How Photoshop’s Sharpening Tools Work and How to Best Use Them (tutorial video)

PETAPIXEL ^ | 03/01/15 | Michael Zhang

[SWAMPSNIPER]

Want a better understanding of how Photoshop’s sharpening filters work and how to best use them? Here’s a tutorial in which Photoshop expert Deke McClelland discusses using Photoshop’s features to bring out clearer details in your digital photographs. McClelland discusses all the sharpening filters found in the Sharpen menu in Photoshop (e.g. the one-click sharpening filters, Unsharp Mask, and Smart Sharpen), as well as the Sharpening panel found in Adobe Camera Raw.

[yarddog]

I post on a photography forum.

There used to be a guy on there who was a wizard with photoshop. He could do about anything one would want to do with it. He would also answer questions and give you exact settings for specific tasks.

Unfortunately he got into a couple of arguments and quit posting several years ago.

I have an early version and fairly current versions of Elements. I have gotten to where I just don’t feel like fooling with it and simply hit the auto buttons.

[MeshugeMikey]

I love Photokit Sharpener !

For my photographic work, it uses the photoshop algorithms in some very nice configurations.

Thank you.

[SWAMPSNIPER]

I LOVE TO PHOTOSHOP

[Aliska]

I use Photoshop CS5 but not much any more. I really like the content aware fill and for sharpening use the unsharp mask. I did a lot of art with the old Photoshop 7 but only use it (CS5) now to process my photos. I took an online course and dabbled for hours and hours on my own and following tutorials and did some really neat stuff. But I've forgotten how to do most of it and can only do basic things without stopping to look it up. I only know a couple shortcuts.

Photoshop is really powerful and some of the work put out by experts is just superb. That was in the days of a neat 3D program, can't remember the name of it, Bryce? Combined with Photoshop it was spectacular.

I got Lightroom but never use it. I put together a slideshow in iPhoto then uploaded it to youtube. They got on me for copyright infringement, I was using music that came with iPhoto, so I got po'ed, took it down and never made another video.

[353FMG]

All you computer artists, tell me what you think of “Photo Plus” by Serif and how it compares with “Photoshop Elements” by Adobe?

Thank you for any response.

[SWAMPSNIPER]

I haven’t used either of them.

[zipper]

I use CS6 (CC) and have lately taken to only using smart sharpen.

It is more powerful than the other sharpen tools, as he says in the video.

Always only use the minimum amount of sharpening you need. If you have to, lasso the subject that needs the most sharpening, feather it, then sharpen that part in a separate (copied) layer. For the rest of the image use “inverse” then copy that to a layer so as to use a different amount of sharpening on the rest of the image.

Sharpening is almost always the last step after everything else is done, once the final resolution of the image is determined. You wouldn’t want to sharpen an already-sharpened photo, any more than you would want to copy a photocopy. It’s best to do it as a separate layer then save the .psd file, so you can go back and use a different sharpening amount if you need to change the image resolution later.

Always, ALWAYS work with RAW files. JPEGS are great for previews but are only an abbreviation of the image, a “lossy file”, not to mention Adobe Camera Raw’s tools, such as white-balance-on-the-fly, specific lens corrections, etc.

Sorry I’ve never used “Photo Plus” but I recommend Elements since it’s good training if you think you might ever move up to the full version of Photoshop.

[CivilWarBrewing]

Although counter-intuitive, the ‘Unsharp Mask’ filter will ALWAYS be your friend.

[Bigg Red]

I am embarrassed to say that I have Adobe Photoshop Elements 9 on my computer and I have never used it. I am not a total nincompoop, but I just cannot figure out how to use it, and I have found the tutorials of no help at all.

[RegulatorCountry]

Unsharp mask in small increments is very useful for pulling detail out of soft or resized images. Too much in one fell swoop will make a mess of it, though.

[SWAMPSNIPER]

Just mess around with it, you will figure it out,

You won't break it!

I'm around all hours of the day, can help with basics.

[SWAMPSNIPER]

[Bigg Red]

How very kind of you. I will keep your offer in mind.

[wally_bert]

I use lightroom more than PS. A while back I picked up Corel and like it a lot as well.

Due to lack of activity, no side jobs, I turned off my smugmug account and what few photos there are any more get burned to a disc or sent to someone. I work more with video anyway. I love the Lumix 4K. Now if some clips would sell......

[wally_bert]

I learned the same way many years ago with version 3 or 4. Experiment, test, test, experiment.

[ops33]

I had a similar experience with PS CS6. I went and took an intro to Photoshop from my local vo-tec school. Was very helpful and gave me enough knowledge to continue on my own.