Why all Digital images need SHARPENING

[ricktas]

I thought it would be good to explain why ALL digital images need to undergo some sharpening.

A digital camera sensor is made up of millions of tiny lenses, each one captures one colour and a brightness level. Then through an amazing process, this analogue light capture is turned into the digital colour image we see on our LCD's and Computer screens.

Below is an image of a sensor, sitting on a Bayer pattern filter, one of a few methods used to capture our images, but probably the most common.

http://www.shortcourses.com/images/b6ch1/imagesensor.jpg

Now each pixel site is a small (we are talking microns) width, and they laid out side by side, checker board style on the image sensor. Like this:

http://www.shortcourses.com/images/b6ch1/pixels.jpg
(image courtesy IBM, taken with an electron microscope of an actual image sensor)

Notice how each pixel site is separated by that small area (the tan part in the image above), well that is the reason why ALL digital images need sharpening. Your images when captured have a small area between each pixel site on the sensor where no light is captured (we are talking really small), but that 'dead' area, means that all digital images are not as sharp as they could be straight out of the camera. The technology inside your camera fills in this 'dead' area by alligning the data from each pixel up against the data from the neighbouring pixels, it is clever, but the result is your digital images straight from your camera will always be a little soft.

So sharpening your digital images is an important part of your workflow.

There are various methods of sharpening available, most commonly used would be USM (Un-Sharp Mask) a term carried over from film and dark room processing. It is worth investigating other sharpening methods (and there are a few).

I hope this has helped members understand why they need to sharpen their digital images.

I am leaving this thread open as members can discuss the various methods they employ to sharpen their images, and other members can learn of maybe better ways to do it.

[ricktas]

I never use USM.

My personal way of sharpening, i used to do step-by step, (before i knew how to create actions).

But now the wonderful people at Action Central have basically made an action that does what i was doing (actually a bit better than i was achieving).

I use Dave's Sharpening Actions - in particular the High Pass Sharpening, from www.atncentral.com

[hoffy]

What is the difference/benifit of using this action as opposed to USM?

[ricktas]

High Pass sharpening has two big advantages. The first advantage is that the sharpening is done on a separate layer. With High Pass sharpening applied on a separate layer, not only can the sharpening be adjusted at a later date but also can be completely undone simply by deleting the layer that was added during the High Pass Sharpening process.

The second advantage is that the High Pass sharpening technique uses the High Pass filter, which isolates the edges. Thus, High Pass sharpening applies sharpening primarily to the edges where it is needed and protects smoother areas from the sharpening.

[ricktas]

this is how you can do High Pass Sharpening manually.

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.

[hoffy]

OK, thanks! Looks like I had part of it right!. My action was to create a separate layer & apply USM to that (really go over the top with it). I would then reduce the opacity of the USM layer to what looks acceptable.

I will try the High pass method. Sounds interesting

[arthurking83]

This small tidbit of info is specific to Nikon(D70s in particular!)
In camera Sharpening is simply USM, but on the camera.

From the info I've read on this phenomenon, the images straight form the camera also have to deal with an 'anti alias filter' which also determines how sharp an image come straight from the camera without any in camera sharpness applied.
Each camera has different strengths of AA filter, and the D70s has quite a strong application.
Problem is that you get moirè (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moir%C3%A9_pattern) in high frequency repetitive patterns!

All my PP is done in CaptureNX, and after reading a few bits of info on how to use it more effectively, I've read that settings between 45-55% intensity, 4 or 5 radiusand 4 or 5 threshold is about the ideal, if you applied no image sharpening at all in camera.
That's what I used to use regularly as a general default for all my images, up till the D300 came along.

From this I assume that each camera is different and requires different settings for optimal IQ.

I know from reading that D50 and D80 has a weaker AA filter and I assume a D200 would too whereas a D100 I think has a stronger AA filter. So if you had a D50 and use NX, you may want to apply slightly stronger USM settings.
The info is out there, and many folks have experimented and posted their findings.. somewhere?

The moral of the story is that various models of camera may require different levels of adjustment .. so what works for 'him', may not necessarily work for 'her' :confused:

Hope this helps too!

[hoffy]

I am also under the impression that the best way to apply sharpness is at the PC, not at the camera (from the resources that I have read)

[I @ M]

I know from reading that D50 and D80 has a weaker AA filter and I assume a D200 would too whereas a D100 I think has a stronger AA filter. So if you had a D50 and use NX, you may want to apply slightly stronger USM settings.


