Photoshop/Photography experts only: I need help!?

[sky_kats]

I am submitting several images for a gallery contest and have lower resolution scans of my negatives. I went and had high res scans made at about 3000dpi but they look terrible. The high res scans have lots of noise in them. Here is a screenshot at 100% of the high resolution scan: http://i26.tinypic.com/2133h5k.jpg .

The final output needs to be around 5x7 inches at 300dpi on a CD. Right now this image is 37x25" and 96dpi.

How can I fix these images, keeping them somewhat sharp and retaining the detail but eliminating the grain (reducing the size is okay)? Also, when would I upsample the images to 300dpi (when I start editing or at the end?)

I have to finish this tonight so I look forward to your help!
I have photoshop CS3, no plug-ins but will use them if they are free or free trial.
Before posting I had tried simply resizing and still had a grainy image : http://i31.tinypic.com/260wwvr.jpg . With resizing it as Steve P said (above) then using a small Gaussian Blur and unsharp mask, this is what I came up with: http://i25.tinypic.com/3539h54.jpg A little blurred and you can see a tiny bit of grain. Will keep trying, thanks!

[Oblivion4ever]

Have you ever done this before? Using negatives to create digital images? I haven't myself, but maybe its just the fact that you're using the negatives in the first place. If im being ignorant tell me.

[steve p]

That is not really a bad scan at all. When you begin to scan at the 3000 to 4000 dpi level you are actually beginning to scan at film grain level.

You really have no problem. Just do a resize in PS. Set to Resample and select Bi Cubic Sharper. Also be sure Constrain Proportions is checked. Then enter the 300dpi and your sizing (5 x 7). The proportions of the photo will not likely be exactly 5 x 7, so you will have to set one number and do a canvas size to obtain the other size.

For example, you may see that when you set a 7 inch size, the other size is 4.5 inches. So you would not do that. Instead, you would set 5 inches and let the other size go to 7.5 inches. Then in canvas size, you would change the 7.5 to 7 inches and it will crop this amount from the photo.

After downsizing, you will see the photo looks excellent.

steve

[fhotoace]

For now, try resizing the original to the 5x7 @ 300 DPI from the huge 37x25 @ 96 DPI. Remember to save the image as a different name and then take a look and see what you have. There is going to be a change in the image ratio a little, but not a lot.

[Henry Ate My Eggo]

Try NeatImage:

http://www.neatimage.com/

For a 5"x7", print size needs to be 1500x2100 pixels for a 300dpi resolution (5 x 300dpi, 7 x 300dpi). That's 21.17" x 20.83 at 72dpi. Your 37"x25" image, at 96dpi, will print an 11.84" x 8" at 300dpi (I use Picture Window Pro 3.5...it gives print res, margins, image size and all that good stuff before printing). Size is fine.

I've up-ressed a few images over the past few days. It can be tricky, especially when images get up into the +300 meg range and converting to HDR in a TIFF format. And I'm using apps that are years old (I'm using Photoshop 6).