Unsharp mask and Canon's DPP4

Stuart Philpott

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Stu
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Could anyone explain unsharp marsk in dpp4 please, and how it should be used. Can I actually create a layer and unshapen or sharpen it ,for that matter with this tool,say if i wanted to blur a background and sharpen a subject,(I shoot wildlife pictures predominantly). Guys i'm very much new to this programme plus not great with computers full stop I don't have any other programmes running for post as of yet. I'm in the early stages of trying to build a collection of images that I am happy with,for the moment anyway;)

I've recently bought a 1Div and have a long way to go learning what that is capable of and bringing my own inabilities up to par,great fun mind. But I have only downloaded this programme from canon,not the discs that come with the camera, I don't seem to be able to access the help section at this time,hence the thread.
thanks for any help in advance
kind regards
Stu
 
Hi Stu.
I use dpp3 and this does not allow layers so assume 4 won't either. So just use the sliders to increase sharpness but that will sharpen everything.

Gaz
 
I don't believe DDP supports layers either so I cannot see anyway that you can sharpen some areas and blur others. DPP is a fairly simple programme which whilst good at some things does not do much beyond basic post processing. For what you seek you need to look at a programme like Photoshop or Elements or something similar.
 
I'm guessing you don't have Photoshop. Have you looked at Gimp ? It's completely free.
 
Gary Martin,thanks muchly guys... sorry slow replying. yeah I thought as much on the layers but always worth checking thanks again

Can anyone help me with the unsharp mask aspect of the question please what exactly is it how should it be used?

aTog,actually I am aware of gimp,you are right I don't have PS. I'm trying to keep focused on the camera as this time kiddo,I'm building a set of images I like and basically trying to get to grips with nailing quality images,I shoot mainly wildlife. i'm hoping to get to post a bit later on really,basically trying to do this in stages. I'm not great with computers or the digital world persay,so i'm a bit hesitant to upload gimp at this time.Do you actually use gimp,I've read good things about it and actually have tutorials open by Pat David as we speak,but I'm not quite ready as of yet. I really like DPP as a raw converter I guess nice and simple suits me,plus it's all canon algarythms (sp?)which seems to give good results. I guess one can't go far wrong with something Artie Morris uses to convert RAW files. Thanks for the help mate,first time I've seen gimp mentioned here.:cool:

belucky all

Stu
 
Martin I've just started to read,just a breif note of huge thanks,and I think i'm going to enjoy this one,right up my street,they sound mad as march hares,which fits terribly well with my demeanor:D

Thanks again buddy

Stu
 
If you are a Windows user, Faststone is also an excellent bit of software, plus its free and in my opinion much more user friendly than Gimp.

I used Faststone exclusively until I moved to Mac, which sadly isn't supported.
 
Stuart

I use a 1Div and DPP for most on my pp. Over a period of time I have found that you don't need to do much adjustment . I very rarely use sharpen so exclusively use unsharp mask and never need to go past 5 on the slider with 4 or 5 being almost default.

Example For wildlife say a deer I would add one click to contrast to bring it out from the background, 1 or 2 clicks to shadow to bring texture in fur out, I might drop highlights a click or two if light on antler tips. .3-.5 on saturation to boost fur or light colour but keep grass green. Finally click on picture to get 100% view find a contrasty edge and use unsharp mask slider. If you camera is mike mine it should not need much. As for noise adjustment I very rarely use it. Times I do are when doing large crops of Dragon flies and had to use ISO 1600 or over which I try not to do.

I would also add that the stamp tool is useful for getting rid of the odd item. So worth a play with.
 
Just a thought you can have DPP3 loaded on your machine as well. The reason I kept it is it has a HDR tool which though basic still worked ok for a single to three images. I am not quite sure why the removed it from 4
Martin, the latest version of 4 now has HDR its in the tools menu
 
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Hi Martin sorry slow ,,my time is not my own. Very similar to what I do and yes I have 3 and 4 loaded,I need 3 for the 550D. I guess, at this time I don't maybe go quite so far on the colour saturation it's normally one or nothing,leastways I stress for the most part. Just had a peak at your flickr Martin,some cracking deer shots there,just beautiful!! Not so many red around here living wild,but i'm really hoping my request for permission on some land that holds a lot of fallow,oh a lot,comes to fruition. I'm desparate to catch their rut this year.

I have used the stamp tool in DPP3 but not as yet tried with the 4 version. To confirm what Chris has said I can see HDR in the DPP4 version I recently uploaded though as yet this is unused aswell. Noise reduction also as yet unused,I oft find myself struggling to get the shutter speed up to where I would like it so often find I'm shooting at high iso,,well below 2000 but it's still pretty high. A recent post here of a fallow fawn really opened my eyes to what noise reduction can do for an image.

thanks so much Martin

Stu
 
Alan ,yes I use windows, no I haven't heard of faststone,many thanks kiddo I'll have a look. Oh Al,cor on that stretching fox,great take mate good for you. As above sorry I'm being slow to reply,It's not that I am ungrateful ,just times are hard which is leaving my short.

many thanks
Stu
 
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