Izzie asked me to give more explanation about my Sharpening Action

[James G]

Part 1 ... History ... I suppose

I've commented in other threads on my use of 'home built' selective sharpening action(s),so maybe It's time to explain a bit more about what they are and how I use them.

A few years back I got very interested in what lay behind some of the filters in CS5 and later CS6, and I read up on Unsharp mask. (Also referred to as Wavelet or Laplacian sharpening in various erudite publications ).
The underlying the process is not too complicated, documented quite widely, and involves the following basic steps:

- Copy the base image
- Blur the copied image
- Change the blend of the blurred image to Subtract
- Create a luminosity layer of the Base image + Blurred image stack
- Delete the original blur layer
- Change the blend of the Luminosity layer to Add

The effect of the subsequent sharpening can be mitigated by changing the opacity of this final layer.
What really made me curious was the way specific blurring techniques result in subtly different overall sharpening.

The end result of all this fiddling around has been an action that automates the above somewhat tedious sequence of steps and enables the selection of a specific filter to use to create the Blur layer.

Over time, I've settled on using just 3 blur filters which give me a range of 'controlled' sharpening effects for 1st. stage sharpening (if needed). Specifically: -

Blur>>Gaussian
Blur>>Surface Blur
Noise>> Median

For final/print sharpening I seem to have settled into using the High Pass filter with either Overlay or Soft Light blending mode .
(Very occasionally I use Unsharp Mask, and even more rarely use Smart Sharpen. )

I should add that this action fits into a processing workflow which usually involves selecting 'target' areas of the image for specific 1st stage sharpening.

For this I find luminosity masking most effective. .....As an example, I almost always create a luminosity mask for cloud and sky, and invert it to protect it from subsequent sharpening pass, (or use the mask directly to erase the effects of sharpening!)

Part 2 ....So! that's the explanation, ... onto the action, how to run it, and how to get it... if you want it that is

The action is called "Wavelet Sharpen (JGE Action)"

I have saved the action, along with some 'example images' to a folder "JGE Sharpening" on my One Drive storage which you can access via the following link.

http://1drv.ms/1CNRkCU

If you have not imported an action before, it is reasonably simple,

1) with Photoshop open, simply go the download folder and double click on the action i.e. JGE Action.atn
2) It should then open in Photoshop and you should see it appear in your action panel.
3) You should just highlight it in the panel and load/save it.

To use the action ..

a) you need to make sure the base layer name is set to 'Background' (although it probably already is, if you run the action before any other processing, as I do). Alternately I would suggest creating a stamp layer, (Cntrl+Alt+Shift+E), naming it Background.

b) When the popup screen appears , click on STOP, then,

c) Go to the Filter Panel dropdown and apply the blur filter you wish to use. (As I indicated earlier, I use the three named in the popup but you most of the other blur filters are available...

d)Once you have applied the blur, click on the play button (triangle) at the bottom of the action screen and the rest of the sequence will complete automatically .

e) You will now have a new layer named "Wavelet Sharpened " Toggling this on an off will show you the final sharpening effect.

3) AND Finally.. well almost....

I have included 5 'example' images to compare the effects of each filter that you can also download.
(I have not tried to over-sharpen to illustrate , I assume if you download the action and try it you will do this for yourself).

They are :-
A_4919 Raw.CR2 A RAW capture out of the camera (lens correction and levelling applied)

B_4919 Raw ACR Processed.CR2 The RAW capture, processed in ACR prior to opening in Photoshop

C_4919 CS6 Gaussian Blur 5 Pix Sharpened.psd The image opened in Photoshop and sharpened with the action using a Gaussian Blur filter.

D_4919 CS6 Surface Blur 60-20 Sharpened.psd The image opened in Photoshop and sharpened with the action using a Surface Blur filter.

E_4919 CS6 Noise Median 10 pix Sharpened.psd The image opened in Photoshop and sharpened with the action using a Noise/Median filter.

To compare sharpening I would suggest you look particularly at: -

Areas of the rocks where Janet And Ang (My wife and Sister- in- law) are sitting,

The clouds (sharpening has been applied in all 3 instances, I normally would NOT do this),

Hair,

Sand,

Patterned Clothes

Jpeg versions are displayed below, but may not be that good to see differences, since they have been downsized.

A_4919 Raw.CR2 [I]A RAW capture out of the camera (lens correction and levelling applied)


B_4919 Raw ACR Processed.CR2 The RAW capture, processed in ACR prior to opening in Photoshop


C_4919 CS6 Gaussian Blur 5 Pix Sharpened.psd [I]The image opened in Photoshop and sharpened with the action using a Gaussian Blur filter.



D_4919 CS6 Surface Blur 60-20 Sharpened.psd [I]The image opened in Photoshop and sharpened with the action using a Surface Blur filter.



E_4919 CS6 Noise Median 10 pix Sharpened.psd [I]The image opened in Photoshop and sharpened with the action using a Noise/Median filter.



4) Finally, ..... Definitely......

I use the action all the time, but it probably does need experience to decide which sharpening filter to use, and to decide the best settings for the image in progress at the time.

I do not argue that my end results are any better than other techniques available, but I do believe that I have more control over the way sharpening is applied doing it 'My Way' (Isn't that an anthem these days ?)

And........This is just about the longest and most complicated B~'&£ !y post I have put together.

Feedback always welcome .....
James

[Manfred M]

James - whatever works for you.

All I can say is I don't get nearly that complicated and do virtually 100% of my sharpening work with the unsharp mask. I will on occasion use Smart Sharpen, but frankly don't totally trust it. The only time I get at all complicated in my sharpening work is when I am dealing with a noisy image (which happens fairly rarely).

[James G]

Manfred, agree with you about smart sharpen
As regards the action, initially it was really more about me wanting to understand things more,(too many years in the lab,and then in IT).
.

[HaseebM]

You took the time out to explain the actions in as much a detailed manner as possible and to me that is astounding. Also makes me happy you did this for Izzie who is perhaps the most encouragingly positive member around here.

[DanK]

thanks for posting this.

I've been trying smart sharpen often lately, and I have to say that so far I have been impressed. However, I haven't gotten around to A/B comparisons with USM in photoshop or LR sharpening.

[IzzieK]

Thank you James for the explanation of this long blasted post.... Sorry did I put you on the wringer? I just thought I might ask so people may know your technique as against what they usually use. Sometimes I like complicated instead of the usual USM...

Now I can follow your tutorial and get on with it...thank you so much. I truly appreciate your effort.

[James G]

Izzie, you are welcome..a bit of self discipline was called for....my own (professional), background would dictate that I at least make usable notes when investigating/developing new procedures/methods. Since my photography is retirement therapy for me, I've regressed somewhat and become lazy.... :-)

[IzzieK]

Izzie, you are welcome..a bit of self discipline was called for....my own (professional), background would dictate that I at least make usable notes when investigating/developing new procedures/methods. Since my photography is retirement therapy for me, I've regressed somewhat and become lazy.... :-)

I see that Dan K had uploaded an image using your technique...I will upload mine tomorrow sometime. I have shot my image but didn't have time to edit yet...

Thank you again...