Why all Digital images need SHARPENING

**chelle** · 04-03-2009, 12:10am

this has been a great thread! (although i admit i skimmed some of the more technical Photoshop jargon posts cos it's still over my head).
I'm looking forward to some time to have a play with some PP and Sharpening sounds like a great place to start to see what kind of a difference it makes.

**clm738** · 04-03-2009, 12:40am

Thank you everyone. I now have a lot to choose from.

**JC_PHOTOGRAPHY** · 17-04-2009, 2:19am

THANKS i was usin a other program

**bigbikes** · 15-06-2009, 8:46pm

This is a great threat and thanks to all for the suggestions you have given everybody.
I just want to ask (and I know this may seem like a stupid question but) how do you know if you have over sharpened your image. What sort of things should we be looking for.

Thanks again everyone.

**ricktas** · 15-06-2009, 8:56pm

Originally Posted by bigbikes

This is a great threat and thanks to all for the suggestions you have given everybody.
I just want to ask (and I know this may seem like a stupid question but) how do you know if you have over sharpened your image. What sort of things should we be looking for.

Thanks again everyone.

hmmm- everyone seems to like different levels of sharpening, the same as we all differ in how much saturation of colours we like.

I once read that the best way is to oversharpen, then slowly drop the slider back down (opacity slider if High Pass Sharpening) until you reach a point it looks good. Seems to work better than starting with no sharpening and sliding upwards.

Another tip is to leave photos to be printed, with a slightly over-sharpened look. When they print (due to ink processes), they wont look over-sharpened, but have that WOW - that's sharp look about them

**bigbikes** · 15-06-2009, 9:02pm

Thanks for that Rick. It was just that what I liked was different to my daughter likes, then my son likes it diffrent again, my wife like is diffrent again

but as you say , everyone see's it different.
Thanks Rick

**chkennedy** · 19-07-2009, 2:38pm

While I'm still learning a lot of the basic how-to's, I've just been using my own wedding photos as a bit of a practice, and have tried a number of different ways to sharpen the images. For my fave photos I've mainly used unsharp mask. Initially I made the mistake of sharpening in RAW- learnt that lesson pretty quickly as it doen't give a great result does it? So, I will also now have a bit of a go now at trying some of these other methods. Thanks.

I have a question though about sharpening in RAW- is there a way to turn off the automatic sharpening that it applies so I don't have to remove that every time I want to work on portraits in particular? It's an annoying default.

**Tannin** · 19-07-2009, 3:00pm

Which program are use using to convert your raw files, CH?

**chkennedy** · 19-07-2009, 4:01pm

I'm just learning to use adobe photoshop camera raw for conversions, CS3 for the more complex adjustments, and manage the photos in bridge.

**ricktas** · 19-07-2009, 4:06pm

Originally Posted by chkennedy

I'm just learning to use adobe photoshop camera raw for conversions, CS3 for the more complex adjustments, and manage the photos in bridge.

Select Preferences from the Settings menu or from Camera Raw Preferences in Bridge.
Select Apply sharpening to Preview images only from the Preferences dialog box

**chkennedy** · 19-07-2009, 4:24pm

Oh, nice! Thanks.

**bigdazzler** · 31-07-2009, 10:38am

What are your techniques ?? And where does it fit into your workflow ??

Im having a little trouble with it and need to get a better handle on the subtleties.

**ricktas** · 31-07-2009, 11:02am

I use my sharpening at the end of my workflow and always do it on a duplicate of my photo. I then drag my sharpened copy over the top of my other copy as a layer and use masking to remove sharpening in selective areas, cause often sharpening across the entire photo isn't what I want

**Paul G** · 24-09-2009, 3:11pm

Originally Posted by ricktas

I use Dave's Sharpening Actions - in particular the High Pass Sharpening, from www.atncentral.com

Rick I just had a look at this. How do you use/open/apply it as it is a zipped .atn file-type?

**ricktas** · 24-09-2009, 3:17pm

Unzip it to your desktop

Open PS, on the actions pallette, click the small triangle to the right of the 'actions' tab heading, click load action, direct PS to the ATN file and it will import it, ready to go (this is off the top of my head as I am not on a PC with PS on it at present).

**Kym** · 24-09-2009, 3:20pm

Originally Posted by goodallphotography

Rick I just had a look at this. How do you use/open/apply it as it is a zipped .atn file-type?

Unzip the ATN file and put it into a folder (My Documents - whatever)
Open the Actions Palette inside Photoshop - F9 key or go to Window>Show Actions

Look at the upper right hand corner of the palette there is a small arrow.
Click this to open the Actions Menu.
Click ‘Load Actions’, find your ATN file
All cool!

ATN files work on both PC and Mac

Edit: Cross posted

**Paul G** · 24-09-2009, 4:21pm

Thanks guys I'll give that a go

**Paul G** · 24-09-2009, 5:17pm

OK I've got the Action in place but it won't work.
I am trying to do it on a duplicate layer following these instructions from the Action Central website but I get no result?

How to run an action and interact with it.
In the Actions Palette (or "Panel", as it's known in CS4), click on the action set you wish to run. Click on the arrow next to the set and you'll see one or more actions within the set. Click on the action you wish to run, and the steps in the action will be performed. Often you'll see a screen that offers you the option to continue or stop. If you press stop, you'll be dropped out of the action and nothing further will happen. If you press continue, you'll be offered an instruction and some sort of interaction to perform on your image, after which the action will resume or end. Finally, many actions operate on layers. This means that you can adjust the effect after the action is completed by changing the opacity or even the blend mode. This makes actions very powerful interactive tools.

**Colourised** · 26-09-2009, 11:47pm

loving the high pass sharpening! thnks a lot guys!

**DAdeGroot** · 27-09-2009, 12:07am

I pretty much do everything in Lightroom, so use it's sharpening tools. I increase the mask slider to only sharpen the objects I'm after (not the background) and additionally apply output sharpening when exporting to jpg.

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