Super sharpening technique for CS2

[theusher]

Any chance you just want to post the action? I couldn't follow your instructions, once I inverted I could never get the colors back to normal again.

http://www.gigasize.com/index.php You can upload it there, if you need a host.

Actually I figured it out, I didn't select the channel. I thought the end result was far over sharpened too in my case.

 

[Digital Matt]

It's going to be SHARP. Afterall, it's called "super sharpening". Chances are, you are normally conservative with sharpening, and this might take some getting used to, but in my experience, it's not oversharpening.

If the result is still oversharpened in your opinion, then lessen the amount of each unsharp mask. I like to use 120%, 0.3, 0, and then 40%, 20, 0, (or there abouts).

Also, duplicate your background layer before you run this. It will ask you to flatten, but say no. This way, the sharpening is on a seperate layer, and you can reduce the opacity if needed, or mask off areas that are oversharp.

 

[fmw]

Also note that the unsharp mask setting depend on the pixel dimension. I used these settings successfully for 10mp RAW files. If you have a smaller file, you need less extreme settings.

 

[shingfan]

i think this is such a great post....thx FMW...BUMP

 

[Christie Photo]

i think this is such a great post....thx FMW...BUMP

and I'm glad you did! Very nice, Fred. Thanks.

Pete

 

[ShutteredEye]

The Canyon Conundrum by Dan Margulis....I'm reading it now. Fantastic book about using LAB color space, especially for contrast and sharpening...

 

[seanberry]

If the result is still oversharpened in your opinion, then lessen the amount of each unsharp mask. I like to use 120%, 0.3, 0, and then 40%, 20, 0, (or there abouts).

Also, duplicate your background layer before you run this. It will ask you to flatten, but say no. This way, the sharpening is on a seperate layer, and you can reduce the opacity if needed, or mask off areas that are oversharp.

This works much better for me! And now that I realize you are using these settings on a 10MP image it makes sense that my 6MP pictures were oversharpened (and I assure you, they were drasticaly OVER sharpened).

I'm going to have to try it out a few more times before I know if I like it more than the high-pass method. Echoing what others have said, thanks for posting this (know that I've got it worked out :blushing

 

[machine]

WOW , i had a very dull pic with my f1.7(kinda soft wide open ) and turned it into a stunning pic . if its ok i will post a before and after

 

[machine]

im so behinde in the PS world its not even funny.

but here is the before

and the after (i think i used the action 2 times by mistake)

btw these were both taken as jpegs originally

and i did a tad of edit as well

 

[Chicagophotoshop]

this may be asking alot. but I have tried the steps. not sure if I'm doing it correct. can someone post the "action" again. there seems to be confusion

 

[shingfan]

this may be asking alot. but I have tried the steps. not sure if I'm doing it correct. can someone post the "action" again. there seems to be confusion

if you do it correctly....your photo will be "sharpened"....if it doesnt sharpen...or it does more than just sharpening......then you are doing something wrong.......for different resolution....you would need different level of sharpening......is better for you to understand what it is doing rather than just applying an action.....i think the sharpening technique is doing the following

1) change color mode to Lab color
2) select lightness channel
3) invert the lightness channel
4) sharpen the lightness channel
5) change back to RGB color mode

the result image will be SUPER sharp using the value suggested above.....for small resolution.....you might want to try something lower.....like 120 suggested by Matt

 

[Digital Matt]

Convert to LAB.

Open the channels pallet. Hold control and click on the lightness channel to bring up the selection.

Go to select/ inverse (ctrl+shift+i).

Run the unsharp mask filter 2 times.
I do once for sharpening, and once for local contrast enhancement. 120, 0.3, 0, and 25, 15, 0. (settings subject to change based on image size and personal taste)

Deselect, and re-convert to RGB.

 

[Chicagophotoshop]

edit nevermind I got it. thanks all

 

[ksmattfish]

Try running the sharpening USM pass on the inversed selection, then ditch the selection and run the local contrast USM pass on the whole image.

By the way, the point of using the lightness channel in lab mode is so that you aren't affecting colors. If doing this to BW images don't worry about switching to lab mode.

Another tip. I haven't found the auto selection, then inverse to do a very good job finding the areas I would want sharpened. It works better for me to mask the areas/lines I want sharpened, and then convert that into a selection.

 

[photogmatt]

Sorry to bump a thread from a while ago, but I saw this a while back and finally got around to creating the action for anyone who's interested. I defaulted to Digital Matt's sharpening settings (but it will prompt you for settings, and I included a comment about FMW's original stated settings for reference) The action is non-destructive and created on a new layer. Anyway, hope you guys find it useful.

http://www.gigasize.com/get.php?d=x3dn61pjdzc