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Sharpening for output


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Hi,

Technically, I understand the dpi, ppi and 'other' terminology.

And what sharpening concerns, I'm able to 'apply' a few techniques.

And I understand that sharpening is best done with the final size, resolution,

and printing medium in mind.

But, my question is the following :

 

What is the 'right' resolution of a photo to send to a lab or inktjet ?

For example : What do I need to do when I want a 15cmx20cm photo printed by a

lab or inktjet ?

 

My 'master' has no sharpening :

Do I need to downsample my 'master' ?

At what resolution ? And why ?

Most of the time I use 300ppi but is this 'right' ?

Why 300ppi ?

Why not 250ppi or 350ppi ? And what difference does this make regarding the

sharpening ?

 

How do you know that your resolution (and the sharpening applied to this

resolution) is the right one ?

 

Thanks for making things clear ... ;-)

Greetz,

Marc.

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Marc,

 

A lot of mis-information about sharpening abounds.

 

Single-pass sharpening is rarely optimal - at a minimum you typically need (a) capture sharpening to overcome the limitations of anti-aliasing & demosaicing, (b) content sharpening (sometimes with selections & masking to overcome noise issues (sharpening and noise reduction bring out the worst in each other)), and finally © output sharpening, depending on the intended size of the print.

 

If you really want to master the art, learn from the guru of sharpening (and photoshop "longtime insider") Bruce Fraser in his book "Real World Image Sharpening" (In fact if you really want to lift your game, grab a copy of Real World Colour Management & Real World Adobe Camera RAW with CS2 while you're at it).

 

Cheers,

 

Colin

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Thanks for your info. And yes, I will get the book "Real World Image Sharpening" ... ;-) And indeed, the thread is great ... BUT ...

 

But, a lot of the info concerns Ligtroom (which I don't have and use) and (almost) everything I 'produce' is b/w, which includes a lot of editing and in the post Peter Stacey writes : "However, if you have a photo where you are planning to do a lot of editing, I wouldn't apply capture sharpening globally."

 

So, now things are not really clear to me (regarding MY workflow) ... Please, can someone help me with defining what my workflow should be considering following 'things' :

 

- I do not use Lightroom

 

- Use CS3 (since this week) with Camera Raw 4.2

 

- Do a lot of editing - Produce (toned) b/w prints

 

Well :

 

- Should I use (initial) sharpening in Camera Raw ?

 

- Should I use 'clarity' in Camera Raw ?

 

- When and which sharpening should I use/apply ?

 

Would someone be so kind to guide me to the right direction ? It would be greatly appreciated as things are not clear to me ...

 

Just this : What with landscape photo's with a lot of sky ? What is the technique regarding sharpening of skies ? And is the 'treatment' different for a photo with lots of detail or one without much detail the same ?

 

Thanks for helping me out, Marc.

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Marc. Peter Stacey is going to do another post on the referenced thread that I think will cover some of your questions. He just posted that intention on that thread. By the way, I purchased PhotoKit Sharpener that Peter mentioneed. The thirty six pages of instructions are almost more valuable than the software. It imbeds seamlessly in the Automate section of CS3. It sets up layers for capture, localized sharpening and also sets up output sharpening for several different levels of sharpening for ink jet printing depending on the resolution of the printer. It also sets up output sharpening for other media. It incorporatres the precepts established by Bruce Fraser. I do not use Lightroom either. Peter did address my question about Clarity and I have been setting it to zero using the software. The software sets up layers for the three levels of sharpening so is non-destructive. Download the free trial version of PhotoKit. It's expensive, a hundred bucks, but for my use, which is large prints for out processing and 13x19s on my Canon I9900 it really provides tha answers I need. With the software I zero ACR sharpening also. If nothing else just demoing the software will show how it is done by people who really know what they are doing. I am not a sharpening expert and that's why I got on the referenced threaed to begin with. What I like about the prints I am getting is that it demonstably improves sharpening without changing the character of the image and/or the print. I have learned a lot. I think you are right, if you have an immediate need, sending you off to read a book doesn't help much. I think Peter Stacey makes a lot of sense and eagerly await his upcoming post. The software is very well thought out and provides many options to tailor your sharpening for initial capture, localized sharpening(very easy to do) and output sharpening tailored for commercial printing, ink jet printers, web etc. I am still learning about it. I have also learned much from Peter who is very generous in sharing what he knows. Thanks to Peter Stacey and the software I am comfortable that my pictures are properly sharpened and I can go on to something else. I also have learned a lot about sharpening without the software. I will get the book. Regards, Dick Arnold
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Marc,

 

Just a quick note on the issue of global capture sharpening, in the previous thread, that was in reference to doing capture sharpening if you aren't using either ACR4.2 or LR1.2

 

The engine in ACR4.2 and LR1.2 are the same and the capture sharpening is applied through a mask.

 

In order to see the mask, in ACR4.2, view the image at 100% magnification and then hold down the alt/option key while moving the sliders. You'll see the mask, sharpening with, etc. on the fly as it is generated. It's a good way to adjust your sharpening to avoid enhancing noise or sharpening skin, etc.

 

Specifically in relation to skies, you'll see a big effect when holding down the alt/option key and moving the "detail" and "masking" sliders.

 

I'll cover more on this in my email to you this afternoon (as well as on the webpage).

 

Regards,

 

Peter

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Dick and Mark,

 

Just to let you know, now that I've had a few hours today, I've been finalising stuff for the page I'm developing and the first information will be up on Sunday (28 Oct).

 

It's been longer than I was expecting due to a busy work schedule since travelling on Monday and also because the information has been undergoing some creep in scope and is rapidly growing into a site devoted to sharpening and noise reduction.

 

So I've decided to just get the information up starting slowly and building on it continuously.

 

I can't post it up tomorrow because I'll be out shooting all day after working tonight, so it will be on Sunday.

 

I will link to it from here and the previous thread and I said earlier and hopefully the information will be useful.

 

In relation to the high-pass filter method mentioned in the previous post, that can certainly be used for many images at output, but it can be improved on and I'll post that in the page as well.

 

Regards,

 

Peter

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