Sharpening - Basic Recipe/Foundation Needed.

[TheBigE]

Hello,

I am just back from a weekend in Luxembourg and have a collection of photos that I have narrowed down to the winners. I would like some advice on sharpening.

My last set of photos I really felt like I was just moving sliders for sharpening and not really making progress. It felt very random. I would like to improve this time.

I understand the concept and tradeoffs with sharpening and I am also very comfortable in the process of sharpening in LR or PS. However, I really lack any kind of foundation in this area.

I would like to hear some basic recipes or concepts to follow for sharpening. Just something to build a foundation and grow with over time. I will try to add a few photos here to discuss some of my sharpening and how I went about it, and perhaps then a critique of this would also be helpful.

But for now, any basics thoughts are welcome on how to proceed to make this a useful exercise.

Thanks
Erik

[TheBigE]

Sorry - did not realize I was in the wrong section. If a Moderator could move this to the Post Processing Section I would be grateful. Thanks and sorry for the mix up.

[xpatUSA]

Sorry - did not realize I was in the wrong section. If a Moderator could move this to the Post Processing Section I would be grateful. Thanks and sorry for the mix up.

While waiting, Erik,

CiC has several tutorials for you:

https://www.cambridgeincolour.com/tu.../sharpness.htm

https://www.cambridgeincolour.com/tu...sharpening.htm

https://www.cambridgeincolour.com/tu...sharp-mask.htm

https://www.cambridgeincolour.com/tu...nhancement.htm

Hope they are of interest. They certainly cover your requirements.

[James G]

Erik,
Sharpening is potentially a big big subject, but...
Firstly, I'd recommend you check out publications and web based articles for methods. The tutorials on this site are also excellent and very clear.

I personally 'started' with Image Sharpening by Bruce Fraser and Jeff Schewe. I also have a copy of the Digital negative by Jeff Schewe.

I think they will probably tell you more about techniques and how and when to apply than you probably ever need to know.

Ok, how do I fit sharpening into my workflow?

1) in Photoshop ACR
I always apply a degree of sharpening. I generally apply an Amount of no more than 40-70, with a radius of <2 to avoid halos. With Detail I keep to low values to confine sharpening to main edges. I usually keep it low because I apply sharpening in one or two phases in Photoshop.
I always back off the impact of sharpening with the masking slider to avoid sharpening any remaining noise in the image(pixels to be sharpened are white if you depress the ALT key when masking.

I also reduce noise in the image using ACR but perform this after sharpening, but before moving to Photoshop for image presentation.

2) In Photoshop

I perform sharpening in two stages, the second of which is purely a 'polish' for the final image.

Stage 1 is applied before any other layers (levels, curves, vibrance etc), are applied.
I usually create a copy of the base layer and then create luminosity selections for areas I want to sharpen. Typically I create separate flat areas such as sky, cloud and water since I do not usually sharpen these.
I then select specific areas based on the level of detail, eg rocks, foliage, structures, and apply sharpening based on the amount of detail. Essentially I separate areas to be sharpened on basis of 'high' or 'low' frequency. (High is characterised by lots of [fine] detail, and Low wold be areas without fine detail such as metal surfaces, smooth building surfaces etc.)

Most importantly I keep these on separate layers so they can be readjusted/replaced or removed if needed.

Stage 2 sharpening is applied after all other processing has been applied. It is not always necessary and as I said earlier is a final 'polish' to the image if I think it is needed.

For first stage sharpening I tend to use some home made sharpening actions, based on Gaussian Blur, Surface Blur, or Noise>Median filters. I think they give me a 'finer control' but that may just be me liking to tinker. Arguably Smart Sharpen or Unsharp mask can do the same.

For Second Stage sharping I always create a luminosity layer of the final image, and then apply a high pass filter with either Overlay or Soft Blend mode.

One final point, I find that images for web/monitor in my experience require a more toned down sharpening technique.
I also prepare images for print... (I'm old school and its not a 'photograph' if its not printed ) and sharpening tends to be a bit more aggressive if print is involved.

Hope this helps, but in all honesty, I'd suggest that you experiment, but keep it simple to start with until you are comfortable with any specific technique. Once you get a feel for the differences you can then start 'combining' their effects... Good Luck!

