Heh- hopefully that drew the right crowd to my question.
As you know it’s a pretty well known rule to use a picture in the necessary resolution or in a larger than necessary resolution that you can then reduce in size to fit your means.
My question is: “What is the best upsampling plug-in, program or otherwise that is out there?”
Because I have a fairly nice quality photo that was sent to me and it’s too small for my liking- I was thinking of blowing it up quite large, maybe 8x10 or 10x12.
Since I usually never run into this problem myself, it is “a first” for me having to try and up-sample something I really like.
All suggestions are welcome, however for the size increase I’m looking for, it really looks like I’ll need something professional grade to get any decent results.
Here's "thanks" in advance!
Are you talking about blowing up so it’s nice on the screen, or do you plan to have it printed?
If you’re just doing it on screen, have you tried simply using Photoshop or some other imaging program and enlarging the image size? I can often go 2-3 times larger (say, from a 200x300 picture to a 600x900 picture) with no appreciable reduction in quality on the screen. Printing out is likely different.
No, I plan to print this out and in the past I’ve read about certain programs that seem to have an advantage over Photoshop’s method of up-sampling photos.
So in this case staying digital would not be an option. I’m in need of “professional help” 
Up to a point, your only issue should be sharpening, and you can do that with the Unsharp Mask in Photoshop. And adjust contrast, saturation, etc. while you’re at it.
I don’t understand your problem with “staying digital.”
sigh suffice it to say I’m going from a digital picture to a printed photo and I would like to make this picture larger first before I print it.
Photoshop is not doing the job which is why I have been asking what the best up-sampling program is out there.
It’s not just a matter of sharpening; it’s the fact that if you use a program with a more efficient algorithm in it beyond PS’ ability then you won’t ha-ve to sharpen things later- not to mention that it’s not the same result since Photoshop is only duplicating any given pixel to “force” the image larger rather than giving you the impression that a similar resolution/detail at a larger than original size was there all along.
I know exactly what & why you’re asking, and I too am eager to hear the answer(s).
I’ve always used Alien Skin’s Blow Up plug in for Photoshop. It’s damn good. Damn expensive, too. Maybe you can find a trial of it somewhere? Or, give me the picture, tell me how big you want it, and I’ll send you a couple of options with regards to noise/smoothness.
Thanks for for the review ZebraShaSha- it looks as though there is a reference to a 30-day trial from Alien Skin’s website.
Frustrated, I had gone out surfing for answers and I thought ** this package looked pretty nice as well; especially if you can’t afford $200 towards a software package.
The link I included refered to the more universal package, whereas if you are a Canon or Nikon owner, there are specially modified packages that will work best with the specific camera’s file type. I personally own a Casio and so does my sister-in-law who sent the picture so I have only linked up the more universal package (it’s $25 bucks btw 
)
I would be interested how this program stacked-up against such a serious contender as Alien Skin’s “blow up” but I’ll give them this much credit- when they chose their competition, they went up against Genuine Fractals and I’d say the results are as good if not better from the examples I’m seeing.
Wonder if there is 30-day trial for this as well. Anyway, I’m going to do some more looking, but it seems I at least now have two very good options to consider!
here is a good article with lots of links to various softwares; I thought I’d share my efforts since there seemed to be a few interested in the topic. http://www.sportsshooter.com/news/1158