A nice new way to sharpen

feenster

feenster

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Hi folks,
I've just come across this on DPReview and gave it a try. Its a really nice flexible way to sharpen, and gives great results - it seems not to produce the halo's you can sometimes get with USM on its own.

1: Flatten the image
2: Select the background layer and duplicate it twice (CTRL+J in Photoshop)
3: On the top layer, goto Filter->Other->High pass and choose a value between 5-15%. Click OK, set the blending mode of the layer to hard light. Choose an opacity somewhere between 30-50%
4: Select the middle layer. Goto Filter->Sharpen->Unsharp mask and use the following values: Amount- 400%, Radius- 1.5-3.5px, Threshold- 0. Set the blending mode to Luminosity and change the opacity to between 80-95%.

Obviously, give it a shot and work out what settings work best for you. On my files converted straight from Canon RAW, I had to use the upper limits of these values. It gives a really nice flexible sharpening method - you can add masks, and tweak the values till you get it just right.

If anyone gives it a shot, post up some examples for others to see (can't access my FTP at the moment)

Matt
 
Hmm, interesting, the layer method seems to add a bit of contrast, will play about with it when I've mpore time. First unprocessed, 2nd is PS USM, third is the layered method.

thistleunprocessed.jpg


thistlepsusm.jpg


thistlelayerusm.jpg
 
I've just noriced a very bizarre optical illusion here, as I scroll the screen with my mouse wheel the petals move in quite a strange fashion (checks contents of roll-up?)
 
Read a good technique on Fred Miranda site that only sharpens edges. Haven't tried it yet but instructions here
 
feenster said:
3: On the top layer, goto Filter->Other->High pass and choose a value between 5-15%. Click OK, set the blending mode of the layer to hard light. Choose an opacity somewhere between 30-50%
Click to expand...

Why doesn't my trial version of Photoshop CS2 have a value setting in High Pass filter popup window? Thanks.
 
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