[davidedric]

I had a search for Schewe's book on Amazon for the Kindle edition.

On Amazon.com $22.99

On Amazon.co.uk £32.39 that's around $48

Bloody outrageous!

Dave

[James G]

David, I agree... and it is pretty difficult to find second hand paper copies... nature of the beast I suppose.

However, I would be very happy to 'loan' you my copies... truth be told, I got them a while back when I was researching sharpening and trying to improve on my own technique. It sounds a bit cocky, but I'm comfortable now with my sharpening strategy so rarely need to refer to the texts these days.

I've thought on a few occasions it might be useful if some kind of a book loan/exchange service were available.

I'm planning to take a run up to Talacre Lighthouse in the next few weeks so can drop them of .....

[Shadowman]

Hello,

I am just back from a weekend in Luxembourg and have a collection of photos that I have narrowed down to the winners. I would like some advice on sharpening.

My last set of photos I really felt like I was just moving sliders for sharpening and not really making progress. It felt very random. I would like to improve this time.

I understand the concept and tradeoffs with sharpening and I am also very comfortable in the process of sharpening in LR or PS. However, I really lack any kind of foundation in this area.

I would like to hear some basic recipes or concepts to follow for sharpening. Just something to build a foundation and grow with over time. I will try to add a few photos here to discuss some of my sharpening and how I went about it, and perhaps then a critique of this would also be helpful.

But for now, any basics thoughts are welcome on how to proceed to make this a useful exercise.

Thanks
Erik

I know that my statement might sound like a cliché, but image sharpness starts at the moment you decide to click. Tripod vs handheld and accurate focusing. You stated in your post below that you cropped the image, in post #8 which you say is the original the image looks the same as one in first post. Regardless, cropping affects sharpness so composing accurately at time of capture will help retain image quality.

Rome: Old vs New - C&C Appreciated

[dje]

Erik everyone has their own ideas on sharpening. I tend to regard Capture sharpening as the most important step and I do this in ACR, usually with a radius of about 0.7 and an amount of about 50. Unlike James, I tend to run the detail slider up to about 75. After that, I usually find that the only other sharpening I need is output sharpening after downsizing for the web. It all depends how sharp the image is to start with of course and this depends on the equipment used, the aperture used and how well focus is achieved.

With the trend towards higher pixel densities, the captured images are becoming sharper and the sharpness of the lens is becoming more important. The omission of the anti-aliasing filter in some cameras is also making the captured images sharper. I notice you are using a D5300 which has a relatively high pixel density and no AA filter so you should be getting fairly sharp images to start with and capture sharpening should only need to be fairly moderate.

Dave

[Manfred M]

Erik - as you can see by the responses here, there is no "cookbook" solution for sharpening.

I use the Photoshop Unsharp Mask for virtually all my sharpening work (I use it in two basic ways, low radius, high sharpening amount or high radius, low sharpening amount with little to no use of the threshold setting; I sometimes use the Smart Sharpen tool for secondary sharpening as well. If you are shooting at high ISO and have a lot of noise in the capture, sharpening is a lot trickier as sharpening the noise in the image is not desirable.

I agree with James, regarding Schewe and Fraser's book being a good reference; it's relatively easy to get the electronic version. Not the easiest read either, and a bit dated (there was a lot heavier anti-alias filter presence in the days that they wrote the book).

I wish there were a simple rule, but each image is different and I eyeball everything; the critical thing is to view at 100% of image size.

I use the 3-step sharpening approach (more or less) that Schewe and Fraser recommend. Import sharpening to get rid of artifacts from the capture process, local sharpening within the image (using masks). I save my images that way and apply final sharpening when the output size is determined and I do that only at that time. I pay a lot of attention to sharpening when I print, as this is a very controllable process with high pixel density. Output to the internet; there are so many variables that I really don't care that much (most of my images have a maximum dimension of 1600 pixels), so sharpening is really neither here nor there for those images.

[xpatUSA]

. . . Output to the internet; there are so many variables that I really don't care that much (most of my images have a maximum dimension of 1600 pixels), so sharpening is really neither here nor there for those images.