I am in the middle of sorting and processing 380 images taken yesterday, they will all be saved in their NEF form on the backup but during processing they are receiving around the 20 % to 30% USM as the last stage before conversion to JPEG.
Once converted to JPEG they are receiving between 10% and 20% USM.
The amount of sharpening needed on this batch is being dictated by the amount of noise reduction applied to some images.

A very timely and well put together article Rick.

[Sammi]

In the january issue of Australian Photography it has a large article on the different types of sharpening, worth the look
Also has a good section on wildflower macro photography and at $6.75 its pretty darn cheap

[cwphoto]

Another reason is that pixels aren't very good at resolving edges when the edge lies partly over a pixel, the resultant 'exposure is say grey instead of black or white. So sharpening can increase the contrast level at this edge to compensate.

[jim]

Hi Rick. Your brief High Pass Sharpening tutorial is about the same as the one I copied off The Luminous Landscape a few months ago. I really must give it a go, using USM I really tend to stuff up my BGs.

[ricktas]

Hi Rick. Your brief High Pass Sharpening tutorial is about the same as the one I copied off The Luminous Landscape a few months ago. I really must give it a go, using USM I really tend to stuff up my BGs.

Yeah, i think thats where i got it from to start with, I have a word doc with all sorts of stuff like that in it, that i can refer to on occasions.

[Helen S]

In the january issue of Australian Photography it has a large article on the different types of sharpening, worth the look
Also has a good section on wildflower macro photography and at $6.75 its pretty darn cheap

As a member of the Australian Photographic Society it's even cheaper. ;)

Evening all. :action66: When sharpening an image I change to LAB colour mode and only sharpen the Lightness Channel. This seems to work quite well for the most part.

Canon actually recommend that images are sharpened post process because of the AA filter. They recommend that you start at 300% in Photoshop and then bring the slider back to what is acceptable. I have a complete PDF file on this on one of my hard drives. :)

[Sammi]

[QUOTE=Osprey;85304]As a member of the Australian Photographic Society it's even cheaper. ;)
QUOTE]

Being a student i get it for $47 a year,12 issues which is a big bonus.

[DanNG]

As a member of the Australian Photographic Society it's even cheaper. ;)

Evening all. :action66: When sharpening an image I change to LAB colour mode and only sharpen the Lightness Channel. This seems to work quite well for the most part.

Canon actually recommend that images are sharpened post process because of the AA filter. They recommend that you start at 300% in Photoshop and then bring the slider back to what is acceptable. I have a complete PDF file on this on one of my hard drives. :)

I also change to LAB and sharpen the lightness channel, I find smart sharpen works quite well. Im quite addicted to adding local contrast enhancement... using USM. (10/15/0)

[Shane.R]

Yesterday I was playing around with an old pic that has being cropped shopped cut n paste. I enlarged pic to 7000pixels then applied some sharpening. Then reduced to original size. (if you don't have a super dooper fast computer - I don't) then your patience may be tested.

[jim]

You can also:

-Sharpen with Unsharp Mask (oversharpen a little)

-Go to EDIT > Fade Filter and change the blend mode to Luminance

-Use Fade Opacity slider to adjust to the required level of sharpening.

[mickeymoo21]

I also change to LAB and sharpen the lightness channel, I found this method in one of Scott Kelby's Adobe Photoshop books I think, seems to work alright for me.

[I @ M]

Ever since Rick posted this thread I have been trying to get my head around the processing of photos and the importance of the sharpening aspect.

This thread has been invaluable for me, getting the correct amount of sharpening in a shot provides much more than just crisp edges, it can create a lot of depth and a certain amount of contrast to a shot that you knew was there but didn't see on the screen when you first looked at it.

I thought I would contribute a rundown of the directions to using the high pass sharpening method in Capture NX. The method below is taken from another site and it explains step by step how to achieve a very good natural looking sharpening result.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Capture NX
*********
On the Edit List:
Click New Step (at the bottom).

On the New Step:
Click Select Adjustment > Focus > High Pass to bring up the High Pass popup.

On the High Pass popup set the Radius and exit:
Slide Radius = 2 px (or fill in box).
Click OK to exit.

