How do you sharpen? Whats your workflow?

[Jim Andrada]

Oh yes - just push the button - any button. And don't say that there's no "any" button on your keyboard!

The big difference between digital and the old original Kodak is that with digital there's nobody for us to "leave the rest" to after we push the button.

[bob carnie]

Thanks Greg

Good points, I usually go to LAB for contrast and the L channel, so as you point out not to increase saturation and changing hue. I will give this a try in RGB and Compare for myself.

I primarily only use Hue and Saturation blending modes for color work (not for B&W).

But here is an example where I wanted to cool the shadows and warm up the highlights a tad. Since this objective was about Hue (and not saturation or Luminosity), I set the blending mode to Hue. I rarely increase saturation, because I generally add at least a tad of contract and contrast increases perceived saturation. So almost 100% of the time I use a saturation layer it is to decrease saturation. For contrast, I almost always use a Curves layer with blending mode set to Luminosity - increasing contrast with the blending mode set to normal almost always increases saturation and changes hue, and I want to avoid that.

Attachment 91892

[bob carnie]

I never have seen andy damage by convertint to LAB and back.
Using curves in LAB I can set nuetral points and adjust curve on each colour to very subtle points and not have the neutrals shift , also getting rid of unwanted casts is a piece of cake, by setting points on the offending colour and locking the curve . Once locked raising or lowering the point to remove the cast is easy.

All in all I think there are many ways of editing , and each has their preference, I will try using more blending settings in RGB now. thanks

Here's another sample from the same image. You can see that a very modest curve layer was applied to increase contrast and increase overall luminosity. The Layer Blend Mode is set to Luminosity. Even with this subtle curve, there is a very noticeable difference between Normal and Luminosity blend modes. Leaving blend mode set to normal causes a noticeable shift in both Hue and Saturation. Using a blend mode of Luminosity causes the curve to leave hue and saturation unchanged.

I prefer not to use LAB mode with color images. Staying in RGB gives me 3 color channels to work with (instead of 2), I can still isolate the L channel with blend mode luminosity, and I avoid any damage done by converting to LAB and back.

Attachment 91923

[Ed Richards]

I use Qimage rather than doing output sharpening. I sharpen the Image so it is correct at 100%, then Qimage optimizes it for the print size. It also manages the printer. A remarkable program, and cheap, compared to a RIP.

[bob carnie]

Thanks for that, I have never been able to get my head wrapped around the blend-if feature of photoshop, with Margulis he would speed through this area to colour correct and my fingers were no match for my head and this blend if never caught hold.

Do you use blend if for other reasons than sharpening selections??

Here's a tutorial on the "blend if" sliders, which can be used to keep the sharpening out of the brightest and darkest tones. Don't worry if this seems confusing ... it gets intuitive after you play a little.

Here's a screen shot of the blend settings from one of my sharpening layers. this is pretty typical. If you turn off the visibility of the underlying layer while you play with the sliders, you can get a better idea of what's going on.

Attachment 91932

[bob carnie]

Sorry to hi jack thread with questions off topic , I may open an Apply Image, and a Blend If Thread if some here are interested.

[SergeiR]

I am but a simple man.. So i do use frequency separation sharpening, and also Nik Sharpener before printing .

[paulr]

Thanks for that, I have never been able to get my head wrapped around the blend-if feature of photoshop, with Margulis he would speed through this area to colour correct and my fingers were no match for my head and this blend if never caught hold.

Do you use blend if for other reasons than sharpening selections??

Honestly, I still find the relationship between the top and bottom sliders to be a bit confusing. Tutorials I've seen actually contradict each other in subtle ways. My method is based a bit on incomplete understanding, a bit on trial and error, a bit on copying Bruse Fraser, and the rest on habit.

In photogrphy I've so far only found the feature useful on the sharpening layer. I've seen people use it for other things, like manually done HDR type blending.

In design and print/web production, which involves a lot more shenanigans, I've used it for other things. For example, it's great if you want to set type and make it look like it's actually printed on a cloth book cover or fabric or brick.

[bob carnie]

Yes very tricky but I think quite powerful, you are the first person I have seen here using it so I am pretty impressed.
Watching Margulis use it you would think it should be in day to day editing , but I have not figured applications in my workflow for it ... yet.

Honestly, I still find the relationship between the top and bottom sliders to be a bit confusing. Tutorials I've seen actually contradict each other in subtle ways. My method is based a bit on incomplete understanding, a bit on trial and error, a bit on copying Bruse Fraser, and the rest on habit.

In photogrphy I've so far only found the feature useful on the sharpening layer. I've seen people use it for other things, like manually done HDR type blending.

In design and print/web production, which involves a lot more shenanigans, I've used it for other things. For example, it's great if you want to set type and make it look like it's actually printed on a cloth book cover or fabric or brick.

[Brian Ellis]

Thanks for that, I have never been able to get my head wrapped around the blend-if feature of photoshop, with Margulis he would speed through this area to colour correct and my fingers were no match for my head and this blend if never caught hold.

Do you use blend if for other reasons than sharpening selections??

If it's still there there's a good explanation of Blend If and another use for it in the Lynda.com tutorial "CS5 Essentials" by Michael Ninness. It's a fairly easy tool to use for a variety of purposes once you get past the non-intuitive name and use it a few times. Lynda.com offers a 7-day free trial.