Some digital camerasmostpoint-and-shoot camerasand phonesuse interpolation to producedigital zoom.
This allows you to focus on subjects beyond the maximum range allowed by the camera’s lens.
Image manipulation programs such as Adobe Photoshop also use interpolation in post-production editing.
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Generally, there are four types of interpolation: nearest-neighbor, bilinear, bicubic, and fractal.
Knowing a bit about each can help you get the most from your photography.
Digital zoom is software-based and employs some form of interpolation.
In contrast, optical zoom relies on an actual, physical lens to magnify a distant image.
Optical zoom produces clearer, higher-quality photos than does digital zoom.
Increasing an image’s size is generally inadvisable.
It’s not suitable for enlarging images for print because it can producejaggiesalso known as pixelation.
It produces fairly smooth results, but it reduces the quality significantly.
Images enlarged this way can become blurry.
Bicubic Interpolation
Bicubic interpolation is the most sophisticated of the bunch.
Bicubic interpolation is far more advanced than the other two methods, and it can produce print-quality images.
Bicubic interpolation has two variants to help you fine-tune your image: “smoother” and “sharper.”
Although this is one of the best options, too big of a jump in size canstillreduce image quality.
It produces sharper edges and less blurring but requires specific professional-level software to run.
Professional printers often use fractal interpolation.