You will now see your photo turn grey only the edges of your subject highlighted.
Be patient with NX here. Sometimes it takes a few seconds for the highlighting to appear
depending on what else you are running.

On the High Pass Step (back on Edit List):
Click Opacity to bring up the Opacity popup.

On the Opacity popup:
Click All > Luminance & Chrominance
Click Blending Mode > Overlay
Slide Opacity (Luminance Channel) > 100%
Slide Opacity (Chrominance Channel) > 0 %
Click OK to exit.

Now you will see your photo restored with the High Pass Overlay sharpening applied everywhere.

If you want to selectively apply the sharpening to certain areas of your photo,
then on the F6 panel:
Click Brush Tool + to bring up a brush.
Right click the circular brush pattern to set your Brush's Size, Hardness and Opacity as desired.
I usually use about 50-75% brush Hardness to start with and 100% brush Opacity.
Now just brush over the areas you wish to sharpen. Adjust your brush size as needed.

While applying this sharpening, I suggest having the photo at 50% size at least.
If you are sharpening small details, then you might want to go to 75-100% size.
**************

Selecting Radius:
Usually 1, 2 or 3 pixels of High Pass is sufficient for Overlay sharpening.
You want to choose a radius that provides you with the highlighted edges of your subject
without those edges becoming too wide.
If you begin to see lots of colour, you've set the radius too large.
The idea in keeping the radius small is to avoid "sharpening halos".

Feathering the Sharpened Area:
Feathering provides some gradation between those areas where you have applied a Brush effect
and those areas left un-Brushed.
Feathering when sharpening helps avoid halos
and keeps sharpening from slopping over too much
into areas like sky where you don't want sharpening artifacts.

Re-adjusting the Opacity:
If the High Pass sharpening you have applied looks too strong when you are done,
you can try resetting Luminance Opacity slider to something less than 100%.

"Erasing" Sharpening:
If you accidently sharpened something, you can click the Brush Tool (-) to erase the sharpening.
Be sure that you have the High Pass Step on the Edit List expanded when you do this.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


The method listed above is simple, totally reversible and doesn't need a any applications of layers etc. Depending on the photo being sharpened, the application of varying degrees of the luminance or chrominance channels can alter the sharpening effect to quite a strong degree, but as the instructions listed above say, it generally looks better with the chrominance channel set to zero.

[OldGold]

Rick, the high pass/hard light method you described works fantastically, almost a little stunned at how well it works!

[arthurking83]

I also read and used that post that Andrew(I@M) has posted.. and found it useful.. but with one caveat(on the D300 images!)
Using the pixel radius of 2 produces to much 'halo' effect, and the marked difference I see if I use 1.9pixels as the radius amount is more pleasing and natural looking.

I have yet to try it on a few of my D70s images to see if this value is dependent on the sensor(as each sensor type will be affected differently)

NOTE: Andrew's(and my) post is with respect to Capture NX only, and is not related in any way to other software's use of each value!

[I @ M]

Arthur, I have been playing around with shots from the D50 and the D200, with both bodies the occasional shot that looks very sharp to start with is clearly outlined against the grey overlay at 1 px and those shots typically end up needing a lot less % sharpening than the shots that start showing edges and colour at 2 and 3 px.
Its all good though, the more I use it the better it becomes.

[GriMo]

Rick, the high pass/hard light method you described works fantastically, almost a little stunned at how well it works!


Agree with you 100%. Up until now i have constantly been unhappy with the sharpness of my PP images. Did not seem to matter what i did they were always over/under. This method works perfectly for me.

Thanks Rick, I will try some of the others suggested but i would say it is hard to beat (for me anyway).

[saltwaterbloke]

this has been a excellent thread,very interestin for me as I have never really played wif me photos in photoshop elements..........I never knew that they all had to b sharpened,I'm gonna reread it all again n have a lash at it,thanks everyone :)

[saratoga]

I have used Ricks method and the big advantage to this is the ability to apply a mask to the new layer.....hence you can selectively sharpen parts of your image!

I have been experimenting with sharpening in LAB on the lightness channel and that also gives good results.

One very important point I have learnt lately is to always sharpen at the output resolution. Resize the image first to the size you need.....and then sharpen. Ie.....if you have been working on an image straight out of your camera and you want to use this for the web at say 800pixels......then resize it down to 800 before doing your sharpening! Same with layout for print......workout the end size and then sharpen at that size.

