Image Resizer for Artage paintings?

[Steve B]

I'm interested in painting at a slightly lower res so my computer can more easily handle the tools and canvas (say, in the 2000-3000 pixel range), and then resizing the image once done so that I can use it to print (to something in the 5000-6000 range). My understanding is this won't really work in a program like Artrage, as it's not designed to resize a finished painting without making artifacts, pixelization, etc.

I've not tried things like Perfect Resize 7 or Genuine Fractals 6, which I've read reviews for and which sound very promising, nor do I have PS 5.1 to try its resizing tool, which I've also read is pretty good. Has anyone done something like this with an Artrage painting? Clearly professionals do it when printing photgraphs, but I dont know if people do it with digital paintings. Before I go and buy a new piece of software, like PR7 or GF6, I was hoping to hear from others and see if this works.

It seems like a really good way to work at a reasonable scale that's not too taxing, and yet also be able to have things at the right scale for print if I want them to be.

[gxhpainter]

Steve,

Yes I have the same issue.. I have an older system and create my work at low rez 72-96 ppi and then resize it to around 240 - 300 ( most final images are no larger than 26 x 30") .. I use Genuine Fractals now Perfect Resize 7 and it works smoothly with no issues with artifacts and color shifts. I also use some tricks in Photoshop CS 5 that work equally well. If I were to advise I would say go with Perfect Resize by onone software..

[Steve B]

That's really exiting to hear!!! And quite a jump in dpi. My concern is not to work too low at first, as I want to have enough "room" to build detail. I was thinking of working at something like 150-200 dpi and moving to 300-400. If your current process is working well, that bodes we for me. No artifacting to speak of? Does it "blur out" a bit around the edges, or somehow retain a crisp edge?

I don't have PS5, so I'm most interested in Perfect Resize 7 and Genuine Factals 6. My understanding is I can run them as a stand alone program, without needing Photoshop, right? My reading also seemed to indicated that GF6 basically does as good of a job as the newer version. ??? I'm actually looking even at GF5, as I can get it for as low as 25-30$, and not worry about finding the money. Would you recommended just trying a newer version, as it's so good? I'm not a pro, but I might be able to splurge for 100$ sometime later next month. Just trying to understand what value different versions offer.

Could you post a blown up file that I could download and view at full res? It would be very informative to compare. I wonder why this isnt more commonly discussed. Are there issues?