How to Enlarge a Photo That Is Saved on a Computer

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Digital pictures consist of dots called pixels. Enlarging a picture makes these pixels bigger and reduces the resolution. It is common to take pictures at low resolutions, such as 72 dpi, but such pictures will end up looking blurry when enlarged. If you want a quality picture that you can print, it must be at a resolution of at least 200 dpi (dots-per-inch). You can attain this by setting your camera to take pictures at its highest resolution. Resize your picture, free, with Paint, a program already on most computers, or use a photo-editing application, like Photoshop, for more options and professional results.

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Step 1

Open Paint. Click the Start button, click "Programs", select "Accessories" and choose "Paint."

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Step 2

Select the picture you wish to enlarge. Click "File" from the navigation bar at the top of the window, select "Open" and navigate to the picture. Click the "Open" button.

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Step 3

Click "Image" at the top of the window and choose the "Resize/Skew" option. Enter higher numbers in the "Horizontal" and "Vertical" boxes to increase the size of the picture by a percentage.

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Step 4

Click "OK" to put the changes in effect. If you are not satisfied with the appearance of the picture, click "Edit" and select undo. Repeat step 3 until you are satisfied with the picture.

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