MCP Actions Website | MCP Flickr Group | MCP Reviews

MCP Actions Quick Purchase

Since posting about sharpening the past few weeks, a number of people have asked what the numbers for USM mean (Unsharp Mask). So this week I will explain the components to USM sharpening in simple terms.

AMOUNT
The “amount”controls how intense the sharpening is. The lower the number, the weaker the sharpening, the higher the number, the stronger the sharpening. Higher is not always better though so be careful. This has to do with the amount of contrast between pixels.

One thing to keep in mind is print size and also how big a file you are working on. The larger the file, the higher you can do this. If you are working on a smaller file, you will keep this a lot lower.

RADIUS

The radius deals with the width of an area - how wide an area around the edges is sharpened. A low number affects very close to the edge or just the edges. A higher the number, the more you will be sharpening away from the edge too.

THRESHOLD

The threshold deals with tonal differences. There has to be tonal difference before any sharpening takes place. The higher the number, the more tonal differences are taken into consideration and sharpened. The threshold helps areas of similar tone not get sharp (like skin that you want nice and smooth). This number usually stays low, especially for portraits. If you want a photo to have a noisy look (purposely), you can increase this number as it will sharpen more like tones.

STAY TUNED NEXT WEEK for some numbers. I will give you some numbers to play with for USM sharpening. So keep watching for these.

MCP Actions Website | MCP Flickr Group | MCP Reviews

MCP Actions Quick Purchase

This week I will explain High Pass Sharpening. This type of sharpening is hidden in Photoshop - as it is not under the Filter - Sharpen area. You will want to do this at the end of your workflow, just before saving.

1st step - make a duplicate copy of your image - the shortcut for this is CTRL (Cmd) and the “J.”

Next step - change the blending mode to Overlay. If you are not familiar with blending modes, please see that tutorial I did with screen shots.

To find high pass, you will go under Filter - Other (almost all the way at the bottom of the filter menu). Then slide to High Pass. A dialog box will come up where you can change the amount. Basically you want to have the gray preview look like a faint outline. If it is too thick, it will be oversharpened. Here is what I mean:

If you want to use this as selective sharpening, that you can add a layer mask. I will explain masking in a future lesson. Stay tuned for more sharpening tips in the upcoming weeks. As you experiment, you will find that you will have favorites and that you may like certain methods for certain photos and not others.

MCP Actions Website | MCP Flickr Group | MCP Reviews

MCP Actions Quick Purchase

Digital photos often can look less sharp SOOC than a film counterpart. They can look a little soft or have a light haze.

Over the next few weeks, I will explain some sharpening techniques and de-hazing/de-fogging as well.

A few sharpening methods used by photographers and retouchers are:
- Unsharp Mask
- High Pass Sharpening
- Lab Sharpening
- Smart Sharpen
- and there are more too

Most people find their favorites and stay with those. Over the next few weeks I will tell you more on each.

***********************************************************This week we will discuss what I usually start most photo editing with - Getting rid of digital haze - DEFOGGING!

To defog a photo, go under your filter menu to sharpen (UNSHARP MASK).

Here is the dialog box you will see.

Enter 14-20 for amount, 40-60 for radius, and 0 for threshold. I usually use 14/40/0 but sometimes do 20/60/0.

There are times where I do not do this. If yu take a photo at high ISO and have a lot of grain, this will enhance the grain (not usually an effect you want). BUT if you have a well shot picture without artifacts, this will give it a little lift.

Defogging is subtle. This is just one step in the editing process. It is not meant to do everything, just lift the haze.

MCP Actions Website | MCP Flickr Group | MCP Reviews

MCP Actions Quick Purchase

If you read my blog and are looking for Photoshop Tips, please leave a comment or email me at mcpactions@comcast.net. I am looking for ideas for future tips of the week.

I will be doing them as I have time, every week or two, so check back.

Also, please fill out the survey on the left about actions.

Thanks - Jodi