Sharpening Question

[EagleGirl]

Which program do you guys use most for sharpening?

[johnastovall]

Originally Posted by grammiejo

Which program do you guys use most for sharpening?

USM or Smart Sharpen in Photoshop until I got the Pixel Genius PhotoKit Sharpener sharpening actions and now wouldn't use anything else.

A good book the ins and outs of sharpening is Real World Image Sharpening by Bruce Fraser.

[EagleGirl]

Thanks John, I'll check those out

[DigitalScape]

Joanne,
I use a combination of the Photoshop USM fuction (sometimes the smart sharpen function) and the Nik Sharpener plugin (www.niksoftware.com).

[loana0320]

usm

[Daniel Bates]

I use USM in PS 7.0. It's not the fanciest out there, but for my undiscriminating eye it works fine.

[EagleGirl]

Thanks I'll look at Nik too

[ChuckW]

I also use PhotoKit Sharpener and have used it almost exclusively for the past couple of years. The guys at Pixel Genius definitely know what they are doing!

[EagleGirl]

Glad to hear that

[vibhav]

I use a very quick two step process but it works great for my use...

1. I use TLR edge mask action (available free on http://www.thelightsrightstudio.com/home.html) to create a mak for the edges. This preserves the surfaces from getting sharpened (like clouds, cheeks etc. which do not need sharpening)
2. Run USM on the layer with the edge mask on...this only sharpens the edges leaving out the surfaces...

Sometimes, I paint on the mask as well if I see areas that get selected as edges when they are surfaces...

Anyone else use something similar?

Let me know if you have any questions...Have fun...

[Donb10]

Try the site listed below. This person has made a good sharpening action. He has one made up using USM and another using smart sharpen. Read the article he has explaining how the action works. It is one of many available.

http://www.lonestardigital.com/

[billbunton]

I've been a long-time user of PK Sharpener. However, since ACR 4.1 came out I'm using it for capture sharpening.

[geezer]

Focal Blade.

http://thepluginsite.com/products/photowiz/focalblade/

[RaymondShay]

There's some great ones out there. And, of course, it all depends on what the term "best" means to someone.

Hands down, the most intense that I have used is Photomatrix Tone Mapping mixed with low-radius Smart Sharpen. Quite amazing, indeed.