Sharpening in Photoshop? - DPChallenge Forums

11/27/2006 10:34:50 PM · #1

Does anyone know of a good thread about sharpening focus in Photoshop? I have been looking but havenâ��t found what I am looking for. I am fairly new to Photoshop, but have found my way around pretty well, although my lingo dictionary needs updating ;-) I took these family group shots in my cousinsâ�� living room and did not have the room to move back with the 50mm. They arenâ��t as sharp as I would like them to be, at least not the second one (sitting on the floor). Both were shot from a tripod, but the light was low and kids were squirmy so I had trouble focusing and auto focusing. I am looking for a few tips to sharpen these up in Photoshop.

Thanks for all your help,
Drew

Pentax DA 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 AF

11/27/2006 10:41:44 PM · #2

30 second edit of your file.

Levels -
I have options set to Enhance Monochromatic Contrast 0.10% Clipping on both Highlights and Shadows.

Click Auto in Levels and then slid the mid-tones slider around to taste.

Smart Sharpen (in CS2) .3 radius ~75% strength.

Curves - appliead a small s-curve which increases the mid-tone contrast making it appear less flat. I'll see if I can find a thread about that for ya.

Message edited by author 2006-11-27 22:47:15.

faidoi

Pentax K10D

11/27/2006 10:44:17 PM · #3

Filter>Sharpen>Unsharp Mask (Radius below 1.0, Amount about 200+, Threshold 0 is a good starting point)

Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM

11/27/2006 10:45:34 PM · #4

A few threads on curves:

//www.dpchallenge.com/forum.php?action=read&FORUM_THREAD_ID=504309

//www.dpchallenge.com/forum.php?action=read&FORUM_THREAD_ID=383279

Message edited by author 2006-11-27 22:46:24.

Man_Called_Horse

Canon EOS-300D Rebel

11/27/2006 11:03:30 PM · #5

One tip when you finally learn how to sharpen is this...

...when sharpening a person, or animal, zoom into the eyes to get a feel for the sharpen. The eyes tell all.

violinist123

Canon EOS-6D

11/27/2006 11:04:53 PM · #6

For dpc sized images. I always do the same thing

- convert to lab
- select lightness channel
- USM .3 pixel, 260-300%, 0-3 threshold depending on the shot

For larger images, the only thing that changes is the radius

idnic

Canon EOS-60D

Canon EF-S 17-55mm f/2.8 IS USM

11/27/2006 11:05:09 PM · #7

I'm sold on SmartSharpen in PS CS2 over USM these days. I find that I can push it a bit farther before I get ugly results.

Sigma 30mm f/1.4 EX DC HSM for Nikon

11/27/2006 11:12:18 PM · #8

Originally posted by idnic:

I'm sold on SmartSharpen in PS CS2 over USM these days. I find that I can push it a bit farther before I get ugly results.

Yup yup... and if ya go into advanced you can really push it.

jdannels

Nikon D300s

11/27/2006 11:59:22 PM · #9

Are there any good smart sharpening tutorials/advice you can recommend, me not so good with SmartSharpen but want to learn more better.

jdannels

Nikon D300s

Sigma 30mm f/1.4 EX DC HSM for Nikon

11/28/2006 12:09:15 AM · #10

I have been using the Luko USM technique, which I do once the photo is ready to submit. You can look here to see the ratios of different sharpening levels. That first example to the left is done by

librodo and I have seen in

scalvert's comments that he has used it also. It helps make things really pop, but darkens the image abit. Its also only usable in advanced editing challenges.

Canon EF-S 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 USM

11/28/2006 12:21:55 AM · #11

Thanks for the tips and links...I am going to give these a work up tomorrow after work!

Thanks again,
Drew

undieyatch

Olympus E-10

11/28/2006 12:42:14 AM · #12

Brad

Olympus OM-D E-M1

Olympus 40-150mm f/2.8 PRO M.Zuiko

11/28/2006 02:49:54 AM · #13

Merry Christmas

liltritter

Nikon D70s

Nikon AF Zoom-Nikkor 70-300mm f/4.0-5.6D ED

11/28/2006 03:53:31 AM · #14

Not the best, but i removed the plug in :)

Nikon AF Nikkor 20mm f/2.8D

11/28/2006 04:58:53 PM · #15

Thanks to those that worked on the pictures, and for the detailed comments throughout! Can't wait to get home and plug away at this!

LanceW

Nikon Z9

11/28/2006 06:41:26 PM · #16

lil bit of smarty sharpen... ;-)

mamba

Canon EOS-350D Rebel XT

Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 II

11/28/2006 06:44:54 PM · #17

^^

That is truly horrifying, he will be in m nightmares tonight

Ashuuter

Canon PowerShot A620

11/28/2006 06:48:38 PM · #18

I can't believe you actually used plastic plants.

11/28/2006 06:52:55 PM · #19

Originally posted by tooohip:

lil bit of smarty sharpen... ;-)

IS that Michael Jackson?