Sharpening images

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Ellekes

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Vicky
Edit My Images
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Am actually a bit ashamed of still having to ask this question. But hey, as none of you know me and can laugh at me in my face, here goes :lol:

I read a lot about sharpening images in PP as part of your workflow. But do you all do this? And how does it work? Do you do it in PS or in LR?
I have never actually sharpened an image.

So any advice would be welcome!
 
I always sharpen an image as I use the RAW format, which is unsharpened. I only sharpen by a tiny fraction though, oversharpening is the worst you can do for your imges!

Sharpening gives the image an extra 'pop' that is not there otherwise.

Its the kind of thing that you don't notice until you apply it, and then the unsharpened image seems so soft and gooey in comparison.

concept_sharpen.jpg
 
Hi, thanks for the reply, and many thanks for the two pics. I always shoot in RAW myself, and I had noticed that apparently my occasional jpegs looked sharper, but I didn't know to sharpen in RAW.
 
I use Canon's DPP to sharpen my images, set the colour temp - well I do everything in it to be honest. I only add one notch of sharpening but using a 50mm f/1.4 on full frame with a very low pixel density will allow that - my 450D needed more sharpening with the same lens and with the kit lens it needed a LOT more!

Just experiment a bit and see what works for you and your kit.
 
There are so many way to sharpen. It really depends, as Trencheel says, on the quality of the lens and your technique. If I'm working on a single image I'll use lab sharpening as it's by far the best way I've found to control the amount of sharpening without introducing noise.
 
I agree with all thats been said above.

I read something on some pros blog that when sharpening it's good to apply a small amount then use the step back and forward commands in PS. If once you have undone it and use step forward to reapply it it looks too obvious you have overdone it. You should get to a point where you apply sharpening, step backwards and have a look, then step forwards to reapply it and you can only see a small change. Then it should be about right. (hope you understand what I am saying lol)
 
Thanks all!! So I take it, sharpening is really a must when shooting RAW? Hey, and there I go thinking that my soft pics were the result of poor photography skills... :lol:
 
If you're downsizing for the Web and the image has diagonal straight lines or patterns such as roof tiles, try softening before downsizing (perhaps in stages, with a soften each time) before (un)sharpening the image at its final size.
 
Vicky

In LR you have a sharpening option within the develop module. LR will automatically add a bit of sharpening anyway. If you work mainly in Lightroom then have a look at the many tutorials around on the develop module. You'll find lots on the web.

In Photoshop there are almost as many options to sharpen as there are days in the week ( Or month as some would suggest ). I would argue the best way to do this is within ACR , rather later in the PP pipeline
 
Raw i will sharpen in Raw, jpeg (photoshop) i will duplicate the layer then go to filter-other-high pass then blend to overlay, you can turn the layer on&off to see the difference. If you over do it you can reduce the opacity of the sharpened layer.
 
http://ronbigelow.com/articles/articles.htm

If you read through the articles above you will learn a huge amount about sharpening and other related (and unrelated matters). Be warned though, it is information overload. I am currently trying the techniques and am finding applying more sharpening to certain parts of an image to provide good results eg something detailed set against a background - sharpening the detailed focal point of the picture and not (or less) the background. I'm also trying to try a few different techniques to build up experience of which work best and where. The problem is it is very time consuming and I find it very difficult to judge which is best and how best to use each technique. Points that I have immediately found good are using luminosity mode for sharpening masks and setting the opacity to 50% so that each way adjustments can be made .... and so it goes on!
 
EMA747 said:
Vicky

I found this video quite good for learning something about LR sharpening of RAW files http://vimeo.com/10644351
Click to expand...

Thanks for this. Just what I was looking for as I was unsure what to do in ACR. I hadn't realised how to use the masking slider properly and now I do!

Only problem is I now feel like starting again with my recent edits!
 
corbystock said:
Raw i will sharpen in Raw, jpeg (photoshop) i will duplicate the layer then go to filter-other-high pass then blend to overlay, you can turn the layer on&off to see the difference. If you over do it you can reduce the opacity of the sharpened layer.
Click to expand...

And you can add a mask as not all parts need sharping This is what I do on some images but not all as I find this and LAB method are good for some and un-sharp for others. no one what also I do it on a dup layer as you can then mask all types of sharping.
 
I sharpen 99% of the time as I use raw, always.

I use the unsharp mask in PS.
 
For RAW, I usually do something like

1. Image adjustments (LR)
2. Sharpening (LR)
3. If need, sharpen details more (eyes, lips, etc) (PS)
3. Export

When sharpening make sure you view photo in 100% so you can see the effect of it. Like said previously, you don't want to overdo it.
 
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