Sharpening - Since Steve Brought it up

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BarkingBeans Coffee

BarkingBeans Coffee

Michael H
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So what tools do you use to sharpen?
Lightroom Slider - How?
Photoshop Tools? How?
Topaz? How

Here is what I am currently doing and maybe this thread will enlighten others.

First I use Fast Raw Viewer when picking images and specifically when choosing between those that are close I use this tool covered in page 130 of their current manual. You can look at the manual to see:
Outlining In-Focus and Highly Detailed Areas
FastRawViewer can help identifying if the sharp areas are indeed where you wanted them to be on the image. This is accomplished through outlining the following:

• Bold high contrast edges.
• Areas containing small (“pixel-level”) sharp details.
• Additionally, you can turn on the simultaneous display of both types of outlines (not possible
for some video cards).

You can cycle through these modes using Menu–View–Toggle Focus Peaking (or by pressing the P
key on the keyboard), like following: Everything off – High contrast edges – Fine details – Both filters– everything off.

For actual sharpening I use either Photoshop's Smart Sharpen on a Smart Layer or Vivid Light Sharpening from PixImperfect. I usually mask the subject. If you are using Topaz and haven't tried these two alternatives, you might want to give it a go. The Smart Sharpen is written instructions and the Vivid Light is a video with an action for Photoshop.

So if you were going to sharpen Steven's beard, what would you use?
 
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I am a CaptureOne user so I’ll use their sharpening things first. If that’s enough then I won’t use anything else. But if I’m not quite satisfied for some reason, or if the image needs extra help because of noise and such, then I’ll use Topaz after rendering in Capture One as a tiff.
 
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BarkingBeans Coffee said:
So what tools do you use to sharpen?
Lightroom Slider - How?
Photoshop Tools? How?
Topaz? How

Here is what I am currently doing and maybe this thread will enlighten others.

First I use Fast Raw Viewer when picking images and specifically when choosing between those that are close I use this tool covered in page 130 of their current manual. You can look at the manual to see:
Outlining In-Focus and Highly Detailed Areas
FastRawViewer can help identifying if the sharp areas are indeed where you wanted them to be on the image. This is accomplished through outlining the following:

• Bold high contrast edges.
• Areas containing small (“pixel-level”) sharp details.
• Additionally, you can turn on the simultaneous display of both types of outlines (not possible
for some video cards).

You can cycle through these modes using Menu–View–Toggle Focus Peaking (or by pressing the P
key on the keyboard), like following: Everything off – High contrast edges – Fine details – Both filters– everything off.

For actual sharpening I use either Photoshop's Smart Sharpen on a Smart Layer or Vivid Light Sharpening from PixImperfect. I usually mask the subject. If you are using Topaz and haven't tried these two alternatives, you might want to give it a go. The Smart Sharpen is written instructions and the Vivid Light is a video with an action for Photoshop.

So if you were going to sharpen Steven's beard, what would you use?
Click to expand...
Interesting.... I've used Fast Raw Viewer for a few years and wasn't aware of that feature. I should read the manual more thoroughly ;)
 
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First thing I do after cropping is run my image through Photo Ai. I don't always use the outcome but I check what it did against what I already had. If think the original is better I try and tweak the Photo Ai sharpening results then either use it or delete the sharpening. I mostly keep the noise reduction and delete the sharpening but again it depends on how it looks.

Before Topaz I used to just use photoshop and tweak the luminosity noise and also the contrast. That worked real well but now with Topaz it's just faster to use that. Of course getting it right in the camera is my priority!
 
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I use Apple photos to do most of my editing except denoising. I will first Denoise using DXO if necessary. I then crop, bring out the shadows and brighten if necessary. I will then adjust and sharpen. Except for denoising, all the other adjustments take no longer than 30 sec. Apple photos does the best job of sharpening compared to all the other apps I’ve use. But to be honest, I’ve never tried Light Room. I also use Luminar and Affinity Photo.
 
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Not sure about the beard, I will describe my approach to PIF:
  • Most of the work is done in LRC
  • I will not describe prior steps of adjusting curves and other stuff as the subject of this article is sharpening
  • Sharpening workflow is
    • Noise removed using LRC Enhance AI tool set to 25% denoise
    • Sharpness of details is increased using LRC sliders to approx 40-50% details
      • If background is too noisy after the operation I mask the sharpened area using Masking slider
    • If needed sharpness of individual masks applied to the picture is adjusted as well
    • Texture is increased for relevant parts of the picture (pointy details enhanced)
    • Next step is editing in Photoshop on a duplicated background layer.
    • High pass filter (usually radius 0.1-0.3 px) is applied to the new layer and overlay is set to Linear Light (linear details enhanced)
    • Opacity of the new layer is adjusted for optimal look and feel of the sharpening
  • Last step of the workflow is export of the sharpened image to jpg in LRC
  • I usually check the noise of the resulting sharpening at 100 and 200% aiming at minimal noise at 100% and reasonable one at 200%
 
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Tibor Hrnko said:
Not sure about the beard, I will describe my approach to PIF:
  • Most of the work is done in LRC
  • I will not describe prior steps of adjusting curves and other stuff as the subject of this article is sharpening
  • Sharpening workflow is
    • Noise removed using LRC Enhance AI tool set to 25% denoise
    • Sharpness of details is increased using LRC sliders to approx 40-50% details
      • If background is too noisy after the operation I mask the sharpened area using Masking slider
    • If needed sharpness of individual masks applied to the picture is adjusted as well
    • Texture is increased for relevant parts of the picture (pointy details enhanced)
    • Next step is editing in Photoshop on a duplicated background layer.
    • High pass filter (usually radius 0.1-0.3 px) is applied to the new layer and overlay is set to Linear Light (linear details enhanced)
    • Opacity of the new layer is adjusted for optimal look and feel of the sharpening
  • Last step of the workflow is export of the sharpened image to jpg in LRC
  • I usually check the noise of the resulting sharpening at 100 and 200% aiming at minimal noise at 100% and reasonable one at 200%
Click to expand...
Curios why you combine methods in LR and PS Tibor? If you are using High Pass you might be interested in the link I posted above as the action provides adjustable results.
 