This means that it probably is best to do all your post processing on an image and then leave it unsharpened. You may require the file for different uses.....print..web etc....a copy of the file should then be prepared for each specific use and sharpened accordingly.

[TEITZY]

Ok I'll share some of my experiences with the D300 & CNX.

I've found that I can't beat the in-camera sharpening settings for achieving the best detail while reducing haloing on high contrast edges. I use the Standard colour mode and have sharpening set to +5 which is fine so long as you nail the focus. The closest I could get to +5 using CNX was a 45-10-6 sharpen and while edges were noticeably sharper the fine detail with the +5 setting was superior. In fact higher levels of sharpening in CNX actually destroyed fine detail (looks like hIgh ISO NR smearing to me) and also create artifacts that you don't see with the in-camera settings.

For resizing for the web I've been using a 100-1-10 setting in CNX but I may try just using a high pass sharpen instead (something like 2px with opacity set to 50% overlay).

Cheers
Leigh

[Kym]

I've found that I can't beat the in-camera sharpening settings for achieving the best detail while reducing haloing on high contrast edges.

Is that for JPEG only? What about RAW?
I find must do my sharpening in PS after all other PP and generally use the High Pass action from above.

Given that most recommend the following workflow...
1. Noise reduction (Noise Ninja etc) if needed
2. Levels and other PP
3. Resize
4. Sharpen and publish
I'm not quite following what you are saying.

[arthurking83]

Hey Leigh.

I vary any USM on my images so much that I can't seem to find a standard setting to stick with.

The only setting I do stick to is a 20-4-3 on the final resized jpg.

I also use the in camera sharpening instead of USM in PP too and find that 4-6 is a good setting.

Also, since I'd found that High Pass tool, I prefer to use that rather than USM anyhow, and just vary the size of that pixel number.... anywhere from 1 to about 7(that I once used)

BUT the visible difference in using High Pass is not so obvious if you view the entire image on the screen... you need to be viewing at 50-100% to see the effect correctly.

USM introduces too much noise/grain into the OOF areas, so I really hate using it!

[MrJorge]

Hmmm I read this thread yonks ago and I'm glad it's been reborn a bit. I've been finding myself questioning my usage of USM a bit as I've been getting a bit unhappy with the results.

Have had a quick play with using USM in Lightness Channel and it seems to be a bit better. Might retry the High Pass technique and hopefully set it up as an action.

[Nicholas N]

Here is a great system that trumps them all.....


The first method I will use is an Edge Sharpening technique. This is how it works.

1. Create a duplicate layer of my background. And set Layer mode to Luminosity.

2. Select all of the layer

Select > All (Ctrl A)

3. Copy

Edit > Copy (Ctrl C)

4. Select the channel palette and press the ‘Create New Channel’ button which is at the bottom of the palette, to the left of the ‘delete bin’ icon. You will see the screen go black as you create this new channel. Now paste your image into the channel.

Edit > Paste (Ctrl V)

Now deselect the image

Select > Deselect (Ctrl D)

5. Now I want to find the edges. These are the only parts of the image I want to sharpen.

Filter > Stylize > Find Edges

6. Now the edges might not be quite as defined as I require so I am going to adjust the levels of the image.

Image > Adjustments > Levels (Ctrl L)

I am going to move the left slider up to a value of 75. Remember that the black areas of the image will be sharpened at 100% down to 0% in the white areas. Click OK on your level box when you are happy. I tend to find that a value of 75 works well.

7. Now I want to create a selection from this Alpha channel that I can use for sharpening. To do this press the circular icon at the bottom of the channel palette. Now you will see a selection on your screen. I want to invert this selection as I want to sharpen inside the selection, not outside, as it is currently set. To do this I simply select

Select > Invert (Shift+Ctrl I)

8. Now delete that Alpha channel you have created by pressing the Bin icon, found at the bottom right of the channel palette. The Alpha channel goes and leaves you with a good selection on your image to apply sharpening into. Now just apply some USM.

Filter > Sharpen > Unsharp mask

Now remove the selection
Select > Deselect (Ctrl D)

Look at the results. If there are any areas that are oversharp select your rubber and simply rub out the sharpening applied there. When you are finished merge the two layers back together.

Layer > Flatten Image

Repeat this process until you feel the image is sharp enough


.......


