The ULTIMATE SHARPENING workflow for master fine art printing (what is the best?)...
I am in the process of producing a DVD series on the subject matter of sharpening for fine art printing. I have been an avid student of sharpening workflow and fine art print making for about 9 years and have read just about every theory on the subject as well as had the great privilege of testing, implementing, and trying out these regimens. I have come to a point where I think I have the issue mastered (meaning having it down to the point where I don't think it can get any better/produce any better real world print results). People are constantly hiring me to either TEACH them these things or simply DO their post production work for them. So, it dawned on me, why not lay the issue out in an easy to understand/follow format and make all the "secrets" available for those who might benefit?
Having said all that, before I finalize the series I am in the process of double checking all my facts as well as refreshing to see if I have missed anything. I simply love to learn.
*SO I AM CURIOUS WHAT FOLKS MIGHT THINK IS THE BEST (in terms of fine art quality results vs. quickness or ease of workflow-production) SHARPENING WORKFLOW FOR FINE ART PRINTING?*
I'll throw the question out there with the hope that with multi-replies we all might learn something!:D I'm sure I will.
First...as always...get it tack sharp right in camera (kinda goes without saying)!
Now the next stuff will probably grind on some folks...but it works for me since I shoot way too many images for spending alot of time in post processing. Those looking for a fast down and dirty method should give it a shot.
This applies to those using CS5. Each step and the amount used, if any, depends on the image. I shoot a Nikon D700 using the in-camera jpg, not RAW ( I shoot too many images to get into the time for RAW manipulation...Oh Horrors !!). The D700 is set up for middle of the road settings usually.
Open image
Image:Adjustments:Shadows and Highlights
adjust shadows as needed - see what Highlights does...I may adjust shadows but rarely highlights
Image:Adjustments:Exposure
Go to Offset...make small adjustment to the left - this will start to darken the image and deepens the colors - be careful - a little bit should make you go "wow, that looks better" - notice this gives an appearance of sharpening the image right away. Look carefully all over your image to insure you didn't do too much
Image:Adjustments:Vibrance
Adjust vibrance to the right - this will add some color back lost in Offset stage - many times this can be brought up to the 40's and 50's depending on the image...you will notice a perceived sharpening effect here, too. You should also perceive more detail especially between color boundaries
Filter:Smart Sharpen
Well, this is where I hope others will give more information!!!!! I have a default setting which has no real "smarts" from me. I usually sharpen once and then once more if the image really wasn't very sharp out of the camera.
That's it. I then save a tiff and a jpg of this image. This gives me a great looking screen image. When printing, I may smart sharpen again once. Some say that if it looks a little too sharp on screen, the printer will iron this out. Sure someone will have this in their technique.
These instructions work over the entire image. I do not get into masks and layers, etc. Like I said, this is fast, down, and dirty. Well, works for me right now. And generally works for my kinds of images. People buy my stuff and I guess that's what counts!
Now I can't wait to see how to do it the right way! Also, I want to buy one of Mark's DVD's as soon as he gets it finished and stops rolling on the ground after reading this!
Posted by Lance Warley on July 29, 2011 at 7:08 AM
Great topic, Mark.
I'm an amateur. I rarely sell a print. Frankly, it's a joy for me to treat photography as a hobby, so I'm not under the budget and schedule constraints that you pro's live with. I'm more interested in quality than anything else.
When I do print, which isn't often, I use West Coast Imaging for sizes that are usually around 36x24. I'm told they're a bit pricey, but I love the quality.
I think I undersharpen for print. This is because I'm afraid to oversharpen for fear that it will look horrible and now I've wasted the cost of a print. If I undersharpen, it may not look as great as it could look, but I haven't had to trash an undersharpened print yet.
I understand the process as far as look at the image at 100%, beware of halos and artifacts, use Luminosity mode. I almost never sharpen the whole photo. I sharpen the things that look better with heightened contrast on edges, and I don't sharpen things that benefit from looking silkier, like water in a long exposure. When I select something to sharpen, I contract 2 and feather 1 to avoid halos. And I use Unsharp Mask.
Anything I can learn in this thread will be greatly appreciated.
Mark,
I've been highly satisfied with the sharpening and related noise reduction tools in Lightroom 3.x. Output sharpening too is fine for me. it's nice not having to deal with plugins anymore. SmartSharpen works well in PS, but I think LR's approach is both smarter and capable of being more subtle.
Of course having the camera stable is paramount. . .
*SO I AM CURIOUS WHAT FOLKS MIGHT THINK IS THE BEST (in terms of fine art quality results vs. quickness or ease of workflow-production) SHARPENING WORKFLOW FOR FINE ART PRINTING?*
Troup Nightingale, thanks for the input but ultra fine art/the opposite as production...
"If you're serious about sharpening, Bruce Fraser's Real World Image Sharpening is the bible. I highly recommend it for anyone who wants the absolute best sharpening possible."
