How to sharpen a photo.

[ian172]

Hello All
Can someone please explain if there is a better way to sharpen a photo in Photoshop Elements 2 (the one you get with a Canon 10D) rather than the Quick Fix method of using the Auto Focus,which i use as well as the Colour correction..

Thanks a lot.
Ian

[JeffinDEN]

Not sure why everyone didn't jump in with the patented "USM" answer, but yes, there are many ways to sharpen. I would visit any of the photo web sites and read, read, read. Don't use "auto" anything. And USM is NOT the only way to go.

[Leftseat86]

What are you talking about Jeff....USM fixes everything...


-Clovis

[JeffinDEN]

If you say so...
....I don't hardly ever use it.

[xiphias]

USM? :S

EDIT: Ah... UnSharp Mask?

I usualy create an mask from one of the CMYK channels and create a alpha channel from it and then color correct and sharpen that mask with adjusting the CMYK curves and USM.

Any better tricks? A nice step by step would be nice instead of "read, read, read".


-XiP

[JeffinDEN]

That seems like a lot of work just to sharpen an image. I would make an action out of that if that is the way you prefer to sharpen.

[Leftseat86]

.2 200% 2 is fine for me...

-Clovis (That was a joke Jeff)

[ian172]

Dear All
Could someone explain to me what USM is and how you use it in Photoshop 2.

Thanks
Ian

[JeffinDEN]

It has been so long since I used Photoshop2. Best bet is to just look it up in the book that came with that version.

[GreenBaron]

This is what I do for sharpening: After doing some other editing if necessery, I resize it from 2048x1536 (the max I can get with my 3 MP camera) to 1024x768, and than use the USM feature in photoshop. Most likely with a very small radius and threshold. But I use different settings for every picture. Thanks to Neat Image, (only use it for a week now), sharpening now comes with much less increase of noise. This makes the job much more easy :P
Such a cool program

[Spartan13]

I just got Photoshop 7 yesterday, and I was going to ask the same question about sharpening images. Is it the same process as photoshop 2?

[FlyingPhotog]

Dear All
Could someone explain to me what USM is and how you use it in Photoshop 2.

Thanks
Ian

USM = Unsharp Mask. You can fond it under tools/sharpen/unsharp mask

With an oversize image I use the usm to sharpen 200% at .6 pixels. Then I resize it to the size I want. I then use USM again to sharpen 500% at .2 pixels. It usually works great. That advice was shared with me by someone at photosig.com

[JeffinDEN]

Not sure why everyone needs to go so high on the percentages, I seldom if ever go above 75%/.2/0. Maybe, if needed, a second pass.

There is also a great "HELP" function in Photoshop...