This is the most awesome method I have found and it works on all types of images.

Once you save it as an action its quick and easy.

[clm738]

Hi Guys,
I am trying to do raw processing in CS3 and I am having trouble working out the best way to sharpen my photos.
Could you please help me out here as to the best method for sharpening.
Thanks

[lindenneill]

Well i think we need to know what level of knowledge you have with cs3 before we answer. Then we will know how in depth we have to go with instructions.

There are a few different methods and most should have tutorials online if you do a google search. Each one seems to suit certain types of photos and sometimes ill try a couple of them on different layers so that i can directly compare the effect they are giving.

The main methods I use are

Smart Sharpen under the sharpen tab in photoshop
High pass filter under "Other" in the filter tabe in photoshop

Sometimes even a combination of both. They both give a different effect to the image.
Both of these methods should have tutorials online to follow. Below is a website with alot of helpful tutorials. Ive linked the one related to sharpening.

http://www.ronbigelow.com/articles/sharpen1/sharpen1.htm

[lindenneill]

The link above is focused on the unsharp mask filter in photoshop.

Below is a good tutorial on high pass filter. Where it says to use overlay blending method i prefer to use the soft light option

http://www.photoshopessentials.com/photo-editing/sharpen-high-pass/

All of these methods are done outside of camera raw as well. I dont like adding sharpening to the raw conversion process. Mose people reccomend that its done as the last step in the editing process because of the noise it adds to the image.

[N*A*M]

LAB mode gives me the cleanest results, regardless of sharpening algorithm

[Kym]

Mod note: Thread merged.

Refer NTP: http://www.ausphotography.net.au/forum/showlibrary.php?title=New_To_Photography:Learning_to_process_photographs

[lindenneill]

Nam do you apply sharpening to the whole image or just the lightness channel when in LAB mode.?

[ving]

interesting read, thanks sir!

i use high pass myslef

[ricktas]

Hi Guys,
I am trying to do raw processing in CS3 and I am having trouble working out the best way to sharpen my photos.
Could you please help me out here as to the best method for sharpening.
Thanks

Do NOT sharpen your RAW files. Sharpening should be the last thing in your workflow, before saving the file. Convert your RAW file into TIF/PSD etc, work on it in photoshop, do all your other adjustments, and only then Sharpen.

[Shelley]

useful information - thanks everyone - sharpening process is something i am not so good at, yet if not done effectively can let your image down.

[chelle]

this has been a great thread! (although i admit i skimmed some of the more technical Photoshop jargon posts cos it's still over my head).
I'm looking forward to some time to have a play with some PP and Sharpening sounds like a great place to start to see what kind of a difference it makes.

[clm738]

Thank you everyone. I now have a lot to choose from.

[JC_PHOTOGRAPHY]

THANKS i was usin a other program

[bigbikes]

This is a great threat and thanks to all for the suggestions you have given everybody.
I just want to ask (and I know this may seem like a stupid question but) how do you know if you have over sharpened your image. What sort of things should we be looking for. :confused013
Thanks again everyone.

[ricktas]

This is a great threat and thanks to all for the suggestions you have given everybody.
I just want to ask (and I know this may seem like a stupid question but) how do you know if you have over sharpened your image. What sort of things should we be looking for. :confused013
Thanks again everyone.

hmmm- everyone seems to like different levels of sharpening, the same as we all differ in how much saturation of colours we like.

I once read that the best way is to oversharpen, then slowly drop the slider back down (opacity slider if High Pass Sharpening) until you reach a point it looks good. Seems to work better than starting with no sharpening and sliding upwards.

Another tip is to leave photos to be printed, with a slightly over-sharpened look. When they print (due to ink processes), they wont look over-sharpened, but have that WOW - that's sharp look about them

[bigbikes]

Thanks for that Rick. It was just that what I liked was different to my daughter likes, then my son likes it diffrent again, my wife like is diffrent again :eek: :eek: but as you say , everyone see's it different.
Thanks Rick
:food04:

[chkennedy]

While I'm still learning a lot of the basic how-to's, I've just been using my own wedding photos as a bit of a practice, and have tried a number of different ways to sharpen the images. For my fave photos I've mainly used unsharp mask. Initially I made the mistake of sharpening in RAW- learnt that lesson pretty quickly as it doen't give a great result does it? So, I will also now have a bit of a go now at trying some of these other methods. Thanks.

