Capture and Output Sharpening & Upsizing

[Dave Gurtcheff]

OldTimer Here. I recently had problems with my desktop PC and had to reinstall older versions of Photoshop. I currently have Photoshop CS6 and Photoshop 2024 that I use all the time. I also have CS6 (32 Bit) and CS5 (32 Bit). Those old versions had "Filters" installed and Automations installed. My problem is even though I found some of the Plug-Ins etc on old discs, I no longer have the serial numbers etc. I am very set in my ways so that after I found what worked for me I stuck with it. I used Photokit Sharpener which had Capture Sharpener, and Output Sharpener. This was important because when I started out, many of my images were from scanned film. PK Sharpener allowed for color, B&W negs and slides. It allowed to choose 4"x5" film, 120 size and 35mm. For output you could select output for PRINT (that's me) or web, etc. Because originally, like most, my DSLR yielded small images and to make big prints they had to be upscaled. I used Alien Skin Blow Up. Between these two add ons I have been making (and from time to time selling) 20"x24" and 24"x32" prints. So, I now no longer have those two add ons. I still need to scan some of my fathers, 1930s negatives and some of my own, and make big prints, and also go back to my older digital images that will need  up sizing. Believe it or not I did find a number of add-ons that I copied to discs for back up for just such an occasion, but no serial numbers. You can see some of my Dad's 1930s images on my web site. Look at the "Alexander Gurtcheff" page.

Thanks all very much

Dave Gurtcheff

Beach Haven, NJ

web site: www.modernpictorials.com

[Manoli]

PixelGenius Announcement Regarding PhotoKit™ Products
https://www.pixelgenius.com

... able to continue using their plug-ins for the foreseeable future when our product activation is turned off. Therefore, we have decided to release all three of our products; PhotoKit™, PhotoKit Sharpener™ and PhotoKit Color™ as freeware products without serial numbers nor activation. The downloads we are making available here will not require serial numbers, activation nor registration. Non-customers are free to download and use the products as well.

... My problem is even though I found some of the Plug-Ins etc on old discs, I no longer have the serial numbers etc. I am very set in my ways so that after I found what worked for me I stuck with it. I used Photokit Sharpener which had Capture Sharpener, and Output Sharpener...

[Manoli]

I didn't have the time to look at your Dad's page in depth (I'll be returning) but the few that I did see were exceptional - congratulations, excellent work.
Michael Reichmann was spot on.

You can see some of my Dad's 1930s images on my web site. Look at the "Alexander Gurtcheff" page.

Thanks all very much
Dave Gurtcheff

Beach Haven, NJ
web site: www.modernpictorials.com

[Christopher Sanderson]

You can see some of my Dad's 1930s images on my web site. Look at the "Alexander Gurtcheff" page.

Thanks all very much

Dave Gurtcheff

Beach Haven, NJ

web site: www.modernpictorials.com

This is a wonderful and exceptional collection of B&W from the Thirties. The two children on the dunes against a cloudscape took my breath away. Thank you!

I believe the photographs deserve a wider audience. Should you agree, I would urge you to contact Brooks Jensen of LensWork [email protected] in order to gauge his interest.

[Dave Gurtcheff]

Thanks all for the kind words. I saw this on another Forum, and you are correct it is now free.
Dave

From another Forum. My favorite, Photokit Sharpener is now FREE!

See copied and pasted here:

I can't help you with Alien Skin, but Photokit Sharpener is now free. The website is pixelgenius.com. There, you can download a free, full version, no serial number required. It works perfectly with every version of PS. I use it nearly every day, mostly in PS25, but often in CS5. I purchased it years ago. This is not a scam or illegal. It is a gift from the Pixelgenius owners. You can read the short paragraph from them explaining the gift. You may not recognize the names today, but 15 or 20 years ago, they were Photoshop's brightest lights.

[Dave Gurtcheff]

This is a wonderful and exceptional collection of B&W from the Thirties. The two children on the dunes against a cloudscape took my breath away. Thank you!

I believe the photographs deserve a wider audience. Should you agree, I would urge you to contact Brooks Jensen of LensWork [email protected] in order to gauge his interest.