I CAN NOT AGREE MORE. I read that book until the pages were literally falling apart!
I'm an amateur. I rarely sell a print. Frankly, it's a joy for me to treat photography as a hobby, so I'm not under the budget and schedule constraints that you pro's live with. I'm more interested in quality than anything else.
When I do print, which isn't often, I use West Coast Imaging for sizes that are usually around 36x24. I'm told they're a bit pricey, but I love the quality.
I think I undersharpen for print. This is because I'm afraid to oversharpen for fear that it will look horrible and now I've wasted the cost of a print. If I undersharpen, it may not look as great as it could look, but I haven't had to trash an undersharpened print yet.
I understand the process as far as look at the image at 100%, beware of halos and artifacts, use Luminosity mode. I almost never sharpen the whole photo. I sharpen the things that look better with heightened contrast on edges, and I don't sharpen things that benefit from looking silkier, like water in a long exposure. When I select something to sharpen, I contract 2 and feather 1 to avoid halos. And I use Unsharp Mask.
Anything I can learn in this thread will be greatly appreciated."
Hi Lance. WC does do a great job and is spendy! Thank you for your contribution here.
Undersharpening is fine but not ideal. Ideal would be, ideal type and amount for each area of the image. Not being under the budget and time restraints is the best way. I sharpen my work under neither. Though am doing this work full time, I still deeply enjoy the process (and especially love learning).
Luminosity Mode is very good, often LAB L Channel Sharpening beats it, but sometimes not (I always compare the two modes in any particular image to see which one works best) and sometimes it is a tie. It is key to capture sharpen (ACR) in a double/triple process in layers in Photoshop so you can get the correct effect masked into in each area. I agree sometimes a sky or smooth flowing water area should not be sharpened at all (not capture sharpened either) and maybe a very small touch of luminance noise reduction at the raw stage can be applied to those smooth areas to promote the smoothness further.
Again, evaluate Capture Sharpening at 100%, but USM and any other Photoshop Sharpening needs to be evaluated at 25% for higher res images (300ppi or above) and 50% for lower res images (like 200ppi and below).
As far as amount, the general rule is, if you have a good monitor basically you want to sharpen to where it looks perfect (on screen) to your eye, then push it one small step further. It should look just a tad crispy on screen. There is a huge change in the image (softening) when those discreet little squares (pixels) get turned into dots! A good sharpener will get a good feel for this change and sharpen accordingly. A master sharpener will do tests on degrees of sharpening and even grain simulation to see how what they see on the monitor translates into print. Patience, practice and some investment in tests are key.
Discussion
7 repliesI am in the process of producing a DVD series on the subject matter of sharpening for fine art printing. I have been an avid student of sharpening workflow and fine art print making for about 9 years and have read just about every theory on the subject as well as had the great privilege of testing, implementing, and trying out these regimens. I have come to a point where I think I have the issue mastered (meaning having it down to the point where I don't think it can get any better/produce any better real world print results). People are constantly hiring me to either TEACH them these things or simply DO their post production work for them. So, it dawned on me, why not lay the issue out in an easy to understand/follow format and make all the "secrets" available for those who might benefit?
Having said all that, before I finalize the series I am in the process of double checking all my facts as well as refreshing to see if I have missed anything. I simply love to learn.
*SO I AM CURIOUS WHAT FOLKS MIGHT THINK IS THE BEST (in terms of fine art quality results vs. quickness or ease of workflow-production) SHARPENING WORKFLOW FOR FINE ART PRINTING?*
I'll throw the question out there with the hope that with multi-replies we all might learn something!:D I'm sure I will.
First...as always...get it tack sharp right in camera (kinda goes without saying)!
Now the next stuff will probably grind on some folks...but it works for me since I shoot way too many images for spending alot of time in post processing. Those looking for a fast down and dirty method should give it a shot.
This applies to those using CS5. Each step and the amount used, if any, depends on the image. I shoot a Nikon D700 using the in-camera jpg, not RAW ( I shoot too many images to get into the time for RAW manipulation...Oh Horrors
Open image
Image:Adjustments:Shadows and Highlights
adjust shadows as needed - see what Highlights does...I may adjust shadows but rarely highlights
Image:Adjustments:Exposure
Go to Offset...make small adjustment to the left - this will start to darken the image and deepens the colors - be careful - a little bit should make you go "wow, that looks better" - notice this gives an appearance of sharpening the image right away. Look carefully all over your image to insure you didn't do too much
Image:Adjustments:Vibrance
Adjust vibrance to the right - this will add some color back lost in Offset stage - many times this can be brought up to the 40's and 50's depending on the image...you will notice a perceived sharpening effect here, too. You should also perceive more detail especially between color boundaries
Filter:Smart Sharpen
Well, this is where I hope others will give more information!!!!! I have a default setting which has no real "smarts" from me. I usually sharpen once and then once more if the image really wasn't very sharp out of the camera.
