Sharpning methods.

[paule]

Hi all. I am new to this forum and finding it the best.. Thanks.
Just wondering how Jb's custom sharpener works.. I got it from olegis who kindly posted it on another discussion. I would also be greatfull for any links to other free photoshop tools or usefull software.. Thanks again.

[EdViesturs]

There are tons of threads on this topic. Do a search for some in-depth discussion.

My preference is Fred Miranda's Intellisharpen II. Its easy to use, and has many user-scalable options.
Check it out.

[mdr]

How does Fred Miranda's IntelliSharpen II compare to his other camera specific PS plugins, e.g. 20D CSPro, 10DCSPro II and 300D CSPro?

Obviously, the 20D CSpro is specifically targeted to the 20D, but how would it fare on a tiff/jpeg scanned from Velvia?

[Olegis]

Hi paule.

The JB's smart sharpener is based on the technique described here (http://www.luminous-landscape.com/tutorials/smart_sharp.shtml). The theory behind it is - you don't have to sharpen the whole image, but to sharpen only where it really matters. For example, if you have a picture with a big portion of clear blue sky, there are some noise artifacts in that portion, which will be sharpened if you apply the regular USM - and you don't want that. Therefore you have to apply some kind of mask which will tell the USM tool to sharpen only the relevant areas. The JB's action works just like that - it finds the relevant areas in the picture and builds the mask. Then you have to apply the USM - but only the relevant parts will be sharpened. There are actually two actions in that ZIP file, one builds the mask by using the Find Edges filter and the other is using the some kind of convolution in custom filter tool. I personally find the custom filter doing a better job, but it may be just me.

Another great article about this kind of sharpening is here (http://www.bythom.com/sharpening.htm). You can build your own action if you want to ;)

[griff2]

Here's a smart sharpening algorithm, based on the article at Luminous Landscape; it assumes 16 bits/pixel - although it can be edited in Photoshop's Action palett for 8b/p. I use it for output from the 300D/Rebel, varying the USM from 80-120, depending on the lens I use.

[Radtech1]

My favorite method of sharpening is Focus Magic (http://www.focusmagic.com). It uses a completly different method of sharpening. Rathern than shifting the contrast of adjacent areas, it actually moves the pixels so that a blurry line becomes sharp. See my comparisons below:

http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?p=302017#post302017

Rad

[paule]

:( Tried 4 attempts at smart sharpening and all i get is a reddish appearance when i apply sharpening mask.. Any ideas or is it me.. thanks guys

[Olegis]

I didn't quite understand what happened, can you please describe what happens on which step ?

[paule]

Sorry olegis just me being thick.. sorted now.. Thanks for that.