How much is too much?

How much sharpening is too much?

I've sharpened this to about the level i think looks ok, is it too much?

I used USM, some people i've read use Smart Sharpen, is there benefits of either?

Hi Sancho,

I think that sharpened image @ that size looks ok on my laptop.

One feature in photoshop that often overlooked is the "Fade" effect that one can apply to effects . It has to be done immediately after you apply the effect.
Its under the Edit tab........Fade.

It works nicely especially for sharpening if globally applied. You get a regular photoshop size window to view the adjustments instead of the small USM window to preview with. It's worth checking out for sure

Thanks,

So you would over-sharpen if anything, and then play around with the fade until it looked good?

Nah, looks good, for a flower.

sancho1983 wrote in post #7522253
Thanks,

So you would over-sharpen if anything, and then play around with the fade until it looked good?

No, that's not a good idea. Oversharpening creates artifacts and noise. If you fade that, you still have artifacts and noise, just less than at 100%. When you sharpen correctly, it doesn't create a mess that needs cleaning up.

So do you always start with 150%, 0.3 pixels radius, threshold 0?

Should i create a new layer and sharpen that?

sancho1983 wrote in post #7523639
So do you always start with 150%, 0.3 pixels radius, threshold 0?

No, I start by looking at the image to see what it needs, and then I experiment. Having sharpened quite a few images, I don't have to experiment long. But I don't follow any formulas.

Yes, and I would also recommend using a layer mask on that new layer.

when posting for the web?

resize then

Sharpen>Sharpen

i then fade the sharpen to 60%

sancho1983 wrote in post #7523639
So do you always start with 150%, 0.3 pixels radius, threshold 0?

Should i create a new layer and sharpen that?

Each image will be different. Some lens stopped down to F8 need little if any sharpening. I prefer selective sharpening personally.

Portrait usually doesnt take much sharpening, I will look @ the eyes and adjust some if needed. Hair wont sharpen well.

As peano said I would not go heavy handed on sharpening to back it off later. A good example of the fade command sharp would be a landscape scene. In a full window you can see you whole sharp applied to the whole image. Foilage and trees can oversharpen very easily, especially if you have people in the scene too and try to sharpen the whole image.

Forgive my ignorance, but how do i selectively sharpen? create a new layer, sharpen the entire image then 'paint' back the bits i don't want sharpened?

Thanks all

sancho1983 wrote in post #7527556
Forgive my ignorance, but how do i selectively sharpen? create a new layer, sharpen the entire image then 'paint' back the bits i don't want sharpened?

Thanks all

If you're talking about using a mask, yes, that will work.

sancho1983 wrote in post #7527556
Forgive my ignorance, but how do i selectively sharpen? create a new layer, sharpen the entire image then 'paint' back the bits i don't want sharpened?

That's one way to selectively sharpen. Another (which can be combined with what you describe above) is to use an edge mask. I use an edge mask for practically all sharpening. See the discussion here under "Capture Sharpening."

S.Horton wrote in post #7527640
If you're talking about using a mask, yes, that will work.

Yeah, i think so, my problem is i've taught myself how to use PhotoShop in an odd way, so i'm not entirely sure the best way to go about doing things, just muddle through

When i 'colour pop' something i create a new hue/saturation layer, take out the saturation, then select the pen tool and brush the colour back into what i want to be coloured. That's a mask right?

I presumed that's what i would do to selectively sharpen something, but instead of creating a new hue/saturation layer i would create a new 'sharp all over' layer

Ever seen Marc Adamus' sharpening technique? Resize the image to about 1.6 the res you want for web, then apply the "sharpen" filter (seriously). Then create a duplicate layer and apply the filter again to the new layer, once or even twice. It will look horribly over sharpened and noisy in most cases. Then just re-size it to the size you want, and from there you can adjust the opacity of the top layer if it's still over sharpened or mask out areas that are too sharp.

What the resizing does is tricks photoshop into applying an ultra-fine USM, but the technique is variable depending on the photo content.

sancho1983 wrote in post #7527556
Forgive my ignorance, but how do i selectively sharpen? create a new layer, sharpen the entire image then 'paint' back the bits i don't want sharpened?

Thanks all

Its just a basic selection. I like to use "quick mask" with a soft brush to make my selection. The tool is near the bottom of tools pallet on CS2. Once you make your selection you have to confirm your selection with the little box right next to it, and you will see the marching ants.

I use it alot ......for eyes on portrait, and also race cars so I dont have to sharpen asphalt, it looks terrible sharpened, about as bad as if you were to sharpen clouds.

Hope that makes sense, I confuse myself even lol