STICKY:  Sharpening Tips & Tricks, Tutorials, and FAQ

Great! Thanks so much! I always used to do this with photos, but got away from taking pics for a few years and completely forgot about this technique. Just did it to some pics I took recently. Nice! Very nice!
Dj

I like the high pass act! Just tried it and it adds that little more that seems to be needed sometimes!

First post, I have been lurking for a while. All the information in this forum is fantastic. Thanks.
I was reading the info on sharpening and downloaded the TLR pro toolkit for PS7. and I don't know where to put files. It gives instructions for PS CS2. Any ideas for PS7?

Same location might work, but I have no idea wether it's compatible with PS7.

I downloaded the version for earlier PS. tried it where they suggested and I can't find the option to use???????????????

The high-pass filter method is a cracking way of doing it

I shall use that from now on

What about tips and techniques for bring back detail (or the illusion of detail) from out-of-focus images? I think this is one of the most difficulties things in sharpening.

One "technique" I usually do to correct OOF images, is apply a little blur in the secondary areas of the image (the areas which are not needed to be in focus). This doesn't bring back detail but help to give a "focus illusion" by means of sharpen contrast. Then I start working in the primary areas using the sharpening tools.

Hi:

I too favor High Pass, but I find less artifacts using Soft Light vs. Overlay. Just my opinion.

mlou5ca wrote in post #6615921
Hi:

I too favor High Pass, but I find less artifacts using Soft Light vs. Overlay. Just my opinion.

Hmmmm, I'd better try this out - thanks for the tip.

Layer order makes so much difference here.

If I do what's suggested and create a new layer, set blending mode to luminosity and Unsharp Mask that layer (which according to the Lightroom article is the correct way to sharpen only the luminosity and not the color, reducing artifacts), then add another layer above that to do the High Pass sharpening, swapping those layers afterwards makes a huge difference.

Is there a "right" order this should be done? To my eyes (and on my crappy monitor), it looks better with the high pass layer between the original and the Unsharp Mask layer.

Either way, fantastic thread. I've learned more here, and through the links provided, than I ever knew other than using Unsharp Mask and moving the sliders around randomly.

Heath Holden Photography wrote in post #5896716
I like the high pass act! Just tried it and it adds that little more that seems to be needed sometimes!

When I find it too much I just play with the opacity slider to tame the effect.

This has been an extremely informative thread and has changes the way I sharpen my images forever.

Thanks to all that have contributed.

Ok so I read the LR sharpening tutorial. It gives me three sliders that do 3 different things that add to the overall sharpening effect. I tried playing with all of them and none of them give me the sharpness like DPP. DPP has one slider and it makes already sharp pics TACK SHARP. I usually crank it up to like 7 or more, even on portraits. What method in LR makes it easy to get tack sharp pics every time?

coolshot wrote in post #6709080
Ok so I read the LR sharpening tutorial. It gives me three sliders that do 3 different things that add to the overall sharpening effect. I tried playing with all of them and none of them give me the sharpness like DPP. DPP has one slider and it makes already sharp pics TACK SHARP. I usually crank it up to like 7 or more, even on portraits. What method in LR makes it easy to get tack sharp pics every time?

In my experience a sharpness setting of 3 should be sufficient in DPP. If you are routinely cranking sharpness up to 7 then either....

- you like an oversharpened look far more than I do;
- your lens is not focusing very well;
- your lens is soft;
- your shutter speeds are too low;
- your light is too flat.

In Lightroom, if I've shot the image well, I seldom add any sharpening beyond the standard default. In fact, I do set the sharpening mask to 30 rather than the default of 0. This helps to reduce the sharpening of noise and keeps a smoother look to plain surfaces. What is important, and a big improvement in LR2 over LR1, is the option now available to apply output sharpening after resizing for the web. Mostly I have that set to "standard for screen" but, if that shows artefacts, then I reduce it to "low for screen".

Of course, different subjects may require a different approach. For example, my default approach described above works well enough for people at weddings, but may not be sufficient to pull out the fine feather detail on a small bird that is lost in the frame and needs a bit of help to add some va-va-voom.

Here is an example, produced in Lightroom at 25% size using the sharpening approach I described above. i.e. default sharpening, masking set to 30, output sharpening set to "standard for screen".

EXIF is 200mm, 1/80, f/2.8, 800 ISO. Noise reduction set to 0,0 in Lightroom.

To my eyes this looks "naturally" sharp without going overboard. Actally, there is a bit of a halo around the mens' jackets, against the red cloth backdrop, but as the centre of attention should be the bride I am not bothered by that. To someone wishing to enjoy the photograph rather than pixel peep the thing to death it seems good enough to me. Perhaps my standards are too low.

EDIT : I've just added a second image, more akin to a portrait, taken at the same wedding. This shot was grabbed between jostling elbows, as the pro tog, the video guy and some guests were all trying to get the best shot. Stuck with 70mm as my shortest length at the time I was having to shoot from the rear and grab what I could, so this shot did not have the luxury of perfect timing and focus. It has the same sharpening and NR(none) as the first photo. The only edit is WB and a little highlight recovery. I know some judicious editing could improve it, but is this really too soft? Remember, I'm going for "natural" looking rather than "in your face" sharpening.

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Here's that "portrait" with the sharpening cranked up to 100 (from 25) in Lightroom. Everything else is unaltered.

Of course, LR2 gives you the option of selective sharpening if you want to emphasise some areas such as eyes. I have chosen not to do that for this image.

EXIF is in the image - 70mm, 1/100, f/2.8, 800 ISO.

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