Can PSP X8 do superresolution merge?

[SvendN]

Hello all!

I have an upcoming project for which I will need to produce large prints (approx 24x36 inches) from digital images. I would like to shoot these with my existing camera if possible -- a 16MP Pentax K5ii, which is an apsc sensor dslr. However, the existing sensor resolution is inadequate for the task of rendering fine detail at that print size. Not wanting to buy a new camera just for one project, I have been reading about the superresolution merge technique that folks are doing with Photoshop. So I was wondering if this was also possible in Paintshop Pro X8? I have occasionally used PSP to do HDR merges, but don't recall ever seeing an option to use this or any other method to create a hi-res merged file. Multiple web searches have turned up blank.

If anyone can describe this technique in PSP I would welcome the advice. If this is indeed not possible, any other suggestions to upscale a 16MP image, or otherwise create a hi-res image that retains fine detail and sharpness would also be most welcome.

Many thanks in advance!

Svend

[LeviFiction]

No...or at least not easily.

The big problem is that PSP doesn't have built-in layer alignment. That's all done in the separate Merge program which doesn't have a super-resolution option and all of the Photoshop tutorials I've seen say the images need to be aligned first which makes sense. Most tutorials also make use of Photoshop's stacking modes but these aren't strictly necessary, I read one tutorial where you set the opacity of each layer to 1/layernum to get the median of all layers. It's just the layer alignment that PSP can't do natively.

If you wanted to take the time to manually align the layers you could make use of this method in PSP X8. I loosely remember someone had posted a script that used an external program to do the layer alignment but I no longer recall where I saw that or what program it used.

Affinity Photo can do this with its photo stacking options.

[SvendN]

Thanks for the feedback. And too bad this is not possible directly in PSP. I am a bit surprised to hear about layer alignment, as the HDR menu in PSP X8 does have an auto-align function for merging (which works quite well, actually).

As for other options, does Aftershot Pro do this? I seem to recall seeing a stacking function there, but I have never looked deeper into what it can do.

Is there perhaps a plugin for PSP that will do the job?

[LeviFiction]

Yes, the Merge options are external programs. It's a long standing wish for them to incorporate layer auto-alignment into the main program since they clearly have the code for it.

Off hand I don't know about AfterShot Pro. A quick look at AfterShot for the word "stack" brings up this help article - http://product.corel.com/help/AfterShot ... tacks.html

Which makes it look like stacks are more for organization of the files and not for editing.

As for plugins, PSP uses Photoshop Plugins for most things and Photoshop already does this so I don't know if a plugin for it would exist. This video here: https://youtu.be/RIBu4D3i-j0 talks about a sofltware falled AutoStakkert which is meant for AstroPhotography but can be used for this purpose and then brought into PSP for post-processing.

There is a python library called Supreme that claims it can be used for this purpose. I would need to investigate but it might be possible to create an external program and a script that would create a merged image direct from PSP. But I couldn't make any promises.

[SvendN]

Thank you again. Very interesting... The AutoStakkert certainly looks promising, and worth a try to see if it will run as a PSP plugin.

Another thought: would the new AI Resize function in PSP 2021 do the job I'm looking for? A different approach to the challenge. This would be an easy and inexpensive upgrade to my old X8, and I'd be happy to do this if it gives me the output I need. Any thoughts?

[LeviFiction]

I don't know. I would recommend downloading the trial and testing it for yourself.

I don't usually like the way ML techniques make images look. They are smoother and sharper than just upscaling. But whether it works as well as combining multiple images is something else.

Depending on how often you need to do it, Photoshop is only $10 a month and you only need to pay for it when you need to make these kinds of edits. If it's just the once you can get away with a single trial of either Photoshop or Affinity Photo and spend absolutely no money.

[SvendN]

[quote=LeviFiction post_id=382231 time=1602639264 user_id=65072
I don't usually like the way ML techniques make images look.
[/quote]

Pardon my lack of knowledge here, but what is ML technique? I'm not familiar with that term.

Good tip on the trial download of PSP 2021. Will definitely do that. It would be great if it did the trick as I would prefer to stick with Corel - familiarity, not wanting to learn another program, and all that.

A test print will also tell me a lot. Some experimenting coming up.

Many thanks for your advice. Much appreciated!

[LeviFiction]

ML = Machine Learning or AI. AI it just the catch all term, but Machine Learning is the method they use for developing the model. Making it overly simplified, what they do for AI resizing is they have a function that takes input and produces output, in this case it's a shrunken version of another image and it outputs an image of a larger size equal to the original image. It then has another function that compares the output of the first function to the original image and gives it a score. And they do this over millions of images, including randomly generated ones that are harder to replicate because it's possible you can train the function to just recognize all of the images you're giving it. It needs to be able to respond to unexpected input. Once the first function can successfully fool the second function (within an expected margin of error) it's considered trained and ready to be released to the world.

[migf1]

...
Photoshop is only $10 a month and you only need to pay for it when you need to make these kinds of edits.
...

A bit irrelevant to the topic, but Photoshop requires a minimum of 12 months subscription (unless it has changed very recently).

[LeviFiction]

They have a monthly no-annual commitment option as well as an annual plan.

[SvendN]

The project I'm referring to will be ongoing, with an occasional shoot and perhaps one image printed per month. Probably not worth dealing with Photoshop at that low volume.

I will try experimenting with a few of the options we kicked around here -- AutoStakkert, AI Upscaling in PSP 2021, and even shooting two adjacent images (half the subject) and stitching in Microsoft ICE. In the long term, if the project pays enough, I will use the money to buy a full frame camera. (FYI, I'm not a pro by any means, just helping a friend with a commercial venture...a little side project).

Thanks for the help here. Appreciated!