Sharpening in Photoshop - An extreme example to show effect.

Let there be no confusion: All digital pictures, and many renderings or designs, benefit from sharpening as part of the work flow. The few exceptions are when low contrast or softness is desired for an artistic effect.

There are many ways to sharpen an image in Adobe Photoshop. Most Photoshop users use the simple sharpen commands in the Filters–>Sharpen menu, such as Smart Sharpen or Unsharp Mask. However, most professionals tend to use less intuitive processes ending with better results. This is a description of one of the simpler methods, High Pass Sharpening.

For this quick tutorial, I have chosen an old scan from a developed disposable camera. This is an image of some work we did years ago that will provide a great example for the potential client that just called about turning his pool and carriage house into a pirate scene (you would do it too, if you had the cash, don’t lie). This small rough looking image is the only proof that remains of our participation in this attraction.

The only image we have left of this faux finishing project

So, that’s what we have to work with. It’s not great, and we will be applying more techniques to clean it up. However, the focus of this tutorial is sharpening in Photoshop, so clearly we should just stick to defining those steps.

Step 1 • Open Image, Duplicate Layer

After you have opened the image in Photoshop, in the layers window, right click on the background layer and select duplicate

After you have opened the image in Photoshop, in the layers window, right click on the background layer and select duplicate. You should now see two layers. Most likely labeled ‘background’ and ‘background copy’. The latter being the topmost layer.

Step 2 • High Pass Filter

Select the highpass filter via Filter --> Other --> Highpass

Now we will use the Highpass filter on the duplicated layer. On the menu at the top of Photoshop’s window, click on ‘Filter’, then click on ‘Other’ at the bottom of the list, and finally click ‘Highpass’. Selecting what value to use for the High Pass radius is a matter of taste and what blending mode you plan to use later. This is a value that you will be more accustomed to as you utilize this sharpening technique.

Playing with the high pass radius value to attain desired sharpness

Some of the best results I’ve seen were attained by using a very small value in high pass, so that you can just see the lines in the high contrast areas. However, this really depends on which blending mode you are planning on using. Small values are great for using linear light, but a larger high pass radius value would be better if you plan to use the blending mode soft light. Let’s talk about the blending modes now.

Result of the Highpass filter

Step 3 • Blending Mode

The blending modes in Photoshop are fantastically powerful. I’ve seen so many examples of amateur designers trying to (for example) make a Photoshop brush look like existing graffiti on a picture of a brick wall. If only they knew how to change blending modes, it would look real and be done in a small fraction of the time. If you are unfamiliar with them, I highly recommend playing with them after you are done with this tutorial.

What we are using the blending modes for, in this image, is to combine our highpassed grey-looking layer with the original layer. In short, the parts of our high passed layer that are medium grey will not affect the image. the parts that are slightly lighter will lighten, and (you guessed it!) the parts that are slightly darker will darken.

The blending modes can be found at the drop down list in the top of the layers window.

The blending modes are at the top of the layers window

Near the middle of the drop down list are the blending modes soft light, overlay, and linear light. These are the ones most commonly used for high pass sharpening. For this example, lets use linear light, which is the strongest (too strong, if your highpass radius was large) of the blending modes. If you find it over sharpens your image, try something more subtle, like soft light.

Select the blending mode. I recommend linear light, or soft light.

Selecting linear light

Step 4 • Compare

Now it’s time to see what you have accomplished. In the layers window, beside the ‘Background copy’ layer, is an eye icon. Position your mouse pointer over that icon and click it on and off as you look at your image. You will see that the image that you thought was just fine before, is now better and sharper. Is it too sharp? If so, try using soft light as the blending mode. Worst case, you can just delete the layer and start over now that you have a better grasp on what you are doing.

Compare the regular picture with the sharpened image by clicking on the eye icon to turn the layer on and off

Step 5 • You’re done

I have included a before and after image along side each other so that you can see the results for this particular image. Check out the definition in the brick. Now you can see how blurry the original image looks in comparison.

Before (left) and after (right) sharpening in Photoshop

Now you can save your image and go on about your business. If you learned something from this tutorial, don’t be afraid to share the link with others. Your friends might be able to learn something from this as well. You can copy this link: http://gelbachdesigns.com/2010/06/sharpening-in-photoshop/

Thanks for reading, I hope it helped

Dear Mr Rackley,

It would be of a great help to me if I could ask a few minutes of your time to reply to me. I am a 2nd year Furniture and Product Design student at Sheffield Hallam University in the U.K. . Currently I am working on a project designing a piece of furniture for a TV studio, either for news, sport, or a chat show programme. I have looked at your products admiringly and wondered if you would give me a few basic rules and considerations when designing furniture for a TV studio environment. Thank you for reading this email.

Yours faithfully

Miles Dexter

Hey Miles

Things to consider:

• Height: Stay with standards depending on whether you are using chair-height or stool-height.
• Sheen: Stay matte or at most satin on front-facing surfaces. It makes it easier on the lighting side to avoid glare.
• Top: It is usually safe and attractive to have a reflective surface such as glass for the top. Acrylics scratch too easily.
• Width: Consider how many people will need to use the desk at the same time. experiment.
• Space: Most studios have space issues. Make sure what you create will not take up too much room.
• Programme: Chat would shape the desk so that the two (or more) face each other more often than not. News would be more direct-at-camera.
• Accessories: Often a broadcast studio will want a monitor on the front of the desk, or inside the top.
• Riser: If a camera is viewing both the desk and standing positions, it is often advantageous to place the desk and chairs on a riser or platform, so that the camera has to change height less.

