How do I increase the size of a down loaded pic and still keep its pixel resolution, and what should I use?

Question

Lets say i have a 550x500 pixels size pic, and i want to make it 1024x940 pixels...AT LEAST. how do i increase the overall size of the pic but keep it really close to the image resolution it originally looked like? so i dont get a nasty blured pic or large pixels. i want to keep the image looking sharp as well but not to sharp. if i max out the recommended sharpness it looks horrible! not to mension the complete max sharpness in photoshop (you cant even see the pic anymore! Also im using photoshop, which im not that fimiliar with. Is this the best program for the job or is there something better. PS: like i said im new at this, so i might need some detailed instructions here and there. Thanks

Answer 1

You can't do it, enlarging a pic is always a problem with the pixels and sharpness, though there is no software as good as Photoshop, but in Photoshop also you can't get the desired results.
You get sharper results when u reduce the size of the pic.
Try and get the Larger size of the pic, that's the only option, I guess.

Answer 2

I have little experience with it, but if all else fails, you could look in to Google's Picasa program. It might have what you're looking for?

I usually just use Photoshop and start with enormous images and scale down.

Answer 3

Photoshop or fireworks can do a lot.

For free, PICASA2 from google

Answer 4

PaintShop Pro is an awesome program to do this.