Sharpening your photographs

[Mark L]

Seems like there's a 1001 ways to do it and therefore I expect 1001 replies to this thread.:lol2:
I'm particularly interested in how you use sharpening in PS to present your photos on AP.
However, I reckon all thoughts on sharpening in any software for any purpose (print) may be helpful (or confusing) to others.
Sharpen your full res photo then sharpen again after resizing? Just sharpen after resizing for posting on the w.w.w.?
Of cause there’s selective sharpening for some images.
And I know there's plenty of info on that w.w.w. but it doesn't promote discussion about ideas for those of us (especially beginners) that like to visit AP.

[ameerat42]

#1 NOt by leaving "o"s out of them, Mark.:D:D:D

[ricktas]

I use high pass sharpening:

On the Layer palette select your Background Layer and right click. Select Duplicate Layer.

With this new layer highlighted select Filter / Other / High Pass. Set the Radius to 10 and click OK.
Zoom into your image to Actual Pixels level so you can better see what you're going to do next.
Go back to the Layer Palette and select Hard Light (you can also select soft light for a variation) from the left drop down.
Now go to the Opacity Slider and select a level of sharpening that seems best to you. Usually something between 20% and 70% will be best.

Or you can install a photoshop sharpening action set, and use the high pass sharpen action: http://www.ausphotography.net.au/staff/photoshop_actions/Sharpening%20Actions%20Collection.atn

[ameerat42]

I do the same but set the layer blend to Overlay, then set the Hi-pass to about 1.5.

- - - Updated - - -

(Using Photoshop CS2.)

[Mark L]

#1 NOt by leaving "o"s out of them, Mark.:D:D:D

So can you insert an r in my thread tittle then?

[danny]

+1 for high pass layer method. I've only been doing it a little while so to be honest I play around a lot each time to get the desired result.

[ameerat42]

So can you insert an r in my thread tittle then?

I was going to do that next...
...
...
(week:o)

[Hawthy]

I also use the High Pass filter. I create a duplicate level (ctrl-J) adjust the pixels to between 2 to say 5 - it is very judgemental. Then go Filter> Other> High Pass.

This will grey out most of the image. On the Layers Tab, change Normal to Overlay. This will make the photo appear more natural but he changes that you have applied will be visible. By clicking the on / off eye icon you will be able to see the effect of the sharpening on your layer. You will be able to adjust this by using the opacity slider.

[Glenda]

I mostly use the high pass filter also. I create a new layer, ctrl+shift+u to desaturate it, change blend mode to linear which gives your image a really attractive look (NOT) and then choose the high pass and usually only need between 1 and 2 pixels. You can also use soft light, overlay, vivid or hard light which will give different sharpening strengths. I sometimes add a black mask to paint in sharpening only where I want it.

[ameerat42]

Very interesting Hawthy and Llps. Hawthy, what do you mean by "adjust the pixels to between 2 to say 5"?
Am.

[bigmick]

another here for the high pass filter.

[scpleta]

I oftentimes use the Manny Librodo technique / workflow. You can just google it a lot of website will show up on how to do it.

Manny Librodo is a well-known photographer world-wide and has a unique way of post processing his photographs.

[Grant S]

I've also used the Smart Sharpen tool which gives you very fine control over the sharpening and if you use the advanced settings you can even get down to the tonal balance between the shadows and highlights. To use it you need to create your duplicate layer using CTRL+J then right click on the new layer and select Convert to Smart Object. You can then use Filter> Sharpen> Smart Sharpen which gives you a dialogue box with sliders for Sharpen Amount, Radius and Remove Blue. I usually use something around 125% through to 225%, depening on the image but you can go all the way up to 500% I normally set the radius to betwwen 1px and 3px again depending on the size of the image and use Remove Lens Blur. I leave the More Accurate checkbox ticked.

If you click on the Advanced Radio button, you get two new tabes to play with called Shadow and Highlight. You can use these to change the tonal width, radius and fade of either or both depending on the look you are going for. Out of all the methods I've tried, this one seems to provide the greatest level of control.

[Hamster]

Thought I'd better add a few if we're going to reach 1001 Mark L ;)
You are right, there do seem to be many ways. I did have one with multiple layers, each covering a different aspect of the image, but I've long since forgotten it.

This is a Christian Fletcher one for PS

create a new layer (cmd J)
filter>sharpen>unsharp mask and set amount 200, radius 0.5, threshold 0
filter>sharpen>unsharp mask and set amount to 30, radius 30, threshold 0
filter>other>high pass radius of 1, click OK
change blend mode to overlay and adjust the opacity to vary the sharpening effect.

Or another, simpler variation, don't know where I got this from, but also PS
duplicate the layer
filter>other>high pass adjust the radius until you see the required detail show. click ok
change the blend mode to overlay, soft, hard or vivid to alter the strength of the effect. In each you also have the ability to alter the opacity to alter the strength of the effect

in LR
amount to between 60 and 100
radius to 0.8
detail 25
play from here then tweak the luminance slider up until the noise is reduced but the image is not to soft. Play with amount and luminance until the balance of sharpening and noise reduction is achieved.

Here's a link to another one, which admittedly I haven't got as good results from
http://www.sansmirror.com/articles/proper-noise-reduction-in.html


Personally the first two are what I use if I'm doing things carefully.

[GriMo]

I copied ricks method, as his pics always looked sharp so i figured it was a good starting point.

Alas, the rest of my skillset doesn't quite do it justice

[Mark L]

Thanks for the ideas for me to investigate.:eek:

G'day GriMo.
Based on your signature you could change your Edit Permission to Edit Okay etc (and the rest).
But of cause you need to post a photo for me to rework.:) forums work best if you get involved.:th3:
But I digress. :(

[Lance B]

I just use my favourite plug in for Photoshop/Lightroom which is Power Retouche. Great for sharpening and a myriad of other goodies.

[Erin]

Depends on the photograph and what needs to be sharpened. Sometimes I do High Pass, sometimes smart sharpen, sometimes just an overall sharpen (faded a little), and sometimes I do frequency separation (slightly more complex version of High Pass) for detail work. And generally I'll only sharpen once I've made all of the other edits that I like to do, and a little more for when I resize for web or whatever. :)

[Kevvy]

This has been a big help to me, I tried the high pass and I'm very happy with the results.
a follow up question should I sharpen then re size and sharpen again or re size without sharpen and then sharpen the resized?

[ameerat42]

You sharpen as needed for presentation at the size.

Sharpening is essentially an edge-contrast enhancement process.

(For "edges", try Pshop's "Filter-Stylize-Find edges...")

[Mark L]

This has been a big help to me, I tried the high pass and I'm very happy with the results.
a follow up question should I sharpen then re size and sharpen again or re size without sharpen and then sharpen the resized?
I can't get my head around that high pass thing at all.:(
I would suggest when you resize you should sharpen a little again. The emphasis is on a little.

[ameerat42]

I can't get my head around that high pass thing at all.:(

Run it on a plain image. Note that it does an edge enhancement - presumably high bandwidth tones - and not on others.
This link might help: https://photography.tutsplus.com/tutorials/3-fantastic-uses-of-the-photoshop-high-pass-filter--photo-1721.