Some of the photos I take, to get the subject large enough in the frame I have to use electronic zoom. I don’t have money for a nice zoom lens. I tried using an adapter for one of Dad’s zoom lenses but it sometimes gives me issues. So I use a 4x zoom - which basically cuts off 3/4 of my sensor then expands the picture to full size (I guess by some sort of averaging math to create the discarded pixels)
Is there anything I can do in post to get some of that resolution back - even if it made up. I am a Linux user, so a workflow in GIMP would be great, or any other Free/Libre software you might suggest?
Short answer: No. Garbage in, garbage out. CSI-style zoom-enhance is pure fiction.
There are AI tools that will hallucinate more pixels, if that’s what you want, but that’s just plausible lies based on prior data.
That is exactly what I want - I know the original info is lost. I did try using Night Cafe’s creative upscale, but it was too creative even on the lowest setting - adding whole new details to the picture that weren’t even hinted at.