selective high pass sharpening

[dunlin]

I read about this some time back and thought i would share it with you. I use it most of the time these days to sharpen pictures rather than using unsharp mask. Lets say you want to sharpen a portrait and leave the nice out of focus background untouched.
open your picture and then duplicate it
with the duplicate layer selected choose
filter-other-high pass click ok/apply
the picture looks terrible dont panic
select the blending mode drop down menu and choose overlay
the whole image has been sharpened but dont stop there.
now create a layer mask go to
layer-add layer mask-hide all
This hides the sharpening youve just applied
select brush and set it at the size you want by using the square brackets key on your key board
The two over lapping black and white squares in the tool palets set foreground to background colour, make sure white is the foreground colour
and start painting on your picture only on the areas that you want the sharpening applied. This has the effect of removing the mask and revealing the sharpened image underneath and allows you to sharpen the picture just where you want it

ps
If you stray on to part of the picture you dont want sharpening change the foreground to black and paint the mask back on
hope this makes sense
regards mark............

[Geoff F]

When using a brush to reveal parts of the mask, vary the brush opacity to suit. It is better to gradually reveal the image with several strokes of a low opacity brush, say 30%, than to use a coarse 100% setting.

Varying the opacity (transparency) will also allow you to very carefully control the amount of sharpening which is applied to different parts of the image. Also, you can avoid too sharp a jump over the revealed mask edges.

Changing the brush size as required is easy and makes a more controllable result.

Although working with masks does sound complicated you soon get the hang of it and I do fully recommend this method.

You can also use variable opacity masks for selectively enhancing brightness and many other useful procedures. Changing the duplicate layer Merge Mode and opacity can prove useful for enhancing your photos.

There is a more complicated method of selecting just the edges of parts of an image for even more control; but it does take a little bit of thought to understand the principles.

However, if anybody is interested in tackling something new during those long dark wet winter evenings have a read of this tutorial Controlled Image Sharpening with Photoshop CS2 [Software Tutorials]

[dunlin]

Originally Posted by Geoff F

When using a brush to reveal parts of the mask, vary the brush opacity to suit. It is better to gradually reveal the image with several strokes of a low opacity brush, say 30%, than to use a coarse 100% setting.

Varying the opacity (transparency) will also allow you to very carefully control the amount of sharpening which is applied to different parts of the image. Also, you can avoid too sharp a jump over the revealed mask edges.

Changing the brush size as required is easy and makes a more controllable result.

Although working with masks does sound complicated you soon get the hang of it and I do fully recommend this method.

You can also use variable opacity masks for selectively enhancing brightness and many other useful procedures. Changing the duplicate layer Merge Mode and opacity can prove useful for enhancing your photos.

There is a more complicated method of selecting just the edges of parts of an image for even more control; but it does take a little bit of thought to understand the principles.

However, if anybody is interested in tackling something new during those long dark wet winter evenings have a read of this tutorial Controlled Image Sharpening with Photoshop CS2 [Software Tutorials]

As geoff has said it is better to lower the opacity of the brush and make several sweeps rather than one sweep at 100% this goes for most applications in photoshop ie dodge/burn tools.
I didnt want to go into to much detail to start with as it can get complicated using ps especially when trying a new technique
what i should have added was when you sharpen an image if i understand it right your adding contrast to clearly defined lines or edges. And the high pass fiter makes a better job of it than unsharp mask
regards mark......

[glsammy]

Nice one Geoff and co!
For those of you dumb headed plods, (like me!) who struggled to follow this guide through, I've found a video presentation that shows nicely how it's done:

High Pass Filter Sharpening

[dunlin]

Originally Posted by glsammy

Nice one Geoff and co!
For those of you dumb headed plods, (like me!) who struggled to follow this guide through, I've found a video presentation that shows nicely how it's done:

High Pass Filter Sharpening

Nice one graham wish id thought of that, its so much easier to follow a video
than written instruction.
I got the information from a link that some one on wab added to a thread a few years. But ive since lost the link
regards mark.....

[Geoff F]

Yes I usually try to link into a suitable tutorial instead of making a hamfisted attempt to describe complicated procedures.

But I'm from an earlier age so I never seem to fully understand any information that is on screen. I need to print it out then have a written copy in front of me, so that I can keep referring back to it; otherwise it just doesn't sink in.

[Mike Jackson]

Well I'm impressed. Watched the tutorial and thought I'd have a go. I use PSP rather than photoshop but it was almost the same. I've never used layers before as I couldn't' see the point but this has changed my mind.

High pass filtered image on the right.



I was going to comment that I couldn't really see the need for it all but this one little play has change my mind. I know what I'll be doing to while away the long winter hours when I can't get out with my camera.

Mike

[glsammy]

Originally Posted by Geoff F

Yes I usually try to link into a suitable tutorial instead of making a hamfisted attempt to describe complicated procedures.

But I'm from an earlier age so I never seem to fully understand any information that is on screen. I need to print it out then have a written copy in front of me, so that I can keep referring back to it; otherwise it just doesn't sink in.

I'm the other way round Geoff. If I can see and follow a guide it will sink in, eventually..
Whatever the method, the main point is that it's a good idea that works well. It'll be interesting to try it out on a range of subjects to see how it compares with my normal method. I really like the control this method gives, and I'd never heard of it until you raised this thread. So many thanks from me!

[Geoff F]

While I'm always willing to share information, remember it was Dunlin who originated this post; I've just chipped in with a few additional comments.

Anyhow, here is another useful link about sharpening http://www.thelightsright.com/files/...Sharpening.pdf which, amongst other items, mentions the importance of correct sharpening immediately after downloading a photo and before before doing any more complicated editing.

Also remember that the principle of using layers and masks will work just as well for selective blurring which can be useful for reducing background areas which are too strong.