Sharpening software

Anyone have any experience with third party sharpening plug-ins for Photoshoop CS2?
JS

I've had great success using the FOCUS magic plugin which works in Photoshop and Paint Shop Pro.
---Focus Magic by Acclaim Software is a photo sharpening editor used for restoring old photos, and for the restoration or enhancement of out of focus photos.

http://www.focusmagic.​com

PhotoKit Sharpener is excellent, $100, but requires a bit of reading to really understand what to do, and it's a bit more work than many. nik Sharperner Pro is excellent, pretty much automatic for you, but quite expensive. ($300+ ??) The TLR Sharpening Toolkit from http://www.thelightsri​ght.com is excellent, and much like Photokit. It definitely requires some reading and extra work, but it is truly excellent and FREE.

Scottes wrote:
The TLR Sharpening Toolkit from http://www.thelightsri​ght.com is excellent, and much like Photokit. It definitely requires some reading and extra work, but it is truly excellent and FREE.

I use the TLR Sharpening Toolkit also and I love it.

I also use the TLR Sharpening Kit and like it very much.

My experience with Focus Magic has been great. Keep in mind that NOTHING is a miracle cure for an out of focus shot, but FM is the best I have seen. Most sharpeners work by enhancing contrast where different areas meet. This gives the appearance of a sharper shot.

Focus Magic actually shifts pixel placement to reduce distance of blur between adjacent areas.

THIS THREAD has some samples that I have previously posted.

Rad

Sledhed wrote:
I use the TLR Sharpening Toolkit also and I love it.

ditto here... works great, and it's free. prefer script version from actions, though.

Another fan of TLR Sharpening Kit here. Works very well, and you can't beat the price (free).

It never hurts to send Mitch some $$$ through the donation link for all his efforts.

TLR worshiper here.

In my opinion, nothing stands out as being so great that it's worth $100+. You should save your money and try other techniques in Photoshop first . . . put the money towards a new lens! Of course, if something like the TLR Sharpening Kit is free, give that a shot . . . I need to check that out.

I like to convert the image to LAB mode and sharpen only the "L" channel using Unsharp Mask, Smart Sharpen, or High Pass. Since the color information is in the A and B channels, it will only affect the detail of the image and not create any color issues at contrast edges.

Don't sell the TLR site short - check out some of the other tuts and actions on the site. I do a lot of mono conversions, and the quickie BW actions help get you in the ballpark with the channel mixer. Also there is great info hidden in the "Velvia effect" tutorial: you can do some real specific things to the color that aren't as blatent as the tut describes.

i found another sharpening set for photoshop for 35.00 in this thread somewhere last year. if you do a search you should be able to find it. it was called flexsharp