On the other hand, Manfred, those who don't print might be inclined to disagree that "sharpening is really neither here nor there for those images". Indeed, some who post in photographic fora for C&C might be quite concerned about the acutance of their masterpieces.

Perhaps I have misinterpreted the comment. If so, I apologize.

[TheBigE]

While waiting, Erik,

CiC has several tutorials for you:

https://www.cambridgeincolour.com/tu.../sharpness.htm

https://www.cambridgeincolour.com/tu...sharpening.htm

https://www.cambridgeincolour.com/tu...sharp-mask.htm

https://www.cambridgeincolour.com/tu...nhancement.htm

Hope they are of interest. They certainly cover your requirements.

Thanks Ted.

I have reviewed them and will look at them again. While sharpening is a big subject, part of my problem is the wealth of information but all a bit different in one way or another. For Example the CiC tutorials tell one to adjust the Radius, while other tutorials (KelbyOne) say to set it at 1.2 or 1.3 and forget it.

Some say reduce noise first and then sharpen others suggest sharpen and then reduce noise.

It is clear there is much information, but it is also unclear at the same time....

[TheBigE]

Erik,
Sharpening is potentially a big big subject, but...
Firstly, I'd recommend you check out publications and web based articles for methods. The tutorials on this site are also excellent and very clear.

I personally 'started' with Image Sharpening by Bruce Fraser and Jeff Schewe. I also have a copy of the Digital negative by Jeff Schewe.

I think they will probably tell you more about techniques and how and when to apply than you probably ever need to know.

Ok, how do I fit sharpening into my workflow?

1) in Photoshop ACR
I always apply a degree of sharpening. I generally apply an Amount of no more than 40-70, with a radius of <2 to avoid halos. With Detail I keep to low values to confine sharpening to main edges. I usually keep it low because I apply sharpening in one or two phases in Photoshop.
I always back off the impact of sharpening with the masking slider to avoid sharpening any remaining noise in the image(pixels to be sharpened are white if you depress the ALT key when masking.

I also reduce noise in the image using ACR but perform this after sharpening, but before moving to Photoshop for image presentation.

2) In Photoshop

I perform sharpening in two stages, the second of which is purely a 'polish' for the final image.

Stage 1 is applied before any other layers (levels, curves, vibrance etc), are applied.
I usually create a copy of the base layer and then create luminosity selections for areas I want to sharpen. Typically I create separate flat areas such as sky, cloud and water since I do not usually sharpen these.
I then select specific areas based on the level of detail, eg rocks, foliage, structures, and apply sharpening based on the amount of detail. Essentially I separate areas to be sharpened on basis of 'high' or 'low' frequency. (High is characterised by lots of [fine] detail, and Low wold be areas without fine detail such as metal surfaces, smooth building surfaces etc.)

Most importantly I keep these on separate layers so they can be readjusted/replaced or removed if needed.

Stage 2 sharpening is applied after all other processing has been applied. It is not always necessary and as I said earlier is a final 'polish' to the image if I think it is needed.

For first stage sharpening I tend to use some home made sharpening actions, based on Gaussian Blur, Surface Blur, or Noise>Median filters. I think they give me a 'finer control' but that may just be me liking to tinker. Arguably Smart Sharpen or Unsharp mask can do the same.

For Second Stage sharping I always create a luminosity layer of the final image, and then apply a high pass filter with either Overlay or Soft Blend mode.

One final point, I find that images for web/monitor in my experience require a more toned down sharpening technique.
I also prepare images for print... (I'm old school and its not a 'photograph' if its not printed ) and sharpening tends to be a bit more aggressive if print is involved.

Hope this helps, but in all honesty, I'd suggest that you experiment, but keep it simple to start with until you are comfortable with any specific technique. Once you get a feel for the differences you can then start 'combining' their effects... Good Luck!

Thanks James - this is the feedback I am looking for, just to come to grips with one way of doing sharpening. I am trying to keep it simple at first and focus on a few basic steps and then build from that point. I have tried different techniques and really just need to draw the line on settle on one and build from there....the problem is where to start building. I think I have a better idea now after your post. Thanks

[TheBigE]

I know that my statement might sound like a cliché, but image sharpness starts at the moment you decide to click. Tripod vs handheld and accurate focusing. You stated in your post below that you cropped the image, in post #8 which you say is the original the image looks the same as one in first post. Regardless, cropping affects sharpness so composing accurately at time of capture will help retain image quality.

