How to minimise IQ loss from resizing

[martycon]

There will be many ways of achieving this objective, and I appreciate that lossof IQ is inevitable. I just want to inimise it to the best of my ability and nominal budget of say $200.
I have Topaz software but seldom use it. I have experimented with many Ps tools, and the high pass filter method.
Presently I am using Ps CC2019 and its Camera RAW, together with Nik Output sharpener Pro 3 (detail, not adaptive).
I use the following settings:-
In RAW sharpen with sliders (at amount 33, radius 1.0, detail 25, masking 10, luminance 30, luminance detail 50. clarity & vibrance 0, and contrast 0 or close to), then save as .tiff
In Ps noise reduction strength 3, then general editing. Last sharpen Nik Output sharpener again ( slider settings structure 20, local contrast 15, focus 20)
Resize to 2100, then to 1200, using resample, bicubic sharper (reduction), then save as .jpg 10 if possible.
Another Nik sharpen (structure 10, local contrast 5, focus 10). With some insects this sharpen is with PS smart sharpen ( amount 50, radius 0.4)
I give this amount of detail as there could be a simple error of stupidity in my use of the software
The images are before and after resizing. Do not know how tto give equal size on screen. My problem is mainly with birds. All advice including alternative software is welcome, including relax an stop fretting.

P9100001C2 edc Not Resized.jpg P9100001C2 edc2 Resized.jpg

P9240028 edc Resized.jpg P9240028 edcNot Resized.jpg

[Mark L]

First, are any of these photos presented at the size you wish to present them? The closer you look the less happy you'll be with sharpening of any method.
Now your original post mentioned "from rezising". You don't want to be doing to much sharpening after resizing but a very small amount works well.
Rarely do I sharpen before resizing for posting here so maybe you don't have to be sharpening as mush as you think (for posting here)?
I have recorded an action for a small amount of sharpening after resizing via Lab Color in PS. I hope there's some sort of explanation here https://www.dpreview.com/forums/post/29666257

[martycon]

Mark thank you for taking the time to help me. Unfortunately my mention of sharpening has clouded the issue.
I am usually happy with the sharpness of my better bird images, be they .tiff or .jpg, up untill they are resized. (The small images are resized, and need screen zoom to compare.)
I looked at the link but it did not seem to be about resizeing. If there is a better way of resizing than I am doing, I will adopt it, if not I can accept present IQ loss as inevitable.
regards marty

[John King]

Marty, sharpening should not be necessary when resizing downwards.

1) Down-rezzing is an ersatz method of both sharpening and noise reduction. Just use PS Bi-cubic sharper. Save .JPG at 100%. Lesser quality will destroy the finer attributes of most images, IME.

2) For up-rezzing, I do all editing to the RAW file in ACR, then anything else in PS using a .PSD 16 bit file as the output. I do not sharpen or apply NR at any stage of ACR or PS. I then use Bi-cubic smoother for resizing. I apply any sharpening (USM) or NR necessary to the up-rezzed file. After up-rezzing, I apply any sharpening or NR needed. I do not use any s/w other than Adobe for any of this - no plugins.

Using this method, I can print at A2 on fine art paper from my 5 MPx E-1 without any noticeable artefacts.

Note that none of this will work as advertised if you need to crop severely with a FTs or mFTs camera. It is why I concentrate my efforts on catching images that do not need any cropping to achieve the composition I want.

[martycon]

John my longest lens gives good results, but I try to achieve the better results like those which would come from a higher quality lens, by using digital enhancement. It seems to help a bit.
Before getting the BenQ 801 I was trying to make sharp images on a blunt screen
Looks like I am on right track for size reduction except for .jpg at maximum. I resize mainly for AP so shall try less than 1200 lines and a higher quality .jpg save.
I shall keep your advice in mind when next resizing for a big print.
Thanks for your help, regards marty.

[rexboggs5]

For general sharpening, I now use AI Clear from Topaz for general noise reduction and sharpening. It usually works very well - better IMHO than Topaz Denoise and Topaz Detail, which I used to use.

For photos that are slightly unsharp, I now use Sharpen AI from Topaz. It has a general sharpening setting, a setting for removing unwanted motion blur, and a setting photos where the subject is slightly out of focus.

Cheers, Rex