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Rixpx said:
Interesting.... I've used Fast Raw Viewer for a few years and wasn't aware of that feature. I should read the manual more thoroughly ;)
Click to expand...
When images are close and composition is a toss up, this tool can reveal sharpness details that are hard to see and judge and I have found it makes a difference in the processing results.
 
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Sharpening and noise reduction are the last things I do. First, I import to Capture One and adjust exposure and color globally. Then, I send to PS for selective adjustments, like a curves adjustment to only the subject.

Once that is finished, I resize the image for output. At that point, I am ready to sharpen and reduce noise. So, I select my subject and sharpen, usually via smart sharpen. And, last, I invert the selection and use Photoshop’s noise reduction filter on the background only.

I still think this process gives the best results, even with the proliferation of software like Topaz, and I’d encourage others to give it a try. Or, if nothing else, hold off on sharpening and noise reduction until you’ve resized the image for posting online (or whatever else you’re doing with the image). I’d be hard pressed to think of a workflow change that improved the quality of my images more than sharpening after resizing.
 
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sh1209 said:
I send images from Lightroom classic to DXO pure raw but have lens sharpening disabled. I will locally apply sharpening to the subject within Lightroom masking. Occasionally I use topaz photo ai or denoise in the process. I typically never add any global sharpening within Lightroom classic.
Click to expand...
In the past, DXO pure raw didn't have a plug-in for LR. From this I am assuming this has changed?

I have used and then compared various combos of LR with new AI, DXO deep prime via PL, Topaz DeNoise with sharpen or Topaz Sharpen. I can't figure out why but each image will respond best to one of the above and sometimes with really difficult images, I run two different ones and reduce the sharpening or mask areas to be sharpened. All this said, it's a time hog. So this has to be a special, probably won't get to re-shoot this subject again image or it gets one pass through LR.
 
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BarkingBeans Coffee said:
When images are close and composition is a toss up, this tool can reveal sharpness details that are hard to see judge and I have found it makes a difference in the processing results.
Click to expand...
Here here on manual reading and really appreciate the tips Baked! I will definatly be using this when I am culling. Thanks!
 
Pure raw does have a lightroom integration. Compared to photolab the choices for fine tuning are limited and there is no preview window, but it works well, same engine as photolab.
 
These days I go from LRC to dxo photolab to start, with a touch of input sharpening in dxo sometimes, then on to photoshop where selective creative sharpening is layers using topaz sharpen. That file is saved with layers intact. Output sharpening as needed with Topaz depending on where the jpeg or whatever was going.
 
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BarkingBeans Coffee said:
Curios why you combine methods in LR and PS Tibor? If you are using High Pass you might be interested in the link I posted above as the action provides adjustable results.
Click to expand...
The PS step is the final one before the export of the picture, intended to give more sharpening control than the jpeg conversion offers. I like to keep it separate from LR steps. Other than that I have no particular reason for it. And it is easy to jump from LR to PS and back. We can even call it a habit :).

Smart Sharpen is nice IDD. I go for it if there is a picture in a set with nice composition and with more significant flaws in the picture quality (mostly motion blur). I like it but I do not use it as a regular feature.
 
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To be brutally honest - I don't - it's the last thing I think about - and mostly I don't think about it at all
If I prepare an image for large print (A0) I will sharpen if necessary, depending on the subject matter.
Mostly my editing is so fine tuned that my processing and adjustments add contrast where required - which is sharpening by another name.
I have yet to get a comment that my images is soft. 🤷‍♀️
Steve's video is technically good and correct in respect of what to look for
 
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I let Lightroom do its standard sharpening of 40 on the slider, then most of the time I rum the pic through Topaz DeNoise, which I find does a great job of putting the "finishing touch" on the sharpening. Probably 90% of the time that's all I need to do.
 
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KimM said:
In the past, DXO pure raw didn't have a plug-in for LR. From this I am assuming this has changed?

I have used and then compared various combos of LR with new AI, DXO deep prime via PL, Topaz DeNoise with sharpen or Topaz Sharpen. I can't figure out why but each image will respond best to one of the above and sometimes with really difficult images, I run two different ones and reduce the sharpening or mask areas to be sharpened. All this said, it's a time hog. So this has to be a special, probably won't get to re-shoot this subject again image or it gets one pass through LR.
Click to expand...
Yes Pure Raw works great with Lightroom. I have been using it a couple years and love the program. In most cases it's the best of the bunch.
 
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I often (but not always) will send my photos from Lightroom to Topaz Photo AI, usually after making all the other adjustments in Lightroom (other than sharpening and noise reduction) and sometimes in Photoshop. I am aware of the many on this forum who have not been so happy with Topaz, but I often find it helpful for noise reduction and sharpening. But I try to use a light touch with Topaz to avoid the plasticky look that you can get. I agree with Steve that as far as sharpness goes, it is always best to get an image in camera that is very sharp rather than rely on another program to sharpen a soft image. But there have been times with the Topaz AI programs that I have been able to save a somewhat soft image.
 
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To add to my previous post: You can always add sharpening (eg when you prepare for printing) but you can never undo that sharpening if you over-cooked with sharpening - unless you had that on a separate layer and saved your layered photo.
An over sharpened photo (in post) looks like someone emptied out a bottle of hairspray on your photo
 
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