I have a question though about sharpening in RAW- is there a way to turn off the automatic sharpening that it applies so I don't have to remove that every time I want to work on portraits in particular? It's an annoying default.

[Tannin]

Which program are use using to convert your raw files, CH?

[chkennedy]

I'm just learning to use adobe photoshop camera raw for conversions, CS3 for the more complex adjustments, and manage the photos in bridge.

[ricktas]

I'm just learning to use adobe photoshop camera raw for conversions, CS3 for the more complex adjustments, and manage the photos in bridge.

Select Preferences from the Settings menu or from Camera Raw Preferences in Bridge.
Select Apply sharpening to Preview images only from the Preferences dialog box

http://digitalmedia.oreilly.com/images/oreilly/digitalmedia/2006/09/rawfig08.jpg

[chkennedy]

Oh, nice! Thanks.

[bigdazzler]

What are your techniques ?? And where does it fit into your workflow ??

Im having a little trouble with it and need to get a better handle on the subtleties. :angry0:

[ricktas]

I use my sharpening at the end of my workflow and always do it on a duplicate of my photo. I then drag my sharpened copy over the top of my other copy as a layer and use masking to remove sharpening in selective areas, cause often sharpening across the entire photo isn't what I want

[Paul G]

I use Dave's Sharpening Actions - in particular the High Pass Sharpening, from www.atncentral.com

Rick I just had a look at this. How do you use/open/apply it as it is a zipped .atn file-type?

[ricktas]

Unzip it to your desktop

Open PS, on the actions pallette, click the small triangle to the right of the 'actions' tab heading, click load action, direct PS to the ATN file and it will import it, ready to go (this is off the top of my head as I am not on a PC with PS on it at present).

[Kym]

Rick I just had a look at this. How do you use/open/apply it as it is a zipped .atn file-type?

Unzip the ATN file and put it into a folder (My Documents - whatever)
Open the Actions Palette inside Photoshop - F9 key or go to Window>Show Actions

Look at the upper right hand corner of the palette there is a small arrow.
Click this to open the Actions Menu.
Click ‘Load Actions’, find your ATN file
All cool!

ATN files work on both PC and Mac

Edit: Cross posted :D

[Paul G]

Thanks guys I'll give that a go ;)

[Paul G]

OK I've got the Action in place but it won't work.
I am trying to do it on a duplicate layer following these instructions from the Action Central website but I get no result?


How to run an action and interact with it.
In the Actions Palette (or "Panel", as it's known in CS4), click on the action set you wish to run. Click on the arrow next to the set and you'll see one or more actions within the set. Click on the action you wish to run, and the steps in the action will be performed. Often you'll see a screen that offers you the option to continue or stop. If you press stop, you'll be dropped out of the action and nothing further will happen. If you press continue, you'll be offered an instruction and some sort of interaction to perform on your image, after which the action will resume or end. Finally, many actions operate on layers. This means that you can adjust the effect after the action is completed by changing the opacity or even the blend mode. This makes actions very powerful interactive tools.

[Colourised]

loving the high pass sharpening! thnks a lot guys! :)

[DAdeGroot]

I pretty much do everything in Lightroom, so use it's sharpening tools. I increase the mask slider to only sharpen the objects I'm after (not the background) and additionally apply output sharpening when exporting to jpg.

[ricktas]

OK I've got the Action in place but it won't work.
I am trying to do it on a duplicate layer following these instructions from the Action Central website but I get no result?

Dont duplicate the layer, the action does that, it is part of the process. Just have your photo open and ready to go, open the action (click the arrow that is pointing right, next to the action name). The action will open up. Generally you click the first line of the action (first down arrrow), then click the run button at the bottom of the action pallette.

[wideangle]

I reckon it would be good to see some samples, maybe 100% crop versions of users files straight out of the camera with no sharpening and then after you have applied your preferred sharpening technique. Any takers?

Also am I correct in saying that the more MP your camera has the more apparent the images will seem 'less sharp' as you are zooming in to an image that is larger in size?

[ricktas]

I reckon it would be good to see some samples, maybe 100% crop versions of users files straight out of the camera with no sharpening and then after you have applied your preferred sharpening technique. Any takers?

Also am I correct in saying that the more MP your camera has the more apparent the images will seem 'less sharp' as you are zooming in to an image that is larger in size?

