I just read an article that said the slider should be between 2-3. That makes sense. One of my photos didn't score in my camera club's competition last night. The judge said that it looked over sharpened, which kind of lent a graininess to the image. So I think he was right and I'll go more easy on the sharpening.
Funny how you don't notice those things on your computer screen but when the image is projected, every single flaw is revealed.
BTW, that judge was a windbag. We had about 180 images and he gave 2 minute commentaries on each one. The janitor was ready to kick us out of the building before the competition was over.
There are many different ways to sharpen, and definitely experiment to your taste. One of the most important things though with sharpening is to sharpen based on the the final output that your viewer will be looking at. This is why many people leave sharpening for the last step, and actually have an unsharpened version kept as their base image, which they then sharpen differently for every output type they are planning, actually creating different versions of the image. Say one version for an 8x10 print, one for web, one for projection, one for a 17x22 print etc.
You can adjust the above using the opacity slide. Its a superior way to sharpen using photoshop and takes just a few more steps than unsharp mask. I have the PDF's if anyone is interested in the step by step. You can then flatten the image at the end.
Hi Gary,
Many thanks for sending the Hipass tutorial. Very, very interesting... Comparing a slightly 'soft' image which I had previously sharpened using Focus Magic, I am sure that the High Pass option has provided superior sharpening. The downside is that suspended particulates which have previously been unnoticable have now become significantly more evident. Reducing the effect with the opacty control worked but 'unsharpened' the image to an unacceptable extent. So in an image with few particulates I would certainly choose the High Pass approach otherwise, Focus Magic seems superior. But what do I know?
I agree with your assessment concerning the smaller particles which seem to get brought into focus with the high pass filter. One way around this is to use the magnetic lasso tool to highlight your subject and focus just the subject. This accomplishes a couple of things. It really does a nice job of sharpening and it makes the subject really pop out of the photo. Focus Magic? Software or plug in?
Here's the way I learned to sharpen in PS CS3
Make a duplicate layer. Filter/Other/HighPass. I set the amount to maybe 3 - 5 pixels.
Then you click on that fx box in the layer box, click Blending Options/Overlay
Add a blank mask to your layer. Then use the paint brush to paint the areas you want to sharpen. This add selective focus to the subject without oversharpening other areas of the photo.
Add a blank mask to your layer. Then use the paint brush to paint the areas you want to sharpen. This add selective focus to the subject without oversharpening other areas of the photo.
Cool. Thanks.
You can adjust the above using the opacity slide. Its a superior way to sharpen using photoshop and takes just a few more steps than unsharp mask. I have the PDF's if anyone is interested in the step by step. You can then flatten the image at the end.
For a detailed video tutorial on the highpass filter, go to this site"
We had about 180 images and he gave 2 minute commentaries on each one. The janitor was ready to kick us out of the building before the competition was over.
