Sharpening

[todd1664878707]

Do you do a batch sharpening of all your images before you give them

to the client? Do any of you do in camera sharpening? I'm finding

that since I went digital, my prints aren't as sharp as with film. Is

it common to slightly sharpen all your prints before handing them

over to the bride and groom?

[EricM]

i shoot in raw and yes i use 'smart sharpen' when batching.

[ben_rubinstein___mancheste]

This is a difficult one, the proofs are printed and sharpened for print, the High-Res CD's could be printed at any size and since sharpening should be done relative to the print size, it's hard to find a good balance which will look good printed to 9X6" or 18X12". I sharpen for a good 8X12" and beg them to get me to do the enlargements for optimum quality.

[fotografz]

I don't sharpen until the image is cropped and to the size it will be printed at. I have the

sharpening function turned off in the RAW converter.

[iskandar_azaman___kuala_lu]

So Marc, do you sharpen each picture individually or do you just batch everything according to size. If so what sort of settings do you have for USM?

 

I've been trying to devise a workflow but i find it difficult using unsharp mask and have good experiences using the settings on Photokit Sharpener. So far it does well for over 90% of the pictures but a few sometimes come out oversharpened.

[darice michelle]

This is fantastic that you all are covering this topic. I shoot all digital too and I

find it very frustrating that the digital images are not sharp enough. It shows

most when I do the formal group shots. I spend countless hours sharpening

each individual picture. Sometimes I use unsharp mask, or I increase the

shadows from the RAW format or I dodge the eyes to make them pop out

more thus looking sharper. I hate it really and wish I knew how to fix this. Is it

me or the camera. Why isn't it focusing properly? Should I manually focus the

lens - will that help? I need suggestions too.

 

Thanks

 

Darice

[todd frederick]

The same as what Marc said. Sharpen last before saving.

[chris76]

Hi Darice,

 

I'm in the same boat that I sharpen each pic on its own. Scared I get some kind of halo if I leave it to the batch runs.

 

If you get constant softness in your pics then you need to start at the beginning. I think the biggest factor is the lenses you are using. I started with the kit lens, then the 28-135 and I know have the 17-40L, 70-200L, 50,80,100 Prime.

 

Since getting decent lenses I noticed a huge shift in terms of sharpness and also have fewer shots out of focus due to slow focussing. Attached is an odd file with the 100% crop, shot at 17-40 F5.6 with the some PS smart sharpen. I understand that the L primes will shoot it out of the park not to mention Marc?s Leica?s but for me this was a quick and this quality will have to do until I get the 35 F1.2 L.

 

If you do have decent lenses then you need to look at your shooting technique and skills. Maybe your shutter speed is too slow or maybe you dont hold or support the camera well. I always exhale before squeezing the button.

 

For post processing I use the new smart sharpen in PS CS2 this works fine for me. Should I require the sharpness in the eyes I use Photo kit sharpener. This creates a sharpening layer over the pic. With a soft brush I then paint the eyes to get some more sharpening in them. You can also drag the opacity to reduce or increase the sharpness.

 

The problem is if you sharpen for the eyes the skin pics up some bad artefacts around small imperfections.

 

I dont do this on all the pics only the ones I think need that extra punch.

 

Dont take this as gospel. I'm sure there is more that one way to skin this cat.

 

Cheers

 

Chris<div></div>

[todd1664878707]

If I know I want a high quality print, I'll shoot with my 50 1.8. I'll take that image and make an 8x10. Now I KNOW that my focusing is correct, but at closeup view I know that it should be sharper. If I understand this correctly, you should sharpen you prints according to the output print, but how do you know how much sharpening to use if you are giving your clients a CD? Also, is there a rule of thumb for sharpening according to print size? For instance, sharpen the 4x6 X amount. Sharpen 5x7 X times two. Sharpen 8x10 X times three???

[ben_rubinstein___mancheste]

There is another variable, the output device. I'm of the opinion that inkjet needs stronger sharpening than printing using a minilab.

[jmichaelc]

I do not shapen at all; during my selection process of keepers, if it isn't shap enough origionally then it is not a keeper. The only time i sharpen a little is for web display. For some reason web compression always softens my images.

[jgrim8]

I find that the degree of sharpening varies depending on what kind of picture you're trying to sharpen, so I sharpen each one individually with unsharp mask. Depending on if it's a portrait or an exterior shot. The Photoshop Book for Digital Photographers by Scott Kelby has really good sharpening tips. I found it very usefull when I first started.

[EricM]

Is it a question on workflow or on the practice of sharpening? Sharpening is an art unto itself. If you?re using unsharp mask it should be done in the lab mode, imo. image/mode/lab colour, click on ?channels? in the layers palette, select ?lab? and apply unsharp mask. Sharpening for prints is different than for web. For prints, your radius slide should exceed your amount slider. Threshold to taste. The opposite approach is the correct for web. Then back out the way you went in and end up with a rgb mode.

[fotografz]

I make contact sheets for clients rather than traditional proofs. The images are just large

enough to select from, but not to copy. That small, they don't need sharpening.

 

When sharpening to size, I don't necessarily sharpen the entire shot. That's another reason to

not batch the sharpening. For example, when sharpening a 85/1.2 shot with a nice softly

graded Bokeh in the background, I only roughly select the in-focus subject, feather and

sharpen based on the shot, not any set formula.

[EricM]

when i work on my keepers i make a second layer of moderate sharpeness and brush in most of the subject. then i flatten and make another layer from the original and crank it up for eye lashes and lips and brush those elements in. on shots that i go to this much trouble with, i usually do the whites of the eyes and teeth by making another layer but lower the colour temp and up the saturation a bit.