 

Of course, as any new software there are some questions. When I upscale small resterized objects they look pixelated. In Photoshop they get filtered and a bit sharpened with large radius so the loss of quality and pixelation due to upscaling is not that apparent. When I save the document as JPG or any other image format, everything looks fine and no pixelation appears.

 

Please see the screenshot below:

 

post-48369-0-72678700-1486792239_thumb.jpg

 

Maybe this is on purpose? Maybe a way for Affinity Photo to keep document size low because unfiltered/pixelated layers require less information to be stored? If they get filtered after resize, all the blurred pixels and their gradations/shades have to be stored in the file which increases file size. Maybe doing the filtering at the end of the design process (when exporting to raster file) ensures low document size? So what's the way to tackle this and see better filtered enlarged objects while still working on the document? Is there a toggle that let's you preview the document with all enlarged objects filtered the same way as they are filtered after export?

 

Thanks in advance! :)

post-48369-0-72678700-1486792239_thumb.jpg

Affinity Photo 2.3.1 for Windows  OS: Windows 10 Pro x64 ver. 22H2  CPU: AMD Ryzen 7950X 16-core  RAM: 64 GB DDR5-6400  GPU: MSI GeForce RTX 3090 Suprim X 24GB / driver 526.98  NVMe SSD Samsung 980 Pro 1 TB  Monitors: 2x Eizo ColorEdge CS2420 24"

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Anyone? :mellow:

Affinity Photo 2.3.1 for Windows  OS: Windows 10 Pro x64 ver. 22H2  CPU: AMD Ryzen 7950X 16-core  RAM: 64 GB DDR5-6400  GPU: MSI GeForce RTX 3090 Suprim X 24GB / driver 526.98  NVMe SSD Samsung 980 Pro 1 TB  Monitors: 2x Eizo ColorEdge CS2420 24"

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Hello? No one knows? :blink:

Affinity Photo 2.3.1 for Windows  OS: Windows 10 Pro x64 ver. 22H2  CPU: AMD Ryzen 7950X 16-core  RAM: 64 GB DDR5-6400  GPU: MSI GeForce RTX 3090 Suprim X 24GB / driver 526.98  NVMe SSD Samsung 980 Pro 1 TB  Monitors: 2x Eizo ColorEdge CS2420 24"

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Both look horrible, just in different ways.

 

There are dedicated applications and plug-ins that can do a better job, but in the end one cannot make too large of upscaling without some trade-off.

 

As to what/how Affinity products do this...dunno. I myself would not do such a thing directly in PS, either.

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Can you provide the source image?

I highly doubt that this is because of affinity photo.

Seems like you either messed up something about rasterisation or used nearest neighbour algorithm for something.

 

Cheers

 

Sure, please see attached a similar image along with the aphoto document where I've already placed it.

 

If you upscale the pixel layer you'll see the pixelation happening. Photoshop seems to do some kind of resampling after you upscale pixel layers. Maybe in Photo the resampling is not done automatically? If that's the case, how can I do it to achieve a better result similar to what Photoshop does? I think you can't deny Photoshop's resampled upscaled pixel layer looks much better than the pixelated result Photo gives when upscaling.

 

 

Both look horrible, just in different ways.

 

I strongly disagree. Photoshop's upscaled layer looks much better.

 

As to what/how Affinity products do this...dunno. I myself would not do such a thing directly in PS, either.

 

What about the cases when you have a source image which is not of a great resolution but you still need to use in a document because there's no other alternative? Like it or not, you'll need to use what you have.

aphoto_upscaling_problem.afphoto

post-48369-0-40861600-1487192517_thumb.png

Affinity Photo 2.3.1 for Windows  OS: Windows 10 Pro x64 ver. 22H2  CPU: AMD Ryzen 7950X 16-core  RAM: 64 GB DDR5-6400  GPU: MSI GeForce RTX 3090 Suprim X 24GB / driver 526.98  NVMe SSD Samsung 980 Pro 1 TB  Monitors: 2x Eizo ColorEdge CS2420 24"

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Poor looking is relative. Yes the PS version, though flat, looks better than the other version. But neither are what I would use. I see the uploaded image isn't the one in the opening post. The image looks like it well could have come from a stock photo site. If it did, one needs to actually purchase a larger version. Which, if a client gave me this small image, is what I would suggest to them.

 

Image scaling, even if one has to do so, doesn't exist in a vacuum. It has to be done with knowing how it is going to be used and the desired print size. So how large would you want the image you attached?

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I do have very high-res versions of these photos. That's not the point of the whole conversation. Neither is whether the enlarged images look good. It's obvious that they both don't, even though one is much better than the other. I've only used them as an example and that's why I showed/posted different images. You can try to reproduce the issue with any image you want. I don't need help on resizing those particular photos. I want to know how I can upscale any low-res image in Photo so that it looks as good as in Photoshop. I think it's as clear as day that it looks much better in Photoshop. That's why I'm asking if Photo can upscale low-res photos with the same result qualitywise as Photoshop. Do you understand what I mean?

Affinity Photo 2.3.1 for Windows  OS: Windows 10 Pro x64 ver. 22H2  CPU: AMD Ryzen 7950X 16-core  RAM: 64 GB DDR5-6400  GPU: MSI GeForce RTX 3090 Suprim X 24GB / driver 526.98  NVMe SSD Samsung 980 Pro 1 TB  Monitors: 2x Eizo ColorEdge CS2420 24"

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We still really need some specifics...

 

Re the original two images. How big was it to start? How big did you make it to get that pixilated image? How were those images made... Screen shot or saved and combined? Both at same zoom? What is your internal rasterization method in PS? Was the image rasterized in AP? .... just to start.

 

Can you supply the original image and some of those answers?

