Sharpening photos.

[danadler]

Viewing the gallery of Marc Adamus (http://www.photo.net/photodb/user?user_id=1353935),

I observed that his photos are uniquely sharp. They open up gradually on my

screen, from blurred to extreme sharpness. It seems to me that this high

sharpness is the result of digital processing of the prime. Does anybody know

how this is performed?.

[will king]

He actually explains his sharpening technique on this site: http://pacificnw.naturephotographers.net/tips/photoshop.htm

[patricklavoie]

you want your image to be oversharped?

 

use any filter that sharpen your image, push it until you find it is OK, than pushit even more until it look too sharp. repeat on all your image and enjoy. : )

 

If you want to know which filter work best, unsharp mask is close to be the winner, plus you could also get color noise as a bonus.

 

or

 

If you just want a good sharpness to your web image, you can use bicubic sharper when you reduce your file for the web and it should be OK, ad look good on screen.

[pge]

Hi Dan, I am a bit confused about your question. You seem to be talking about two different things.

 

Some browsers open up photos quickly in a blurred type of way until they have downloaded enough info to display the photo clearly.

 

But I think you are asking how to sharpen a photo. If so, then there are several techniques. Mine is with photoshop, Filter>Sharpen>Unsharpen Mask. I leave "threshold" at zero, I set "radius" at 1 for photos under 2000 pixels wide, 2 for photos over 2000 pixels wide, and then i adjust the "amount" to taste, usually between 50 and 100% depending on the photo. I find that this sharpening method gives me the most control and a good preview so you can eyeball it.

 

Phil

[patricklavoie]

i personnaly use smart sharpen for all my need, a 3 pass system to be more precise; 1 when i open the file for the first time. 2 localy to enhanced some details, 3 at the final size.

[wogears]

Hi!

 

Mark also keeps his images small, which lends to the perceived sharpness. This is not a problem, just an observation. I expect his prints are also very clean and sharp--his technique seems exemplary.

[Matt Laur]

I'd also suggest some quality time with High Pass sharpening. It's a little more involved, but it's FAR more subtle, which is called for in some situations.

[gdanmitchell]

Patrick wrote: "you want your image to be oversharped?"

 

Is it your perception that Marc Adamus' images are over-sharpened? Or "oversharped?" If so,

could you point to an example of such and an example of an image the you regard as

correctly sharpened?

 

Thanks.

[patricklavoie]

Sorry Dan Mithcell, i dont find Marc image oversharp, i was refering to the OP when he ask *extreme sharpness*...i must have mixtup the word extreme and over : )

 

*some* of Marc image are limit to be over sharpened (is orange montain on his personal page for example), but that OK with me. When i think about oversharped i mean when you can see white fringing around the subject.

 

sorry if i offend you

[Spearhead]

The gradual sharpening effect is usually from saving an image as a progressive jpg. While some browsers or browser settings may result in displaying a soft image and then gradually sharpening, if some images are doing this and some are not, the image has been saved as a progressive jpg.

[colinsouthern]

I'd suggest a 3 step process:

 

1. Navigate to www.amazon.com

2. Search for "Real World Image Sharpening" by sharpening guru Bruce Fraser

3. Click "Buy Now"

[les]

Try edge sharpening. Lots of info on the net, and it is easy to write a PS action which will follow the step, you just need to adjust the parameters as the action executes. One of the links which describes edge sharpening is here:

 

http://www.naturescapes.net/042004/ps0404.htm

[ellis_vener_photography]

And after you do what Colin suggests, which is a great idea, go to http://www.pixelgenius.com and buy the Photokit Sharpener. Bruce Fraser built it following the principles he lays out in his book.