How much sharpening do you do in post?

[Overread]

Also, would you typically sharpen in one stage or selectively? I've found that nik sharpener seems to be a lot more forgiving when generally sharpening an image but you could get the same results with the inbuilt photoshop unsharp mask filter if you apply it selectively.

Varies depending on the shot - the trick is that if you have two areas (like a sharp foreground and blurred background) where you sharpen to different amounts (or only sharpen one) is getting it to look like the two different areas blend well together. Sometimes you can get a pasted on look if you sharpen one too much over the other.

 

[Iron Flatline]

I don't sharpen an image until I print it.

I never sharpen the whole image anymore, just sections. I use Nik and apply it with the brush to a certain edge, or the eyes, etc.

 

[Stranger]

i use the high pass on a masked layer and brush in what i want sharpened. Amount varies depending on the image

 

[Alpha]

As much as the image requires.

 

[bhop]

I sharpen images on an individual basis, so I can't really answer the original question with a single answer.

also..
Photoshop has a built in tool for selective sharpening..

 

[sabbath999]

I use the selective sharpening tool in Capture NX when needed... as the LAST step of PP...

 

[Dubious Drewski]

I prefer the simplicity, power and control of highpass layer sharpening. I've used a few demos of commercial products, and they are nice, but why pay for them when the tool that I've already paid for can do it almost just as well?

 

[Garbz]

Not even if they gave you a 50% discount, Chris?

From now till June 30th... it's 1/2 price!! If someone was on the fence with this product... NOW is the time to get it. As for me, I paid full boat, but even as an amater, considering how and what it does, I found it expensive but worth it.

http://www.niksoftware.com/sharpenerpro/usa/entry.php?

Click the icon for their 50% off speical, if interested.

I totally missed that... This is now very very tempting. At least I have a few weeks yet, but I can see myself owning this very soon.

 

[whistule]

I don't fully understand where the sharpness is/should be lost or gained. I can spend ages sharpening a photo in photoshop but it's still not as sharp as the prints I get from the local developing shop, or for that matter out of the darkroom, which have all come from the same negative. Am I loosing quality when scanning the negative? Does printing add definition/sharpness? Why do we need to sharpen digital images? - is it due to some lack of quality in the original photo that we could have sorted with more care when taking the photo? ...or is sharpening just a neat tool for enhancing the image a bit (in a way that wasn't possible before)

 

[Iron Flatline]

I think the latter is certainly true. However, the bigger the print the harder it is to get a certain sharpness from a digital file.

...and just like film, if the original exposure is too soft, then it becomes hard (even impossible) to add sharpness after the fact.

 

[Miaow]

I sometimes add a little bit of sharpness to pics I've done (espeically with the Kit 70-300mm lens which I find seems to be pretty soft a lot of the time). I've also got the sharpness in the on camera picture style bumped up a bit.

 

[Josh66]

Getting much better results now...