Thank you so much for the kind words. The two children on the dunes are me and my cousin. My Dads died May 1940, and I think this was Easter 1940, so I was three.
Thank you again.
Dave Gurtcheff

[Dave Gurtcheff]

Thank you, Christopher. I sent an email to Lens Work as you suggested.
Dave

[Wolfman]

Dave, you might want to try Topaz Gigapixel for upsizing. It's one of the better upsizing softwares out there. Try a demo first.

[Wolfman]

Here's the link Dave: https://www.topazlabs.com/gigapixel-ai-it-really-works#:~:text=Download%20a%20totally%20free%20trial,what%20Gigapixel%20AI%20can%20do.

[Dave Gurtcheff]

Thanks, I will down load the trial and see how it goes. Most of my recent stuff from Medium Format (100 MPixel), or even my Sony Full Fram (60 Mpixel)  probably will not need upsizing, but definitely my older stuff will.

Dave

[Dave Gurtcheff]

I was able to download the free version of Photokit Sharpener. When I try to open it I get a warning (see screenshot). Any ideas how to make this work?
Thanks again
Dave

[Manoli]

Any ideas how to make this work?

Andrew Rodney (digitaldog) should be able to answer this.
Purely guesswork, but have you fully uninstalled the earlier version ?

Not sure about Windows but AppCleaner is a good freebie MacOS application

[digitaldog]

I was able to download the free version of Photokit Sharpener. When I try to open it I get a warning (see screenshot). Any ideas how to make this work?
Thanks again
Dave

No idea if this will work any more (we don't do any support otherwise) and I'm not a Windows guy. But this might work:

On Windows, the preferences are in the registry. To access them, Click
on the Start button, then select Run...In the Open box of the resulting
dialog, enter 'regedit' and click OK. This will bring up the Registry
Editor, which displays a tree of registry keys on the left and the
registry entries associated with the current key on the right. You can
use the '+' next to each item to expand the tree. The keys for the
PhotoKit preferences are as follows.

PhotoKit non-Vista
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/SOFTWARE/PixelGenius/PhotoKit/Registration
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT/CLSID/{98891DB3-B5E2-11d6-97AC-0060976A0A9F}

PhotoKit Vista
HKEY_CURRENT_USER/SOFTWARE/PixelGenius/PhotoKit/Registration
HKEY_CURRENT_USER/SOFTWARE/PG/PK/Registration

PhotoKit Sharpener non-Vista
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/SOFTWARE/PixelGenius/PhotoKit Sharpener/Registration
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT/CLSID/{A5D166FA-6268-4612-8F90-7547650A55D7}

PhotoKit Sharpener Vista
HKEY_CURRENT_USER/SOFTWARE/PixelGenius/PhotoKit Sharpener/Registration
HKEY_CURRENT_USER/SOFTWARE/PG/PKS/Registration

PhotoKit Color non-Vista
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/SOFTWARE/PixelGenius/PhotoKit Color 2/Registration
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT/CLSID/{5ECD9929-B851-4EA0-BA3D-8FF673C761B1}

PhotoKit Color Vista
HKEY_CURRENT_USER/SOFTWARE/PixelGenius/PhotoKit Color 2/Registration
HKEY_CURRENT_USER/SOFTWARE/PG/PKC/Registration

[Dave Gurtcheff]

Thank you Rodney. I lucked out and my Photoshop CS5 64 Bit still has Blow Up 2, and it works. Forgive me, but I am not sure how to proceed with your expert advice. I had PK Sharpener installed in CS6 64 Bit. I can go to the C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe Photoshop CS6\Plug-ins and then should I delete them? After that should I select one of the choices you listed and then somehow re-copy the files to the Plug Ins Folder? I feel like a dunce asking. I was fairly computer literate, being an Engineer, but I turned 88 last month and not only has the body slowed down a tiny bit, but  the brain seems to be following.
Best regards
Dave

[Dave Gurtcheff]

Thanks all. I got the problem solved over on dpReview. Here is the link
Dave
https://www.dpreview.com/forums/thread/4797914

[Hening Bettermann]

Old timer here, too. For upscaling, I favour Iridient Developer, actually a raw converter. Mac only.