An image's resolution is a tough thing to correct for. Low resolution in an original image - most of the time can not be made into a high resolution image. Image Programs (I use GIMP - I'm sure PhotoShop too probably) have some features that can help 'sharpen' a blurred picture - such as trying to expand a 4x6 to a larger size ... then applying some sort of 'sharpness' filter, etc...

But I've found you can only do so much with these things.

The source/original picture has to have high resolution if you want it to be THAT good.

You have to experiment for yourself and determine how much enlargement and application of a 'sharpness' filter is satisfactory for you own preferences.

CS PD13 Ultimate - Build 3516, WIN 8.1, 64 Bit, 16G RAM, Intel Core i5 4460, CPU @ 3.2GHz, NVIDIA GeForce GT720, Graphics Memory(total avail.)-4093MB
LG WH14NS40 Blu-Ray Drive

I take it that when you say 6x4 you are talking about a physical postcard size photograph which you are scanning before use in your project. I scan at around 1200 d.p.i. and I find that gives me a good oversize result that I can re-touch first and then reduce to 1920x1080 which is the size I use at the moment when 'producing' projects. I render H264, mp4, 1920x1080x25p for pretty everything and I find that this works well for what I upload to YouTube (one of my recent uploads).

I had a BAD feeling when there was THAT much tension of trying to pull the old pump out.. that THAT would happen. Oh well, had to be done didn't it? Saw where they had a little trouble getting the new one down in, but glad it all got sorted out Longedge!

CS PD13 Ultimate - Build 3516, WIN 8.1, 64 Bit, 16G RAM, Intel Core i5 4460, CPU @ 3.2GHz, NVIDIA GeForce GT720, Graphics Memory(total avail.)-4093MB
LG WH14NS40 Blu-Ray Drive

Thanks have tried scanning it in on my canon lide 210 at 1200dpi but picture still looks poor & blurred, using the lide software doesn't seem to help.

@ CS2014 - Yep, had to be done

@ tim321 - the old saying about silk purse and sows ear comes to mind but having said that, my experience has always been that given time I can always produce a better scan than the original provided I'm using a true photograph and not a printed image. I have in the past spent several days working on a single image though. Takes a lot of patience.

p.s. - I'd try several different dpi settings. As I said I always size images finally to 1920x1080 but you could try making your scan a lot smaller (it'll look sharper) and dropping it onto a suitable background.

Quote: Im looking to add a team photo to one of my projests, question what is the best size, pixels etc to suit a good quality output, I only have a 6x4 old picture & when I put into the project it looks quite poor quality wise.

Do you have a image scanner?

If you do you can scan that 6x4 photo at a high resolution, resulting in enough pixels to use well in Powerdirector.

I would scan that 6x4 photo at least 400 DPI. That would give you about 2400x1600 pixels, that would be enough size to work well in Powerdirector.

You asked what would be a good size, about 1920x1080 would work well for most anything. Larger is better. Carl312: Windows 10 64-bit 8 GB RAM,AMD Phenom II X4 965 3.4 GHz,ATI Radeon HD 5770 1GB,240GB SSD,two 1TB HDs.

Deciding on the appropriate setting when scanning is something you have to experiment with a bit but the 4800 dpi that tim321's Canon scanner is capable of would be overkill IMO. Obviously one of the considerations is whether you are scanning to print or for use on screen, but unless you are into 4K, 1920x1080 is a good screen resolution I find. I scan something the size of a postcard at 1200 dpi to give me an image which is around 3-4 times larger than my finished size. For me, it's easier to work on an oversize image and then reduce it to the finished size before bringing into PD.

Starting with a photograph, you can never get an image any better than the paper photograph. You can do some processing such as maybe sharpen or color correct in a Photo editor, but nothing you do can be better than that original picture.

IF you had access to the film negative, you can scan the film and get a better image. Film has greater resolution than any print or photograph.

Longedge, you are correct if you are going for 4K, 1920x1080 is not near enough. I doubt that you can get a good image from a 6x4 photograph that would look good in 4K. A paper photograph only has about 300 DPI of resolution, because of the paper process. Carl312: Windows 10 64-bit 8 GB RAM,AMD Phenom II X4 965 3.4 GHz,ATI Radeon HD 5770 1GB,240GB SSD,two 1TB HDs.