AKVIS Magnifier 2.0

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.

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How To Use

Follow the steps to use AKVIS Magnifier:

1. Open a small-sized image in Adobe Photoshop.
2. Choose the File | Automate | AKVIS Magnifier option, as shown in Figure 1, below.
3. 
   Figure 1: AKVIS Magnifier
3. Doing so will open the AKVIS Magnifier interface that you can see in the Figure 2, below.
4. 
   Figure 2: AKVIS Magnifier Interface
5. The interface is explained below:

A. Preview

6. Preview has two tabs: Before and After, which show the original and changed images.

B. Navigator

7. On the top right, you'll find the Navigator.

C. New Size

8. 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.

D. Parameters

9. Parameters allows you to tweak options such sharpen edges, edge smoothness, simplicity, etc.

E. Unsharp Mask

10. This tool sharpens the image by increasing contrast between the pixels. Enable the check-box and make changes.

F. Presets

11. Here, you can save the parameters changes and save them as preset and use them in the future.
4. After you are done with the applying parameters, click the either the Autorun or Run icons (see icons below).
5. 
6. The difference between both options is that while the Autorun option shows you automatic previews of any changes, the Run icon only shows you changes when clicked.
5. This step applies and creates a preview of the image. You can preview the changed image in the After tab, as shown in Figure 3, below.
6. 
   Figure 3: The Before and After tabs
6. 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.
7. 

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Specifications

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