Posted by Skip Layman on January 18, 2013 at 12:06 PM
I have noticed that most of the slides I scan in with my Nikon Coolscan 4000 seem to need some sharpening. I have found that the unsharp mask I used for my digital images does little or nothing for my scanned image. Anyone else having to deal with this? If so, have you come up with a good way to sharpen?
I'm not familiar with the Nikon Software, but you could try a small amount of sharpening during the scan. Some argue against this because it can increase noise in deep shadows. However, it's worth experimenting. BTW: Be sure Dust and Scratch Removal (or Digital ICE) is turned off.
It's also helpful to scan at the maximum 'optical' resolution of the scanner. Also, scan the image so that it looks flat contrast-wise. This prevents clipping of the high and low values. It's ok to do some minor color balance adjustments at scan time.
I scan a lot of 4x5 and I do have to sharpen; the amount of which depends upon the use of the file. Sharpening is something you have to experiment with--amount, radius, and threshold. For prints, I sharpen in stages. For example, I'll apply an amount of 100 at a radius of 1.4. I then apply the same again, and again, if needed. Also, for prints, and after flattening the file, I create a copy of the background layer and set its blending mode to luminosity and then apply USM. The advantage is that the USM does not affect color.
For the Web, I use Tony Kuyper's Web Sharpening action. It is similar to Marc Adamus' technique. It works very, very well.
Just curious, but in the image you posted, did you apply USM to it? If so, what were the USM settings? If you really had to crank up the USM for this image, then it's possible your scannner is not focusing properly.
--P
edit: fixed typos
Posted by David Bostedo on January 18, 2013 at 2:35 PM
Do you mean USM has no effect? Or it's just not an effect you think looks good? It's not really possibly for unsharp mask in to not have an effect; As Preston said, if you crank it up, and you're not masking it or ignoring it for some reason, you'll see a difference.
But the affect that the particular USM settings will have are dependent on the pixel size of the image. Larger images will seem to need a larger radius setting generally, depending on the fineness of the detail you're trying to affect.
"But the affect that the particular USM settings will have are dependent on the pixel size of the image."
This is quite true. When I sharpen Web images manually I use a radius of 0.5 and start with an amount of about 50. That way, I can apply the USM as many times as needed to get the desired affect. I apply USM on a layer with the blending mode set to 'luminosity'. USM is always done after sizing the image, converting it to 8-bit, and converting the profile to sRGB.
Skip, I looked at the original image and the repost you posted in the Landscape Gallery. The repost is much, much better. 'Sharpen Edges' worked well for this particular image, but its use can cause problems (halos) with dark objects against lighter ones. Be careful, also, if you use 'sharpen edges' and USM; halos can result around fine details.
Good sharpening takes time, and each image will likely require different settings. If you apply USM on a layer, as suggested, and it doesn't work well, you can easily trash the layer, create a new one and then try different settings.
--P
Posted by Greg Vaughn on January 19, 2013 at 12:20 AM
Skip: it is my understanding that any digital image, whether from a scan or original capture in RAW format, will benefit from a small amount of capture sharpening. I have a Nikon Coolscan 4000 also, and found this to be definitely true when using Digital Ice with this scanner (which I highly recommend). I initially tried sharpening with USM during the scan process with the Nikon Scan software, but found the results less than optimum. What has worked better for me is to use PhotoKit Sharpener from www.pixelgenius.com. Recently, however, I've been using Smart Sharpen in Photoshop CS6, which I think is better than USM, and which was developed, at least partially, with the help of the pixelgenius guys.
This is for Capture sharpening only. Additional sharpening should be applied for output to files intended for inkjet printing, continuous tone printing and web/electronic media. PhotoKit Sharpener provides for those uses also, or as mentioned by others, the techniques used by Tony Kuyper and Marc Adamus work extremely well for web display.
Discussion
4 repliesI'm not familiar with the Nikon Software, but you could try a small amount of sharpening during the scan. Some argue against this because it can increase noise in deep shadows. However, it's worth experimenting. BTW: Be sure Dust and Scratch Removal (or Digital ICE) is turned off.
It's also helpful to scan at the maximum 'optical' resolution of the scanner. Also, scan the image so that it looks flat contrast-wise. This prevents clipping of the high and low values. It's ok to do some minor color balance adjustments at scan time.
I scan a lot of 4x5 and I do have to sharpen; the amount of which depends upon the use of the file. Sharpening is something you have to experiment with--amount, radius, and threshold. For prints, I sharpen in stages. For example, I'll apply an amount of 100 at a radius of 1.4. I then apply the same again, and again, if needed. Also, for prints, and after flattening the file, I create a copy of the background layer and set its blending mode to luminosity and then apply USM. The advantage is that the USM does not affect color.
For the Web, I use Tony Kuyper's Web Sharpening action. It is similar to Marc Adamus' technique. It works very, very well.
Just curious, but in the image you posted, did you apply USM to it? If so, what were the USM settings? If you really had to crank up the USM for this image, then it's possible your scannner is not focusing properly.
--P
edit: fixed typos
But the affect that the particular USM settings will have are dependent on the pixel size of the image. Larger images will seem to need a larger radius setting generally, depending on the fineness of the detail you're trying to affect.
This is quite true. When I sharpen Web images manually I use a radius of 0.5 and start with an amount of about 50. That way, I can apply the USM as many times as needed to get the desired affect. I apply USM on a layer with the blending mode set to 'luminosity'. USM is always done after sizing the image, converting it to 8-bit, and converting the profile to sRGB.
Skip, I looked at the original image and the repost you posted in the Landscape Gallery. The repost is much, much better. 'Sharpen Edges' worked well for this particular image, but its use can cause problems (halos) with dark objects against lighter ones. Be careful, also, if you use 'sharpen edges' and USM; halos can result around fine details.
Good sharpening takes time, and each image will likely require different settings. If you apply USM on a layer, as suggested, and it doesn't work well, you can easily trash the layer, create a new one and then try different settings.
--P
This is for Capture sharpening only. Additional sharpening should be applied for output to files intended for inkjet printing, continuous tone printing and web/electronic media. PhotoKit Sharpener provides for those uses also, or as mentioned by others, the techniques used by Tony Kuyper and Marc Adamus work extremely well for web display.