Sharpening Methods

I know this is discussed periodically, but I have been experimenting to see what I could get without extra software just for this purpose.

Of you who sharpening in CS, do any of you use the High Pass method ?

I have tried it on a couple photos that are loaded with textures, and in some ways the results seem better better than unsharp... Here is one example (no effort to be artsy here - just sharpened)

My unsharp greatly improved when I began implementing it in LAB, but it stills leaves something to be desired. I'm debating on whether to invest in a sharpening program or just keep at practice until I get it right.

Thanks for your input.

Janet B

I bought Photokit and loved it in the beginning, but now I just used USM.
Try this in USM.....Amount 125, Radius 1.0, threshold 0. If you like that then great, if not adjust the Amount slider a bit up and down of 125. See if that works for you. I know of others here who might want to chime in on the whole luminosity sharpening, which I know nothing about.

I have tried the High pass method and do not care for it...I always find myself going back to the Tech that Marc A talk to us about...


Resize to about 1300 on the longest side...
Sharpen 2 or 3 times
Resize to 720 on the longest side
save for web


this creates an Ultra fine USM in your image...good luck

All the thrid party programs out there simply do tasks that PS can already do. I imagine you are talking about sharpening for print, and not the web as Darren is describing.

I will only sharpen my images in LAB, and only on the lightness channel. It is different between images...but most of the time I use the same settings as Jeremy, but you can really pump up the sharpness to somewhere between 250 and 350 in the lightness channel, amount. Do that...and watch your photos pop!

Rick, I thought that all sharpening in LAB sharpens on the lightness channel. How do you sharpen without being in lightness channel or getting in lightness channel ???

I want better web images as well as improvement in printing, but I tend to sharpen a bit more for printing than for web.

Thanks.
Janet B

Here's the same photo using LAB Unsharp Mask
225
.06
0

I may not understand your question, but let's see.
If you switch to LAB, and just sharpen the image...it is sharpening all the colors too, potenitally looking more muck-ish....or less sharp than it can be.

See your layers tab? Next to it is the channels tab. Click on that and you will see Lab, Lightness, A, and B. Select the lightness channel, and your image will turn black and white. This is where you should sharpen the image. When done, click on the LAB portion and you will see your color pop back, and the image is sharpened.
The lightness channel is also where you should do any shadow/highlighting.

Cool Rick. I have been applying my sharpening on a duplicate background layer in LAB mode until I like it then doing a merge/visible layers. I think that also just sharpens the lightness mode - but I'm not certain enough to swear it in a court of law or anything...

Thanks. very much for your insights.

Janet B

You can also sharpen in RGB using the Luminosity blend mode, rather than switching to LAB.
There's a great new book on sharpening: Real World Image Sharpening by Bruce Fraser, the same guy who wrote the other Real World Photoshop books. In it he talks about different stages of sharpening rather than doing it all as the last step. He covers sharpening for source, content, creativity, and output. And he talks about why you'd want to choose different settings, like radius and threshold, as well as covering the high-pass method.
He describes how to make really simple, but really sophisticated edge masks for sharpening and he also talks about noise reduction. He also shows you how to write some actions to help automate it all.
I learned quite a bit from just my first reading.
If you liked his Real World Camera Raw you'll probably like this book too.