Edge sharpening

[vito]

There is a PS technique that allows you to sharpen only contrasty,

more relevant parts of the picture and leave the smoother parts of

the picture unchanges (like sharpening eyes and leaving skin smooth

on a portrait). It is called luminance sharpening or something I

think... I saw it in the book once, but totally forgot what I read.

I am well familiar with Unsharp Mask, but the rest of the procedure

is foggy.

 

Can someone give me quick step-by-step instructions on this method?

Thank you.

[costas_lymbouris]

Hi Vito,

 

You can find some step by step instructions on Edge sharpening written by Fred Miranda at this page on outbackphoto

 

http://www.outbackphoto.com/workshop/photoshop_corner/essay_05/essay.html

 

Not sure about the blending options given, I usually set the sliders to

 

Top slider 20/60 and 200/240

 

bottom slider 20/40 and 210/240

 

but it all depends on the image.

[jespdj]

Have a look at this:

<p><a href="http://www.shutterfreaks.com/Tips/joukosharpening.html">Sharpening with Style</a> by Jouko Ruuskanen

[beno_t_marchal]

<p>I have learned (and use) a simpler variation on the above methods. It is very fast and it

works well.

<p>The trick, of course, remains to build a mask so the sharpening applies to selected

portions of the image only. A quick mask is simply to load one of the channels, specifically

for portraiture, the red channel does wonder.

<p>So I select the channels palette, command-click on the red channel, inverse the

selection (Select|Inverse), hide the selection markers (uncheck View|Extras) and apply USM.

<p>The red channel is almost white on skin tones (for caucasian) so it selects the skin

tone and ignore the hair and eyes. We want the opposite (sharpen hair & eyes and ignore

the skin tone) so it's essential to inverse the selection.<br>

Hiding the selection is just a convenience so you better see the sharpening as it is being

applied.

<p>In USM I select the appropriate amount and radius for the image and, most

importantly, I always set the threshold to zero. You want to (and can) set the threshold to

zero because the mask protects the skin tones.

<p>Of course you can make an action to automate the steps... The red channel is great

for portraiture, you may need to use another channel for other photos.

<p>--ben<br><a href="http://www.marchal.com">marchal.com</a>

[andrew_rodney1]

There's a tutorial at digitaldog.net on sharpening through a mask built upon

the image. Also read http://www.pixelgenius.com/sharpener/why.html

[rhaytana__tim_adams_]

This might be of interest, too: Sharpening 101, from Thom Hogan's site:

 

http://www.bythom.com/sharpening.htm