Doing some CSI action to some pictures

sj022698 · Jan 17, 2008

I have a couple photos of a couple guitars that I'm trying to see the inside of them to get the S/N off of. The question is, how can I zoom in QUITE a bit and enhance it to the point of being able to read? I know it's a long shot...but

Any programs out there?

usayit · Jan 17, 2008

Sorry.. I'm a bit paranoid...

So why exactly?

I've seen some scammers of camera collectables attempt to pull one off on a buyer with the help of serials stolen from photos.

sj022698 · Jan 17, 2008

My uncle passed away and I've been searching for some of his guitars for just shy of a year. Most of them were probably pawned or sold to individuals. The serial number of a guitar would not help anyone do anything and say you're looking on ebay, most will have the S/N listed as it usually gives the year it was made. The only thing I can use it for is so I could POSITIVELY ID it should I come across the same model. You can check out some of my places that I've been looking for for ages.
http://stlouis.craigslist.org/msg/537393686.html
http://www.ovationfanclub.com/cgi-bin/ubb/non-cgi/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=2;t=015169

They're not really good pics but here are the couple I'm trying to see inside of to see if it was even possible to enhance that much and sharpen without distortion. The numbers would be in the holes on the left side up top. I know it's a long shot with this quality but worth a shot.

Atropine · Jan 18, 2008

This is a joke, right?

Chris of Arabia · Jan 18, 2008

I think I can say with some confidence, that you have absolutely no chance whatsoever. Fair to say that your uncle had some nice Ovation Ltd's at one point.

Rhubarb · Jan 18, 2008

Where are the serial numbers located? I didn't understand your explanation.

Are these scanned from 4x6 snapshots? Do you have access to the negatives?

Take a look at Genuine Fractals (http://www.ononesoftware.com/detail.php?prodLine_id=2), its image enlarging software, I have never used it myself but I have heard good things about it.

That said you're going to have to get some better pics to start of with. You either need to scan the photos a hell of a lot better or use the negs to get some very high quality scans made. Ideally you would want to find a lab with a drum scanner to scan the negs for you.

Good luck!

hamster · Jan 18, 2008

I laugh whenever they enhance a photo in CSI. What they do is absolutely impossible.

nicfargo · Jan 18, 2008

Yeah, pretty much any photo enhancing that happens in movies/TV shows is completely fake. You can not take a completely crappy picture and get amazing detail out of it because you "enhanced" it. If this were the case, I'd never worry about exposure, focus, etc...I'd just "enhance" all my photos using the magical CSI software.