 

Or... if you want to stay with the new supplied image, can you post a pixilated AFP resize result?

 

This is what I get with an initial test. Huge increase in size. Screen cap at pixel size within AFP. That's what we're talking about right? In App?

post-12544-0-29424000-1487207627_thumb.png

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The businessman image is 191 x 403 px and in both examples (PS and APHOTO) the image was resized to fully fill an A4 document at 300 DPI, landscape orientation. The screenshots in my 1st post are made at the same zoom level - 100%. As you can see, the test is made in an equal environment. I wouldn't have done otherwise or it would not be a fair comparison, obviously.

 

"What is your internal rasterization method in PS?" - I don't know what this is so I haven't touched it from defaults.

Was the image rasterized in AP? - Yes. I imported the full-res photo. Shrinked it down to 191 x 403 px and rasterized the layer. After that, I upscaled the layer again. I did the same in Photoshop so the comparison can be fair.

 

 

Do this:

1. Download the supplied files in post #6

2. Open the aphoto file. It's an A4 paper size document at 300 DPI

3. Resize the businessman to fill the whole document

 

Notice the pixelation, especially around the edges of the photo.

 

Now do this:

1. Run Photoshop and create a new A4 document at 300 DPI to match the aphoto document size and resolution.

2. Open the businessman photo in Photoshop in a separate tab and cut out (CTRL+J) the man with the alpha mask layer

3. Drag that image to the blank A4 document we just created

4. Resize the businessman to fit the whole document

 

Do you see pixelation similar to Photo? The image layer is a bit blurred but looks much better and no pixelation is visible.

 

I don't know how much more clear can I get than this. :blink: I explained everything very clearly.

Affinity Photo 2.3.1 for Windows  OS: Windows 10 Pro x64 ver. 22H2  CPU: AMD Ryzen 7950X 16-core  RAM: 64 GB DDR5-6400  GPU: MSI GeForce RTX 3090 Suprim X 24GB / driver 526.98  NVMe SSD Samsung 980 Pro 1 TB  Monitors: 2x Eizo ColorEdge CS2420 24"

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I'm away from a computer with PS atm, .... but that's exactly what I did in AP above.

None of those look like the extreme pixilation you're getting in AP (original example)...... side by side with PS notwithstanding.

Can you show what your getting in AP with that image? Is it much worse than what I'm showing?

 

I will say this though. Internal rasterization in Ap is Bilinear and I'm willing to guess your set to Bicubic in PS.

(AP can not be user defined) That would explain some of this.... but only to a point.

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Here it is again with the other photo.

 

post-48369-0-23290200-1487211520_thumb.jpg

 

It seems like it's not as bad as my first example but you can see the pixelation in comparison to Photoshop's result.

 

Attached below is also the Photoshop file prior to resizing the photo.

 

By the way, in Photoshop's settings I found this - "Image Interpolation". It is set at "Bicubic Automatic" and I've never touched it before. Now I tried all options from that dropdown, Bilinear included, and I still don't get pixelized results as Aphoto.

businessman.PSD.zip

Affinity Photo 2.3.1 for Windows  OS: Windows 10 Pro x64 ver. 22H2  CPU: AMD Ryzen 7950X 16-core  RAM: 64 GB DDR5-6400  GPU: MSI GeForce RTX 3090 Suprim X 24GB / driver 526.98  NVMe SSD Samsung 980 Pro 1 TB  Monitors: 2x Eizo ColorEdge CS2420 24"

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Yes!! Now we're talking. Apples to apples. Your result is exactly as mine.

 

The difference is Bilinear v BiCubic. In my example above, in the middle, I used Lanczos Sep which is more similar to Bicubic.

I/you can do a Bicubic conversion in AP and I'm sure it would be very very very close to the PS result. 

 

(btw, I have asked for the internal interpolation to be user defined in the feature request section)

 

I still have no idea about the first images posted. The difference in interpolation isn't enough to explain than one...  :huh:  :)  .

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At first it seemed to me that there is a real difference like presented in OP attached images. After resample it was about exactly like original:

 

Screenshot%202017-02-16%2010.38.50.gif?d

 

Then I exported the image to upload it here. Something happened. Now I think there is something else going on. See attached images: 1 = AP image resize (lanczos) 2 = AP image resize in export (lanczos) 3 = Photoshop resize (bicubic)

 

business-APscale%28Lancz%29.jpg?dl=0  businessAPexportLancz.jpg?dl=0  businessPS.jpg?dl=0

 

My guess is that AP fails to update image appearance onscreen. This appearance stays with save, but when exported I got properly resampled image above. Seems like a bug, not a feature.

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Thanks for the input, MX1 and Fixx. So it seems the consensus is that it's a bug. I will post in the bug report section and include a link to the thread for reference.

Affinity Photo 2.3.1 for Windows  OS: Windows 10 Pro x64 ver. 22H2  CPU: AMD Ryzen 7950X 16-core  RAM: 64 GB DDR5-6400  GPU: MSI GeForce RTX 3090 Suprim X 24GB / driver 526.98  NVMe SSD Samsung 980 Pro 1 TB  Monitors: 2x Eizo ColorEdge CS2420 24"

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  • 2 weeks later...

Is there are a workaround to this problem? Sometimes I need to resize low-res assets and instead of being smooth like in Photoshop they come out pixelated which looks pretty ugly. :(

Affinity Photo 2.3.1 for Windows  OS: Windows 10 Pro x64 ver. 22H2  CPU: AMD Ryzen 7950X 16-core  RAM: 64 GB DDR5-6400  GPU: MSI GeForce RTX 3090 Suprim X 24GB / driver 526.98  NVMe SSD Samsung 980 Pro 1 TB  Monitors: 2x Eizo ColorEdge CS2420 24"

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