Best way to sharpen 10d pics?

[pl2se]

Since there seem to be a lot of experienced 10d users at this forum I would like to know if there is any concensus regarding the best way to sharpen you pictures. I have a trial version on C1 LE raw connverter and ps7.

Should I sharpen the raw files globally in C1 first, and then sharpen again in PS after I have determined in what size and resolution ( I usually feed my printer with 360 dpi ) to print?

How much do I need to sharpen?

I understand that all this might depend, but for a normal pic shot at iso 100.

Regards
Peter

[jmublueduck]

I'd save sharpening until one of the last steps in your workflow... don't have it as one of the first. Fred Miranda has some very good actions: http://www.fredmiranda.com/actions

I use a D60; the results are very similar to your 10D... but check out CSPro or Intellisharpen. I use v.3.0 of the later & it works extremely well. It's seperate from a linear conversion though; some actions combine linear conversion & sharpening together.

re: amount of sharpening, it kind of depends on each image. FM Intellisharpen 3.0 has 14 levels to choose from; I generally use level 10, FWIW.

re: printing, > 300 dpi is pointless. You won't see any difference on most printers.

[lziering]

When converting from RAW I use Adobe Camera RAW with a Sharpen value of about 50. When I am done with all my work on the image I use the following procedure.

Resize the image for printing at whatever size you intend to print it at and choose a DPI, usually using a DPI value of between 240 and 360 depending on the amount of detail in the image.
Click on little eyeball icon of each layer to turn off the visibility of all layers except the Background and Background Layer Copy, thus making only these two layers visible.
Select the Background Layer Copy
Click on Create New Layer so that an empty layer is created above the Background Layer Copy
While holding the Alt Key (Mac Option Key) go to the Layers Options (little triangle in the Layers Palette) and choose Merge Visible. This will make a copy of all the visible layers in the new empty layer.
Select the new composited layer that was just created. View the image at between 50-66%
Go to Filter>Sharpen>Unsharp Mask
There are no rules of thumb here. I like to use high values for Amount (between 250 and 500), a low value for Radius (between .4 and .7), and a low value for Threshold (0-1) for low ISO images and between 4 and 6 for high ISO images. You want to make it a bit sharper than looks right. Click okay.
You can use the Opacity slider in the Layers Menu to blend back the sharpened layer until it looks right or just a tiny bit sharper than you think is right.
An alternative is to make a copy of Sharpened layer so you have two sharpened layers. Set the mode of one to Lighten and the other to Darken. Together with both at 100% opacity it will look just like the original sharpened Layer in Normal Mode. Depending on the subject, you adjust the opacity of the two sharpened layers until you get the best look. For instance a subject with shinning skin will look better with a higher value for Darken than for Lighten. Or, a face with dark wrinkles or stubble will look better if the opacity of the Lighten Layer is higher and the Darken Layer is lower

[Mr.Jalapeno]

With today's sophisticated inkjet printers, you probably won't notice any difference down to 200 ppi.

[jduncan]

hi
i have freds cspro and web presenter actions, am i right in saying that sharpening is the last thing you do. eg you convert from raw to 16bit tiff, do all the colour stuff and removing things etc, resize with Web presenter and THEN sharpen

thanks
james

[Pekka]

pl2se wrote:
Since there seem to be a lot of experienced 10d users at this forum I would like to know if there is any concensus regarding the best way to sharpen you pictures. I have a trial version on C1 LE raw connverter and ps7.

Should I sharpen the raw files globally in C1 first, and then sharpen again in PS after I have determined in what size and resolution ( I usually feed my printer with 360 dpi ) to print?

How much do I need to sharpen?

I understand that all this might depend, but for a normal pic shot at iso 100.

Regards
Peter

I do C1 sharpen (soft) between 150 and 300 treshold 0-2 (NR lowest, MOIRE lowest) and than add in PS if needed, based on target device. If C1 is enough you can anyways give it a bit a crispness in PS with 0.2/300/0 USM....

It all depends on how sharp the original is and what is your reason for sharpening it.