Just wondering why some npn'ers photos look so crisp on the web and others dont . I post mine at 720 long side and close to the 300kb limit and they never look very sharp. I also notice this with other peoples photos some look very crisp and others look well "processed for the web," is all i can say and they look to be useing good equipment. Is it the downsizing method used or is it something else?
I am usually disapointed with my photos once downsized.
Posted by Brian Gatlin on July 15, 2012 at 6:40 PM
could be a whole lot of different factors in the variability, Jack, including quality of gear, skill in using it, quality of the original capture, skill in processing/sharpening the image, and personal standards.
In your case, if you are happy with the photos at higher resolution, reducing the image size/resolution should not make it look less sharp, so it sounds like a workflow issue. It's generally preferable to save your sharpening for last, and to do it at the size (re-sized) you intend to present.
You would need to outline your sharpening workflow for folks to get a better sense of your disappointment.
I know that images almost always need to be re-sharpened to some degree after resizing for the web.
Here's a simple tutorial on 4 different methods of web sharpening. Ignore the first and note that the third one is used by many members here.
Sharpening is specific to output. Whenever you resize you need to resharpen. Before I post an image to the web I almost always sharpen it at least a little. Each image has to be judged individually while viewing it 100%. If the image looks a bit dull I will apply USM at 10/60/0 to increase local contrast. The first setting (10) can vary from 5 to 15. I leave the 60/0 constant. And/or I may apply Smart Sharpen at 50-100% with a radius of 0.3 to 0.5.
An excellent resource on sharpening for the web is found on NPN member Rich Ditch's web site: http://richditch.com/page0/page64/digital.html, click on sharpening. I notice that you have birds and other wildlife in your NPN gallery and his process produces images with the right amount of sharpening.
When I viewed the Lorikeet images used as an example on the link that John posted I found the images to be a bit over-sharpened, in some areas the feather were too crinkly.
Sharpening; as mentioned by others, should be the last step in your process and done at each size you might post.
NPN'er Andreas Resch has an excellent tool for downsizing and sharpening: one can download it from his website - http://www.andreasresch.at/ - or search his forum posts for the specific links
You've already received some good advice. I'll add to it by saying that using Nik Sharpener Pro 3 AFTER re-sizing your image for the web gives exceptional results every time. I use it for every photo I sharpen, whether for the web or print. I've been very happy w/ it. It is the easiest and most consistent method I've used.
Discussion
8 repliesI am usually disapointed with my photos once downsized.
In your case, if you are happy with the photos at higher resolution, reducing the image size/resolution should not make it look less sharp, so it sounds like a workflow issue. It's generally preferable to save your sharpening for last, and to do it at the size (re-sized) you intend to present.
I know that images almost always need to be re-sharpened to some degree after resizing for the web.
Here's a simple tutorial on 4 different methods of web sharpening. Ignore the first and note that the third one is used by many members here.
An excellent resource on sharpening for the web is found on NPN member Rich Ditch's web site: http://richditch.com/page0/page64/digital.html, click on sharpening. I notice that you have birds and other wildlife in your NPN gallery and his process produces images with the right amount of sharpening.
When I viewed the Lorikeet images used as an example on the link that John posted I found the images to be a bit over-sharpened, in some areas the feather were too crinkly.
Sharpening; as mentioned by others, should be the last step in your process and done at each size you might post.