Posted by Matt Anderson on February 3, 2009 at 2:23 PM
I'd like to share with you a, IMHO, really cool CS4 action for creating a sharpening contact sheet. Have you ever eaten up lots of time, money, and consumables trying to get sharpening right for print. I have created an action that will make a file containing a grid with various amounts of sharpening. I'd created this on a Mac, as far as I know it will work on a PC as well. This isn't intended to be the end all be all for sharpening, but a quick way to narrow down what kind of sharpening is needed for your output media.
First, start off with a file that is scaled to 100% @ 300 dpi output size. Crop a section of this to a dimension of 2" x 2" @ 300 dpi. You can set the marquee selection tool for this. The file will be 600 pixels x 600 pixels (very important). Next run the action. (It will work on images more than 300 dpi, but they must be 600 x 600. If you use say, 360 dpi, the file would be 1.6667 inches, and when the action is run, you will get the same results but with a black border.)
What does the action do ?
It creates a grid of various amounts and radius's.
The file will be 8" x 8" @300 dpi. ( a nice size that will fit on a LET page ;~} )
As you go down the radius increases
As you go right the amount increases
I'm in the process of creating a way for the action to label the appropriate grid with the amount of sharpening.
I hope you find this useful. Feel free to make a donation to my beer fund :0) J/K
I have a few more gifts I'd like to share, that is, if this is well received ...
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Discussion
2 repliesFirst, start off with a file that is scaled to 100% @ 300 dpi output size. Crop a section of this to a dimension of 2" x 2" @ 300 dpi. You can set the marquee selection tool for this. The file will be 600 pixels x 600 pixels (very important). Next run the action. (It will work on images more than 300 dpi, but they must be 600 x 600. If you use say, 360 dpi, the file would be 1.6667 inches, and when the action is run, you will get the same results but with a black border.)
What does the action do ?
It creates a grid of various amounts and radius's.
The file will be 8" x 8" @300 dpi. ( a nice size that will fit on a LET page ;~} )
As you go down the radius increases
As you go right the amount increases
Original, 50 .5, 100 .5, 200 .5
Original, 50 1. 100 1, 200 1
Original, 50 1.5, 100 1.5, 200 1.5
Original, 50 2. 100 2, 200 2
Example file Before:
http://mattanderson.zenfolio.com/p15207892/h102de545#h138c7e24
Example file After:
http://mattanderson.zenfolio.com/p15207892/h102de545#h102de545
Channels Palette Link: after action has run, use this to determine the sharpening amount desired:
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3319/3251063424_3474234c64_o.png
Link to Action:
http://www.mattandersonphotography.com/Data/SharpeningSheet/SharpeningSheetCreator.atn
I'm in the process of creating a way for the action to label the appropriate grid with the amount of sharpening.
I hope you find this useful. Feel free to make a donation to my beer fund :0) J/K
I have a few more gifts I'd like to share, that is, if this is well received ...
--
___________________________________________
http://mattanderson.zenfolio.com/
This is perfect!