The problem with sharpening...

smackitsakic

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Can someone help me out with some tips on sharpening? I'm running into a problem. Be it in Photoshop CS5 or in Windows Live Photo Gallery, I like the sharpening features. I sharpen images to add some pop, to define the edges, to simply make the images clearer.

The photos look great when this is done - the lines are crisp, hair strands are more exaggerated, and eyes seem to sparkle. The problem is whenever I use these photos in ways that they aren't blown up (like in Photoshop) they become really, really over-sharpened and become an exceptionally terrible picture.

For instance, photos of my wife and I that look great as the desktop background on our 24" monitor but, when uploaded to our website or facebook, they become absolutely horrendous quality.

Am I over-sharpening the large images? Am I doing something wrong?
 
Can someone help me out with some tips on sharpening? I'm running into a problem. Be it in Photoshop CS5 or in Windows Live Photo Gallery, I like the sharpening features. I sharpen images to add some pop, to define the edges, to simply make the images clearer.

The photos look great when this is done - the lines are crisp, hair strands are more exaggerated, and eyes seem to sparkle. The problem is whenever I use these photos in ways that they aren't blown up (like in Photoshop) they become really, really over-sharpened and become an exceptionally terrible picture.

For instance, photos of my wife and I that look great as the desktop background on our 24" monitor but, when uploaded to our website or facebook, they become absolutely horrendous quality.

Am I over-sharpening the large images? Am I doing something wrong?

Facebook adds its own compression, although I noticed recently that they now have a "High Resolution" mode but state that it takes 10x longer to prepare *shrugs*. Who wouldn't want their pics to look the best? Wait... my teenage kids would not care. Changing the size of a pic for a web site will also change the moire of the edges. I'd suggest getting the size you want first and then applying the sharpening. Sharpening should be the last step of your pp.
 
Would you happen to have a before and after image to look at please for review? I would be interested to see how much your adding prior to uploading to facebook.

Cheers
Jim
 
When you resize in cs5 for the web it defaults to Bicubic sharper (best for reduction), this I have found to be an issue because I have already sharpened to my tastes and this does tend to look oversharpened when reduced for web display.

Instead I choose Bicubic Smoother (best for enlargment) and I check it at 100%, and applying a little more sharpening if needed (dont usually).

As you say you may be oversharpening to begin with also, I always sharpen and check at 100% to be sure I am not introducing anything undesireable, even on a 24" monitor youre only able to display approximately a 2mp image natively (1080x1920), DSLR's are way higher than any screen (as of today) can display natively. So although it may look good on the 24" it may already be oversharpened, but you just cant see it, and reducing the image size will just make the issue more apparent perhaps.
 
Some, myself included sharpen for viewing or sharpen for printing. Two different goals different methods.
 
If your camera sharpens your photo turn it off.

If your software sharpens your photo disable it.

A digital photo will usually benefit from sharpening. There are numerous sharpening methods available with various benefits and disadvantages. There is no sharpening method that doesn't also do harm. It's a game of balancing benefit over loss.

Here's the kicker: The degree of sharpening and the sharpening method are output dependent. In other words how you sharpen and how much you sharpen is dictated by how you're using the photo. Sharpen differently for screen output as opposed to a large print which should be different from a small print which should be different from......etc.

I never sharpen my archived files. I sharpen a photo before I use it in a way appropriate to that specific use.

Joe
 
Great question! I got some answers and ideas reading this post.
 

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