Sharpening

[Valtteri]

Hi!

Any good tips how to sharpen to keep the sharp, detailed and crispy look in the final product? I'm interested in any tips for both web and print.

br, V.

[Monty Rakusen]

I only use a small amount 30 in Phocus but I know of others that use over 100 successfully. After all my Photoshop work I use an action that goes Mode> LAB Colour> Lightening layer> Sharpening (USM) 60 > Mode>RGB 8bit.
This works very well for me and you can use it on selections if you need.

Monty

[H3dfan]

Dear Monty, going to LAB modus is a total useless stepp ever since the CS photoshop versions. All you have to do is appliying the sharpness on a copy layer and put this in LUMINOSITY modus. You could also use smart sharpen wich uses LAB. At least C3 and 4 do all relevant tasks in LAB modus without us interfering. Thats the nice thing about Adobe, they get things like we want them.... eventually.

[Dustbak]

I mostly use a layer on luminosity with smart sharpening followed by an edge mask on top of the sharpened layer. I sharpen pretty agressively, more so for print, I back off the layer until the desired result. The edge mask also takes away a fair bit of the sharpening.

I sometimes use a new layer apply high pass and set the layer on one of the contrast modes, eg. soft ligh, hard light or use a layer on soft light or overlay. I use this fairly often with portraits.

I also differ the way I sharpen depending on the type of image I am sharpening. An image that has lots of small detail needs different sharpening than something with large areas of soft transitions.

[Derek Jecxz]

I agree with much of what has been said above. I sharpen just a bit and differently per photograph. I sharpen primarily in Phocus.

One thing I will add is that I zoom in and watch, as I sharpen, for a white/colored border to appear along edges and then back down - at which point I stop.

Kind regards,
Derek

[H3dfan]

Just download a trial version of Nik scharpener pro and create some examples of your most needed output. Take them as a reference to sharpen your images. Most photographers are shocked to see how "oversharpened" most images need to be for offset print and Fine art printing. This too was one of the secrets from the Litho and repro service bureaus. Seeing an image sharp on the display mostly has nothing to do with how things will look printed. All sharpening lower then about radius 2 will fade in offset due to the way the 300 Dpi screen translates the CMYK image into an image. Just try it out for yourself and be amazed.

[Valtteri]

Hi!

Thanks for your replys! What metod would you recommend for an picture with lots of detail that I want to keep and get that ultra sharp detailet MF-look and publish it for web or digital use? Lets say that the original comes form out as a 39mp well shot file and final is just about 1000 px wide? Is there any need to sharpen and resize in steps? I have Phocus 1.2.1 and CS 3 installed. I don't have any exact picture in my mind, but lets say it was an interior or exteriorshot with no people in it.

br V.

[H3dfan]

Go to nik  and watch how they do it in the tutorial movies.
The 10 percent sharpening increments were very usefull before Smart Sharpen in Photoshop and before sharpening in Focus and flexcolor was invented. I always sharpen my images in Flexcolor until they appear nicely sharp and crispy on my screen at 100 procent. Later i specifically ad sharpening thepending on the output: for press i make sure there are starting to appear white halos around contours, for web i simply look how they look at the desired image size at screen.
Just checq the nik website:
http://www.niksoftware.com/sharpenerpro/usa/entry.php

[KeithL]

Lots of interesting approaches.

I only ever sharpen for output, be that web, press or print, and always sharpen images on an individual basis.

[Monty Rakusen]

Dear Monty, going to LAB modus is a total useless stepp ever since the CS photoshop versions. All you have to do is appliying the sharpness on a copy layer and put this in LUMINOSITY modus. You could also use smart sharpen wich uses LAB. At least C3 and 4 do all relevant tasks in LAB modus without us interfering. Thats the nice thing about Adobe, they get things like we want them.... eventually.

Wow thats very interesting....its amazing how one sets up things and technology changes around you. Could you put your suggestion in a time line so I can make an action? I add that my way of sharpening has been the recommended Getty way for many years..well at least as far as I'm aware.
Monty

[NickT]

Monty either:
Duplicate layer, sharpen to taste, change blend mode to luminosity, flatten.
Or
Sharpen to taste, choose fade 100% set to luminosity.

Nick-T

[Valtteri]

Hi!

What would you recommend to do if your 100% view would give just a litle bit motionblur unsharpnes and the picture will be prined very large on posters and wall size sheets. Option one: keep the resolution very high with a litle bit of motion blur. Option two: resize just a litle bit down and sharpen the imabe to be razpor sharp. The original is 39MP hassy file anf the unsharpnes is not that bad. I already shapened as much possible in Phocus but still kept sharpening moderate to not get artifacts in the picture.

br Valtteri

[Wick]

Best sharpening available is Dan Margulis' Photoshop Action. You can get it by joining the yahoo group Color Theory.

[Alex Maxim]

There is Focus Magic plugin: http://www.focusmagic.com/
It often deals with linear motion blur very well.

[jonathan.lipkin]

Pixel genius put kit sharpener is also very good - has capture, creative and output