juan_uy Loc: Uruguay

Have you compared it with Sharpen AI and found it is better? or you just have Gigapixel AI and take advantage of it?

BlueMorel Loc: Southwest Michigan

That's pretty much what I use, too. I'm still working on what my lenses and settings can do for me so the sliders don't get worn out. Ultra sharp isn't in my bailiwick but in focus is under my control.

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

In the lab where I worked, we processed millions of school portraits every year. We used Kodak DP2 to render images to our Noritsu mini-labs. When we set up the system, we tested various amounts of output sharpening for each print size we sold. We had to use different amounts of sharpening for every different print size we made!

So... From my experience, every paper surface, print size, printer resolution, and file resolution (original pixel dimensions captured in the camera, as cropped) matters. So do your homework: test, test, test!

We sharpened very differently for a 32x40 off the Epson 9880 at 1440x720 output dpi than we did for an 8x10 off the Noritsu.

Here's a very good article on sharpening:

https://www.cambridgeincolour.com/tutorials/image-sharpening.htm

bleirer

I like that sharpening calculator that takes some of those factors into account.

Kate1948

Mostly, it depends on the subject of the image. Most of my photos are of artwork since my husband is an artist. Those need to be tack sharp. If the subject matter is architecture, landscape, city scape, or other sharp-edged subjects, sharpness is also required. If photographing nature, the degree of sharpness desired is subjective. If photographing people, much less sharpness is desirable—and the older the subject the less desirable it is. Sharpening is my last step before sending it to the printer. The files on my computer are not sharpened.

I usually use unsharp mask simply because I got used to using that twenty some years ago and, by the time smart sharpen came along I was set in my ways. Ditto for LR and ACR. I tend to use ACR (although it’s practically the same) because I like to save files my way not LR’s way.

In ACR: I use only screen sharpening. I reduce noise before sharpening.

In PS I have several actions written for different images. All create a new layer with a mask and change the blend mode of the sharpening layer to luminosity at the end. The numbers refer to sliders in unsharp mask: amount, radius, and threshold.

Standard sharpening, for most good images that don’t require hand-tweaking. 100-03-02

Less than above, just a touch of sharpening: 70-2.5-04 (often my choice for people photos)

LAB Sharpen: for images in which accurate color is necessary and I’m not happy with the capture. Convert to LAB, 80-2-6 on the lightness channel and switch back to RGB

Clarity Sharpening: left over from before Photoshop let you use camera raw as a filter: 35-35-8. It still comes in handy occasionally. If I want more sharpening, I run this one then I run the second one listed above. They sometimes make a good combo.

Reverse sharpening strong: This is what I used before the dehaze filter was invented for images that were hazy or foggy: 30-60-0. Still comes in handy sometimes

Reverse sharpening, milder: 20-30-0

No halos sharpening: not really sharpening, just a slight contrast boost, but it makes images look sharper. You can repeat it over and over till happy. 15-15-0

And, of course, High Pass Sharpening

Dennis833 Loc: Australia

I sharpen images using Frequency separation in Photoshop. IMO this is by far the best sharpening method because the sharpening is only applied to the edges in an image, clear smooth areas are not effected. Years ago a made a photoshop action but never released it. If anyone wants to try it out just go to my web page and use the contact page. I will send you the PS action to try for free.

GusPanella Loc: Naperville, Illinois

Here is a slight modification to the high frequency method...
a) Layers > Duplicate layer > [select duplicated layer] > Frequency Separation
b) Select Low Frequency Layer > Change to Multiply > [adjust opacity to get the right black; maybe less than 15%)
c) Select High Frequency Layer > Change to Linear Light > [adjust to get the edges just right; maybe less than 5%]

Cycle between "b" an "c" until it is just right.

Bill Munny Loc: Aurora, Colorado

I calibrated all my lenses and now have excellent focus sharpness to the point that I very rarely need to sharpen with PP. No brag, just take my time when setting up the composition and ensuring good DoF and focus.

photoman022 Loc: Manchester CT USA

I use Photoshop Elements (14) and I use the High Pass Filter with Linear Light to sharpen my photos. I print many of my photos and this sharpening is essential to a good print.

bleirer

It's not really focus in my opinion, it's more local contrast, which even a tack sharp focus could benefit from.

anotherview Loc: California

I always use the Camera Shake Reduction filter in Photoshop because it removes the minute blur that results from the mechanical operation of the camera. This filter identifies the pixel displacement visible at the pixel level and corrects for it. This correction brings back the native sharpness of the lens.

By another means, the photographer can quell all camera movement, by mounting the camera on a tripod while using mirror lockup and a remote shutter release. The tripod can become rock steady by hanging a weight from it. No pixel displacement will occur then.

I mount a bubble level in the hot shoe. I watch it after locking up the mirror. The mirror movement causes brief camera motion visible in the bubble level. After the motion calms, I release the shutter for the exposure.

This process results in the sharpest possible image for the optics of the lens.

Ron Dial Loc: Cuenca, Ecuador

I used to go through this in the classes I tought at the University. Take an image that is well exposed, better if it is on a white background and sharpen then print it using 6 or 7 methods, one of which is Nik Sharpener Pro. Print them all on the same printer using semi-gloss paper, 13 x 19. Label the back so you won't mix them up and then display them side by side and ask people which they prefer. I found consistently( like 95% of the time) that NIK sharpener was the prefered picture.

Delderby Loc: Derby UK

What ever editor you use - best to develop the RAW and save as a JPG before sharpening. Then create filter layers and use one type of sharpening for each layer - Clarity Layer, High Pass Layer, Unsharp Mask Layer.
You can then switch each layer on or off to see which one looks best for your image.
Take care with unsharp mask - doubt you will need much threshold - probably more radius and overall.
Caution with all sharpening techniques - less sharpening means less noise.

bleirer

That is interesting. I will give this and some of the other ideas a try. What I'm wondering also is how or why you make the decision to go to the extra effort. Do you do the same every time? Did you try other methods and found this so superior to be worth the trouble? No challenge to the method, just curious.

bleirer

I'm not sure I understand the reason for the jpeg?