Sharpen Function

[Eric Purkalitis]

Sometimes the sharpen filter can be pretty subtle. If you're looking for more contrast try the unsharp mask (sounds contradictory).

[StaceyL7]

Hello,
I'm very, very new to PS7, so I'll apologize in advance for my newbie questions. I took some pictures this weekend and tried to use the "sharpen" function on a few of them. Nothing happened. I've used this particular feature before and have always been able to see the difference immediately. Can anyone point me in the right direction?
Thanks,
Stacey

[StaceyL7]

Hello,
I'm very, very new to PS7, so I'll apologize in advance for my newbie questions. I took some pictures this weekend and tried to use the "sharpen" function on a few of them. Nothing happened. I've used this particular feature before and have always been able to see the difference immediately. Can anyone point me in the right direction?
Thanks,
Stacey

[StaceyL7]

Hello,
I'm very, very new to PS7, so I'll apologize in advance for my newbie questions. I took some pictures this weekend and tried to use the "sharpen" function on a few of them. Nothing happened. I've used this particular feature before and have always been able to see the difference immediately. Can anyone point me in the right direction?
Thanks,
Stacey

[Ed A. Ortiz]

Well, first thing that comes to mind is, you were working at lower resolution before. Try using the "unsharp mask". Play with the settings a bit especially the amount and ratio.

[StaceyL7]

So, the higher the resolution the less obvious the change? I'm not sure what resolution my other images were at, but the news ones were pretty high. Should the setting on the "unsharp mask" be higher or lower? Sorry for all the newbie questions :-).
Thanks,
Stacey

[Eric Purkalitis]

Stacey,

Congrats, I've never seen anyone post the same message five times before. Don't worry, they're probably screwing with the forum server again. I mentioned the unsharp mask filter on one of the other posts too.

Basically the sharpen filter affects the edges between smooth areas in the image. If your image is at lower resolution the smooth areas won't be as smooth and the filter's effects show up more.

The unsharp mask tries to pull detail out of the smooth areas. You can use it to be really subtle or to the extreme and get some bizarre effects.

The unsharp mask gives you the most control, the sharpen and sharpen more filters are just quicker to use.

[Phosphor]

Stacey...

Just for future reference:

Use the navigation links on the pages, instead of the buttons on your browser. That's what caused you to multi-post.

[dave milbut]

I think we had 17 (IIRC) about 3 months ago. That was the most I'd seen.

[Lawrence Hudetz]

Stacy, use the Unsharp Mask and look at your image at 100%. you will definitly see the changes there.

Set the Amount to 200
Radius to 0.5
Threshold to 3

This is for starters. As you look, move the Radius from 0.5 up to 1.0 or so, and the Amount to values between 100 and 400.

There are major philosophies on sharpening. You might start with Blatner in "Real World Photoshop". The levels and Radius you select are very dependent on image structure, noise etc.

Good luck, and don't forget to check at 100% mag!

Oh, and one other thing. If you have applied a layer to your image, like Levels, and move to Sharpening, open the Layers pallet and be sure you are on Backround before you try to sharpen.

[StaceyL7]

Sorry for all of the posts! I'm not exactly sure what happened. I kept getting an error message so I thought the post wouldn't show up in the forum so I kept posting my message.

As for the "sharpen" and "sharpen more" tip. Thanks. I had no idea resolution size made that much of a difference. I know that "sharpen more" really distorts the image and when it didn't happen with mine, I thought there was some internal glitch. Thanks again.

[StaceyL7]

Thanks so much! When I get home I'll try it and let you all know what happens! This is a great forum!!!

Stacey

[dave milbut]

stacy check your post in the lounge too... there's some good advice in there.

dave

[Roseanne Minasian]

Stacy.The Photoshop book for Digital Photographers by Scott Kelby has a whole section just on sharpening techniques. It's a little pricy but the format is so simple to follow and you really get specific info on the settings you need for your projects. He sets up his books so you needn't start at the beginning. You just look up what you want to do. The instructions are easy to follow and you get quick results plus you get a lot of additional information in an easy to read format. Roseanne