Settings for unsharp mask please?!

[shooting star]

I am sharpening a face, then extra sharpen to eyes, but have no idea what threashold, radius etc mean, any suggested settings to try on a B&W pic of as child?

Thanks

[oldgit]

Radius is the size of the circle that is used for sharp'ing
For viewing about 1-2pix is probably what you need for printing 2-4 (3 probably)

The amount %age is how hard much sharping gets applied

Threshold is a low level threshold, details smaller than this dont get sharp'd so it gives a slightly smoother effect.


One common method is to set say 2px 50% 0thresh and repeatedly apply this until the photo looks over sharp'ed then undo the last 1 or 2 sharpenings

[RobbieW]

One common method is to set say 2px 50% 0thresh and repeatedly apply this until the photo looks over sharp'ed then undo the last 1 or 2 sharpenings

Just tried those on one of my pics and its worked a treat, many thanks

[oldgit]

Glad it worked.

You'll doubtless have already noticed that each picture takes different amount of sharping and different methods have different results, each good in different cases.

I just learned from IanC about using "Lab colour" and sharpening the "lightness" channel. Very good for fur and feathers.

In summary.

USM is a pretty good for most things, but it does not do suit all cases.

[Marcel]

I haven't used USM since I found Smart Sharpen (It's like a USM v2)

I have a default action which I apply around 4 to 8 times until it looks too much, then I undo a couple of steps and hey presto.

It's set to

Amount 20%
Radius 0.2
Angle -22
Remove : Lens Blur
More accurate : Ticked
Advanced Tab : Shadow 30%...30%...1
Highlight : 85%...85%...1


Apply that in steps (It's only small amounts of sharpening), to a websized version (mine are 700px). Works a treat.

[shooting star]

Hmmm. Excellent recs, but am I doing something wrong? I have just attempted to do the eyes on a pic (not great pic to start with) and it doesn't seem to make the slightest of diff.

I am clicking unsharp mask, the settings are already in there from last time and then OK, can anyone have a go with this and see what they can do with the eyes?

http://www.talkphotography.co.uk/gallery/data/500/thumbs/Esree.jpg (http://www.talkphotography.co.uk/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=18449)

[Yv]

Thats 3 different types of USM I can now use. Pauls works very well I must say, never tried that one before. The other one I really like atm, especially for landscape and other such wider range stuff, is about 20% sharpening but on a pixel range of between 15 and 30.... I think it was moomike that suggested that one earlier last week IIRC for a racetrack action shot, but I played and found it works really nicely on hills and trees type stuff. ;)

[oldgit]

Hmmm. Excellent recs, but am I doing something wrong? I have just attempted to do the eyes on a pic (not great pic to start with) and it doesn't seem to make the slightest of diff.

I am clicking unsharp mask, the settings are already in there from last time and then OK, can anyone have a go with this and see what they can do with the eyes?

http://www.talkphotography.co.uk/gallery/data/500/thumbs/Esree.jpg (http://www.talkphotography.co.uk/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=18449)


Here you go
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1247/1351419793_d8c3226cc1_o.jpg

a crop
a "bit" of cloning
USM 1.9 89% 0thresh
local mask on eyes and extra USM (as above)

[shooting star]

That looks a lot better. When I used USM it didn't seem to do anything. Will have another go in PS, but it's getting late and I don't know if I can see the wood for the trees anymore!

Thanks...

[Weggy]

Good info here, and I'm taking it all in!

One question, when saving it after the first sharpen, what file type do you choose, ie jpeg, tiff etc?

[Hacker]

Have a read of this tutorial (http://www.talkphotography.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=31484) I posted a few weeks ago, it might help.

[StewartR]

This tutorial (http://ronbigelow.com/articles/sharpen1/sharpen1.htm) will tell you more than you could possibly want to know about USM and sharpening. But it's a good read.

I generally use USM in a two-pass process. First pass is for sharpening. On a full 8MP image I'll typically use something like (200%,0.3,0). Second pass is for local contrast enhancement. Something like (10%,100,0).

[oldgit]

This tutorial (http://ronbigelow.com/articles/sharpen1/sharpen1.htm) will tell you more than you could possibly want to know about USM and sharpening. But it's a good read.


Wow.. there is a LOT of info in there.

[Messiah Khan]

I use the high pass sharpening technique. I prefer it as it allows me to selectively sharpen areas of the image.

Duplicate the image layer.
Destaurate the new layer.
Apply a High pass filter to the new layer and set it so the detail shows through.
Change the layer blending mode to vivid light.
apply a layer mask to the new layer and invert the layer mask (ctrl+I).
Choose a white brush and paint in the areas that need sharpening.
Change the blending mode to soft light, or reduce the opacity.

:)