Sharpening

[Mhayes]

Hi Everyone,

Please do NOT sharpen your photos and that includes using the High Pass filter. I know that some of these photos are soft and that sharpening is a big improvement. This step will be done by Quality Control and prevents photos coming back that are over sharpened. When we get photos back that have problems from being over sharpened, there is nothing we can do to undo the damage. Some of the problems go far beyond a razor sharp image to ones of color shift, halos, and skin that looks like a lunar surface.

The High Pass filter is a great one to practice on your own photos, but please do not do this on photos returning to us! In Dan Margulis book Professional Photoshop, The Classic Guide To Color Correction, has this to say about the High Pass filter:

"Some people also sharpen by creating a new layer, applying Filter: Other>High Pass, and setting the layer to Overlay mode. At typical Radius settings for this filter, the result is substantially the same as with hiraloam USM. In addition to requiring extra steps, High Pass sharpening lacks a Threshold."

Thanks,

Margie

[Hannie]

Thanks for posting about this subject Margie!
I have had several uploads in the past that were over sharpened and once that is done it not reversable, the photo has to be completely redone.

Although it seems tempting sometimes to apply a small amount of sharpening and initially the result seems good, ultimately the printed version will show the unwanted tell tale signs of sharpening... :(

Hannie

[kiska]

From the abundance of photos I've seen, the great majority are NOT sharp to begin with....so sharpening would then be defined as retouching which is not restoration. Taking the red out of 'flash' eyes is one thing and harmless, sharpening should not be attempted.