Rome: Old vs New - C&C Appreciated

John, I do not think that you post sound cliche at all and agree that it starts with the shutter push. I know for a fact that on the last set of photos I took, I really made some good progress on hand holding and trying to minimize any chance of camera shake. I had some low light photos with high ISO that still required a relatively low Shutter Speed. I focused on bracing myself, handing posture and breathing and saw the results in the output.

[TheBigE]

Erik everyone has their own ideas on sharpening. I tend to regard Capture sharpening as the most important step and I do this in ACR, usually with a radius of about 0.7 and an amount of about 50. Unlike James, I tend to run the detail slider up to about 75. After that, I usually find that the only other sharpening I need is output sharpening after downsizing for the web. It all depends how sharp the image is to start with of course and this depends on the equipment used, the aperture used and how well focus is achieved.

With the trend towards higher pixel densities, the captured images are becoming sharper and the sharpness of the lens is becoming more important. The omission of the anti-aliasing filter in some cameras is also making the captured images sharper. I notice you are using a D5300 which has a relatively high pixel density and no AA filter so you should be getting fairly sharp images to start with and capture sharpening should only need to be fairly moderate.

Dave

Thanks for the feedback Dave. I do do feel that the photos that come out of the D5300 are crisp. I think there still is improvement that could be done in PP. Thanks for your guidelines and thoughts, it gives me a bit of a starting idea, and really points out there are several ways to get to the end result.

[TheBigE]

Erik - as you can see by the responses here, there is no "cookbook" solution for sharpening.

I use the Photoshop Unsharp Mask for virtually all my sharpening work (I use it in two basic ways, low radius, high sharpening amount or high radius, low sharpening amount with little to no use of the threshold setting; I sometimes use the Smart Sharpen tool for secondary sharpening as well. If you are shooting at high ISO and have a lot of noise in the capture, sharpening is a lot trickier as sharpening the noise in the image is not desirable.

I agree with James, regarding Schewe and Fraser's book being a good reference; it's relatively easy to get the electronic version. Not the easiest read either, and a bit dated (there was a lot heavier anti-alias filter presence in the days that they wrote the book).

I wish there were a simple rule, but each image is different and I eyeball everything; the critical thing is to view at 100% of image size.

I use the 3-step sharpening approach (more or less) that Schewe and Fraser recommend. Import sharpening to get rid of artifacts from the capture process, local sharpening within the image (using masks). I save my images that way and apply final sharpening when the output size is determined and I do that only at that time. I pay a lot of attention to sharpening when I print, as this is a very controllable process with high pixel density. Output to the internet; there are so many variables that I really don't care that much (most of my images have a maximum dimension of 1600 pixels), so sharpening is really neither here nor there for those images.

Manfred - Thanks for the input and thoughts on the topic. Yes I agree that there is no cookbook recipe. That is clear by the fact that as I try to learn from various tutorials, each seems to have a different way of approaching the subject. I think everything became so jumble in my head, that I ended up just moving sliders. I am trying to avoid that in this next batch and proceed with some purpose.

I will see if I can take a look at the recommendations of Schewe and Fraser. Perhaps that will point me in a direction that allows me to build a foundation.

[Manfred M]

On the other hand, Manfred, those who don't print might be inclined to disagree that "sharpening is really neither here nor there for those images". Indeed, some who post in photographic fora for C&C might be quite concerned about the acutance of their masterpieces.

Perhaps I have misinterpreted the comment. If so, I apologize.

Ted, you have not misinterpreted my comment at all. With a 36MP image downsampled to 1600 pixels on the long side that I post, I really do get "sharpening by the downsampling process"; i.e. edge contrast gets enhanced. While the image may look fine on my 27" screen, it looks oversharpened on a laptop screen. Hence, because I know that there are so many different devices and screens out there, I personally don't get overly concerned about output sharpening when I post on the internet. There are just too many variables out there to be overly concerned about what others see.