Not necessarily, the more you zoom in and pixel peep, the more you will see, but sharpness is more a factor of lens quality, focus accuracy etc. So depending on where you zoom to in the photo will affect the results you see. Unless you had a full on scientific test environment with different MP bodies, but same lenses used, same light, same camera settings, same subject, you would be hard pressed to assume a larger MP count meant a less sharp result. To many other factors.

[beckett5361]

High pass filter for me, gives me a more managable result easy to edit areas with a mask too!

[peterking]

OK. I'm shocked!
I have never bothered with sharpening before but after reading this post then playing around in LR and looking at the results side by side, I am going to do it from now on. This could explain why I am never happy with the results of my images.
Thanks.

[Kym]

Lightroom Sharpening Tute... http://lightroomsecrets.com/2009/11/lookin-sharp/#more-759

[Kevin M]

High Pass sharpening has two big advantages. The first advantage is that the sharpening is done on a separate layer. With High Pass sharpening applied on a separate layer, not only can the sharpening be adjusted at a later date but also can be completely undone simply by deleting the layer that was added during the High Pass Sharpening process.

The second advantage is that the High Pass sharpening technique uses the High Pass filter, which isolates the edges. Thus, High Pass sharpening applies sharpening primarily to the edges where it is needed and protects smoother areas from the sharpening.


Thanks (yet again) Rick for reminding me about this ...completely forgotten about this I will have to bookmark this for latter reference.

[Wazza]

In pp, sharpening should be the final step. If I have created a few adjustment layers with masks etc and want to keep these layers for tweaking later, I merge all of the relevant layers to a new layer and apply the high-pass filter to a copy of that layer.

To merge the layers prior to sharpening I make them visible and then hold down the ALT key while clicking on LAYERS->MERGE VISIBLE.

The rest is as per Rick's recipe.

I too prefer this sharpening because it focuses on the edges and doesn't accentuate the grain. Also, by usng a mask on the HP layer I can limit the sharpening to selected areas of the image.

Thanks Rick for a great post.

Wazza

[katiedransfield]

I use Dave's Sharpening Actions - in particular the High Pass Sharpening, from www.atncentral.com

I tried it, and agree it's great. Definitely better results than I was getting in a lot less time. Definitely worth a go.

[David]

Thanks for the more than useful tips guys: AP is an education in photography.:th3:

[Lex Dangelica]

Do NOT sharpen your RAW files. Sharpening should be the last thing in your workflow, before saving the file. Convert your RAW file into TIF/PSD etc, work on it in photoshop, do all your other adjustments, and only then Sharpen.

So i should be dropping the default raw sharpening to 0 instead of the 25 its set to at the moment in the RAW converter and do all sharpening in one hit?

I tried the high pass filter set to hard /soft light on some recent photos. Now i don't think ill need that optometrists appointment anymore. Excellent advice in this thread.

:food04:

[ricktas]

So i should be dropping the default raw sharpening to 0 instead of the 25 its set to at the moment in the RAW converter and do all sharpening in one hit?

I tried the high pass filter set to hard /soft light on some recent photos. Now i don't think ill need that optometrists appointment anymore. Excellent advice in this thread.

:food04:

Yes. All good workflow advice is that sharpening should be one of the last things you do in your workflow.

[tek]

Thanks Rick.

Do the newer sensors (gapless micro lens) remove the need for this sharpening process?

[ricktas]

Thanks Rick.

Do the newer sensors (gapless micro lens) remove the need for this sharpening process?

No, if you have the chance to try a camera with one of these sensors, give sharpening a go on the resultant file, you will see that the straight from camera file still needs sharpening. The sensor is only one part of the equation as to the need for sharpening, the other main factor is your lens. Lenses are not perfect.

[Kym]

There is always a gap with GRGB bayer sensors http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bayer_sensor as each pixel gets light from 4 different physical points.

[tek]

Great info; it's all a bit over my head right now! :D

[JayR]

Yep, really must get my head around the finer points of sharpening, as opposed to just trial and error.

think some youtube tutorials are in order... Anyone have any suggestions, ie 'the strobist' of PP sharpening? :p

[pearson]

Thanks Rick. Very useful comments here for someone learning how to use photoshop too:)

[pedro06]

Although thread is rather old, I now know that I know virtually nothing about PP.
So much to learn. Thanks to all who contributed.