That's it. I then save a tiff and a jpg of this image. This gives me a great looking screen image. When printing, I may smart sharpen again once. Some say that if it looks a little too sharp on screen, the printer will iron this out. Sure someone will have this in their technique.
These instructions work over the entire image. I do not get into masks and layers, etc. Like I said, this is fast, down, and dirty. Well, works for me right now. And generally works for my kinds of images. People buy my stuff and I guess that's what counts!
Now I can't wait to see how to do it the right way! Also, I want to buy one of Mark's DVD's as soon as he gets it finished and stops rolling on the ground after reading this!
I'm an amateur. I rarely sell a print. Frankly, it's a joy for me to treat photography as a hobby, so I'm not under the budget and schedule constraints that you pro's live with. I'm more interested in quality than anything else.
When I do print, which isn't often, I use West Coast Imaging for sizes that are usually around 36x24. I'm told they're a bit pricey, but I love the quality.
I think I undersharpen for print. This is because I'm afraid to oversharpen for fear that it will look horrible and now I've wasted the cost of a print. If I undersharpen, it may not look as great as it could look, but I haven't had to trash an undersharpened print yet.
I understand the process as far as look at the image at 100%, beware of halos and artifacts, use Luminosity mode. I almost never sharpen the whole photo. I sharpen the things that look better with heightened contrast on edges, and I don't sharpen things that benefit from looking silkier, like water in a long exposure. When I select something to sharpen, I contract 2 and feather 1 to avoid halos. And I use Unsharp Mask.
Anything I can learn in this thread will be greatly appreciated.
I've been highly satisfied with the sharpening and related noise reduction tools in Lightroom 3.x. Output sharpening too is fine for me. it's nice not having to deal with plugins anymore. SmartSharpen works well in PS, but I think LR's approach is both smarter and capable of being more subtle.
Of course having the camera stable is paramount. . .
ME
Troup Nightingale, thanks for the input but ultra fine art/the opposite as production...
Mark Stahlke wrote:
"If you're serious about sharpening, Bruce Fraser's Real World Image Sharpening is the bible. I highly recommend it for anyone who wants the absolute best sharpening possible."
I CAN NOT AGREE MORE. I read that book until the pages were literally falling apart!
"Great topic, Mark.
I'm an amateur. I rarely sell a print. Frankly, it's a joy for me to treat photography as a hobby, so I'm not under the budget and schedule constraints that you pro's live with. I'm more interested in quality than anything else.
When I do print, which isn't often, I use West Coast Imaging for sizes that are usually around 36x24. I'm told they're a bit pricey, but I love the quality.
I think I undersharpen for print. This is because I'm afraid to oversharpen for fear that it will look horrible and now I've wasted the cost of a print. If I undersharpen, it may not look as great as it could look, but I haven't had to trash an undersharpened print yet.
I understand the process as far as look at the image at 100%, beware of halos and artifacts, use Luminosity mode. I almost never sharpen the whole photo. I sharpen the things that look better with heightened contrast on edges, and I don't sharpen things that benefit from looking silkier, like water in a long exposure. When I select something to sharpen, I contract 2 and feather 1 to avoid halos. And I use Unsharp Mask.
Anything I can learn in this thread will be greatly appreciated."
Hi Lance. WC does do a great job and is spendy! Thank you for your contribution here.
Undersharpening is fine but not ideal. Ideal would be, ideal type and amount for each area of the image. Not being under the budget and time restraints is the best way. I sharpen my work under neither. Though am doing this work full time, I still deeply enjoy the process (and especially love learning).
Luminosity Mode is very good, often LAB L Channel Sharpening beats it, but sometimes not (I always compare the two modes in any particular image to see which one works best) and sometimes it is a tie. It is key to capture sharpen (ACR) in a double/triple process in layers in Photoshop so you can get the correct effect masked into in each area. I agree sometimes a sky or smooth flowing water area should not be sharpened at all (not capture sharpened either) and maybe a very small touch of luminance noise reduction at the raw stage can be applied to those smooth areas to promote the smoothness further.
Again, evaluate Capture Sharpening at 100%, but USM and any other Photoshop Sharpening needs to be evaluated at 25% for higher res images (300ppi or above) and 50% for lower res images (like 200ppi and below).
As far as amount, the general rule is, if you have a good monitor basically you want to sharpen to where it looks perfect (on screen) to your eye, then push it one small step further. It should look just a tad crispy on screen. There is a huge change in the image (softening) when those discreet little squares (pixels) get turned into dots! A good sharpener will get a good feel for this change and sharpen accordingly. A master sharpener will do tests on degrees of sharpening and even grain simulation to see how what they see on the monitor translates into print. Patience, practice and some investment in tests are key.
Good luck!