Image sharpening.

[Jim Ford]

Most, if not all, wildlife photography needs a sharp image to show the subject's detail. Sharpening of a digital image is a much misunderstood subject, and I've come across this article by the late Bruce Fraser, which gives a good explanation as to why most images need sharpening:

Out of Gamut: (Almost) Everything You Wanted to Know about Sharpening in Photoshop but Were Afraid to Ask | CreativePro.com

So who's Bruce Fraser you say. Here's his entry in the 'Photoshop Hall of Fame':

Winners | Photoshop Hall of Fame - Bruce Fraser

I can also recommend all his 'Real World' books on digital imaging.

Jim

[Red Squirrel]

Thank you for that Jim. I envy his knowledge.

[Hobjob]

DavyG, who I haven't noticed on WAB for some time has some good info on sharpening too.

A search would probably find his gems.

[ChrisJB]

I'm curious about sharpening. It seems that everyone on WAB seems to refer to it as part of Photoshop. Can it be done with any other 'mainstream' editing software and are the results as good? I ask, because all my sharpening is done in Photoshop and basically that is the only feature of Photoshop I use. I'd consider using an alternative, less mystifying, brand of editing software than Photoshop if I thought I'd be able to sharpen and get similar results.
I suppose this could warrant a separate thread.

Chris

[Lancashire Lad]

I use paintshop Pro for all my post camera tweaking, including sharpening.

All editing software will include sharpening as part of its repertoire, since it is one of the basic requirements.

I'm not familiar with all the various editing suites, but I would imagine that sharpening techniques are pretty similar in all of them.

I suppose that the results are somewhat dependent on the amount of time spent on any given image - taking into account such things as selective area sharpening, background only sharpening, etc. etc.

Others will certainly have their own views, and, to some extent it would depend on the type of subjects being photographed. But I generally take the easiest option, and just sharpen the whole image. - I don't think that there are too many occasions where (in the case of my images) a great deal of area specific sharpening would improve my final results noticeably more than what I'm getting now.

Regards,
Mike.

[Geoff F]

Chris, most editing software offers some form of sharpening; the difference between them is often 'what level of quality do you require'.

Some of the basic programmes just have a simple auto Sharpen button which is a rather crude tool. The better editing software will offer adjustable manually applied sharpening. Like Unsharp Mask tool which allows for quite a lot of personal choice. But it does require a little bit of understanding and sympathetic use.

Photoshop, depending on the version, is probably the most used photo software world wide. But I agree that it isn't always easy or logical to use.

Which programme do you prefer to use?

ps. Here is a basic guide to understanding Unsharp Mask http://www.cambridgeincolour.com/tut...sharp-mask.htm

[ChrisJB]

Cheers Mike and Geoff. I'm really quite a Luddite on these matters and have only ever used Unsharp Mask in Photoshop. Very occasionally I have experimented with the lasso tool when feeling in a Cavalier mood (!). Thus, Unsharp Mask in complete isolation would suit me just fine and I wondered, if I ever buy alternative editing software, would I get just as good results by using their Unsharp Mask equivalent.
Someone recently recommended something called 'Lightroom' to me as a much simpler alternative to Photoshop, but if their sharpening tool isn't as good as Unsharp Mask then I wouldn't be so keen.
Thanks again.

Chris

[rogpow]

Originally Posted by ChrisJB

Someone recently recommended something called 'Lightroom' to me as a much simpler alternative to Photoshop, but if their sharpening tool isn't as good as Unsharp Mask then I wouldn't be so keen
Chris

Hi Chris,
If you have Photoshop CS5, it ships with Camera Raw 6.0 which (I believe) uses the same sharpening processes as Lightroom 3.
Martin Evening in his book "Adobe Photoshop CS5 for Photographers" reckons that Camera Raw 6.0 sharpening is so good it has now replaced the need for Unsharp Mask for capture sharpening.
I always used to use Unsharp Mask in Photoshop, but now use Camera Raw and find it easier to use.

Rog

[Geoff F]

Photoshop CS5 is probably the World leader in photo editing - it is also the most expensive! Compared with Gimp for example, it is massively more expensive. And the majority of photographers won't actually use the extra options which CS5 offers.

Adobe do produce cut price upgrades from earlier versions of CS and a reduced cost version for students; but apparently there is no reduction for pensioners

But if you want the best and can afford it, there isn't really any alternative.

Chris, Unsharp Mask remains the most widely used sharpening tool. The skill is in using it to the best advantage. I normally shoot Raw and do some 'capture sharpening' during Raw conversion. Then a little extra bit of Unsharp Mask to firm up the edges a bit.

If you have one of the programmes which allows you to use a form of 'Smart Sharpening' that can be used additionally or instead of Unsharp Mask. But for most people Unsharp Mask in some form will probably be sufficient.

Whether getting one of the extra sharpening programmes is worth while will probably depend on exactly what you want to do. But they aren't simple 'magic' solutions.

Lightroom does have some uses but you may not require or benefit from using it and, as Rog said, some of the newer CS programmes are equally as good.

I often use a quick selective sharpening work around for insect or bird photos where the background is best left a bit on the soft side. Roughly draw around the main subject with a freehand selection tool (you don't have to be accurate as long as you are slightly outside of the required area); feather the selection (say 6 pixels) then apply a little Unsharp Mask, which will only be applied to the selected area. Using a little Threshold (1 or 2 levels) can help to prevent hard edges).

[ChrisJB]

Thanks folks for your informative responses. I clearly have a lot to learn!

Chris