USM article

Here is a great article on USM.

http://www.naturescape​s.net/122004/tg1204.ht​m

Definitely a good article. Just be aware that this is for on-screen shots, and that he does not go into USM for prints. However, if you zoom to 25% and use his methods you'll be pretty darn close for prints.

And as he said: Practice!

ohh I did not realize that.

So instead of viewing it at 100% crop, view it at 25% and follow his guide lines?

Why zoom out further? Because prints are not usually looked at so closely?

Zooming at 25% will make for a close approximation of 300 DPI, the common print DPI. Well, with today's hi-res monitors 50% is often closer... But PS will anti-alias the "odd" zooms like 33% and 66%, so it's not very accurate for sharpening. So either 50% of 25%.

Thanks for the link. I just discovered the USM on my PS when my buddy and I went to the camera store to ask why our pictures didn't look as good as other people's pictures. The woman behind the counter gave us the whole scoop on USM and that has opened a whole new world. I felt like sending her flowers.

SuzyView

Hm. Doesn't that depend on the resolution of your monitor, how large your monitor is (pretty much pixel number density), and what the DPI of the image is?

The DPI of the original image is absolutely meaningless, since 100 pixels of the image will display at 100 pixels on the monitor. The size of the monitor is also meaningless.

But you're right, the resolution of the monitor would make a difference. Most monitors today are going to display between 90 and 120 pixels per inch. Thus viewing at 25% would be an approximation for about 360 DPI to 480 DPI printing. 50% would approximate between 180 DPI and 240 DPI. So, as I said "Well, with today's hi-res monitors 50% is often closer..." - that is, viewing at 50% will most likely be the most accurate approximation for printing.