Layer Order - Buddha Edit

[ShaneS]

I was just about finished an edit of Buddha here and got a bit confused about the layer order - specifically how and where to add the sharpening layers amongst these choices (screen shot below). I am a relative beginner with photoshop and I know this is probably a pretty basic question

I have applied curves and sharpening in the past with success but the addition of other layers is where I'm getting a bit messed up.

Here is the edited image:



And here is the screen grab of the layers:



The clone was used to take care of some sun spots and the mask/hue layer was to tone down the saturation and yellows in the background leaf.

Not sure which layer to copy for the sharpening as I believe that it should be the top most layer of the group. I did try by copying the clone layer and applying the unsharpen mask and then moving the layer around but all that seemed to happen was an overall darkening of the image - not what I was looking for!

I would be very happy to be educated and hear any and all editing suggestions.

Aloha and happy new year to all,

Shane

[Abitconfused]

I like to duplicate the background layer and sharpen it. The duplicate would be the second layer from the bottom but I don't think it makes any difference. Sharpening in a independent layer allows you to add a layer mask and select areas to be sharpened. Also, if it all goes very wrong, just delete the duplicate layer and start over.

[pnodrog]

As the clone layer is not masked in anyway the background layer just contains the original photograph but forms no part of the current image. You can just sharpen the clone layer or make a copy of it and sharpen and mask if wanted as mentioned by Ed.

Previously at this point I would often save the file as a photoshop file and then flatten, crop, size and sharpen according to what I wanted to use the image for as the sharpening required varies. As I now use Lightroom for the final output I do far less sharpening with photoshop and my approach has changed.

[Jeff S]

I have always sharpened photos like Ed describes. Recently, though, I have begun using Camera Raw much more and do a fair amount of sharpening in CR, so I do less sharpening in Photoshop. (I don't have Lightroom yet, because CR is so similar and I don't have too many images to keep track of. I will probably get there soon and will migrate to Lightroom pretty much the way L.Paul describes.

Welcome to CiC. ...and Aloha.

[PhotomanJohn]

I usually do much like L.Paul except, instead and saving then flattening, I create a new merged layer on top of the visible layers (shift+option+command+E) and then sharpen that. You still have all your original layers so nothing is lost.

John

[ShaneS]

Thank you everyone - the tip to merge all layers below was just what I needed. I now continue to play with the image and think that mono may be the way to go but I am torn...

[Cantab]

Thank you everyone - the tip to merge all layers below was just what I needed.

I'm relatively new to Photoshop and ran up against the same question. After hunting around for info, it seemed that creating a merge layer is the way to go, although at the moment I can't remember whether I then used an adjustment layer for sharpening. (I hope I've not muddied the waters!)

[Loose Canon]

I usually do much like L.Paul except, instead and saving then flattening, I create a new merged layer on top of the visible layers (shift+option+command+E) and then sharpen that. You still have all your original layers so nothing is lost.

John

That's the way to go, Shane.

That way you can work on an image that includes all of your previous edits. Don't like it? Toss it and do it again!