I hope that helps some. Do you mind if I post this question-response on our blog, so that others with the same question can easily find an answer?
Thank You,
Buck Rackley
Gelbach Designs

Thanks for the reply Buck, I appreciate it. There’s no problem with placing the question on your website blog. Enjoy the weekend !!

Miles

Sign making technique 101

Recently we completed a new sign for the Bird Pediatric Dentistry and Orthodontics, in Ballantyne. The technique we use to create the natural light drop shadow on these signs is not as simple as photoshop, and we think these signs benefit greatly from it.

Here’s what we do: Print the graphic on clear pressure sensitive vinyl. We place this on one side of 1/8″ acrylic, and then put a sand textured matte overlaminate on top of the clear. For the last step, we place white vinyl on the other side of the acrylic.

This creates a look that makes our signs stand out against our competitors.

I should note: the spiders and their webs are Halloween decorations.

Clear material - translucent prints

Before and After • Making Pictures Better With Photoshop • Tutorial

Step 0: This Tutorial

I will start by noting– my use of ‘Better’ in this tutorial’s title is meant to reflect more fun,  more interesting,  awesome, or OMG wow. Not necessarily cleaner or more accurate. 

In this simple tutorial I will explain how to go from taking the first picture (left) to creating the final image (right) in Photoshop. For this tutorial i’m using Photoshop CS3 Extended. However, this also applies to many past and future versions of Photoshop. As a disclaimer, this style of editing is not for everyone. However, this will teach you a technique that will be useful  in the future. If you hate it or me, please let me know in the comments section ^_^.

Step 1: Taking the Picture

Environment Texture

You will need 2 good images– one of your subject, and an environment image of  a texture that has something to do with the subject. Nothing really high contrast. Something like sand, clouds, silk, or gravel.

What I’m using for this tutorial is a woodworker (our favorite one) creating a laminated box. The environment image is a piece of the laminate, and sawdust, with adhesive on both of them.

Photography in it’s whole is a bit much for one tutorial, so let’s just cover what affects this style.
First, get the exposure right. If your images are too bright or too dark, it will only get worse after applying this technique.
Second, get the composition right. The rule of thirds is the easiest and fastest way to do that. If you aren’t familiar with it, read now at Wikipedia.

Lens Correction

Step 2: The Vignette

Vignettes are great for creating a focal area for your subject by darkening the edges. Originally it was unintended and undesired, but some of today’s graphic artists and photographers flock to it.

I personally am a big vignette fan, if you aren’t you should skip this step. If you are  (or remain undecided), at the top of the screen, go to Filter > Distort > Lens Correction.  In the window that comes up, under Vignette, I changed the amount to -36. Hit ‘OK’ once you are happy with it.

That value would be a bit severe for most things, but I like the effect for this photograph.

Step 3: Duplicate and Blend

Duplicate and Blend

Now we are going to duplicate the current layer and change the blending mode. In the Layers palette, right click your current layer (most likely called ‘background’) and select ‘Duplicate Layer‘ from the context menu.

Now we are going to change the blending mode. Click once on your new layer.  Just above it you will see a drop down menu to the left of the word ‘Opacity’ in the Layers Palette. Click on that menu and select ‘Soft Light‘ instead. You will notice the contrast and colors of the image change.

You are now mixing your two layers to create one image. If you want to know more about blending modes, click here. Otherwise, let’s move on.

Gaussian Blur

Step 4: Blur

Blurring your duplicated layer will spread the color around, simulating a sort of warm glow. It will also help restore some of the areas that have become too dark.

In the menu at the top of your screen, go to Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur. I used a value of around 20px for this image. That value will change depending on the size of the image.

The idea is for the blur to be big enough so that the original image doesn’t look blurred, but not so large a blur that it makes the duplicated layer pointless. Play with the value until the image has a look you desire.

Equalize

Step 5: Equalize

Equalize makes an image fill the brightness spectrum from black to white. What this means is the shadows of your image will become closer to black, and the brightest points closer to white. This does wonders for washed out or muddy gray photographs.

This step is very simple. You should still have your duplicated layer selected. On the menu at the top of your screen , go to Image > Adjustments > Equalize (I meant in photoshop… You just looked at the top of your browser, didn’t you?).

You can also use the move tool to combine images as layers.

Step 6: Bring in the environment

Go to File > Open, and find that environment image we talked about in step 1.

This will open up a new window in Photoshop with your environment texture. Now we are going to place that image on top of the work we have done so far, and blend accordingly.

At your top menu, go to Select > All. Now,  go to Edit > Copy. Finally, click on the title bar of your original image, and select Edit > Paste.

Position and re-size if necessary so that the environment image covers the original image.

Brush away the lesions

Step 6: Mix and Mash

Let’s blend this new layer in. Make sure the layer with the environment texture is selected. Now like we did before, select the drop-down list on the layers palette and choose overlay. Ah, it’s a bit too severe… Let’s go with soft light instead.

Now we have a good gritty texture that brings environment into the image. However, our friend Shannon Russell’s arms now look a bit diseased. No worries, let’s mask out that part of the layer.

Go to Layer > Layer Mask > Reveal All. You will see a white rectangle appear beside the thumbnail of your image in the Layers Palette. This is your layer mask. Black hides the image, white shows the image, and you can paint on it. This is preferable to the eraser because you don’t damage the original image, you just hide part of it.

All better

Select the brush tool from your toolbar on the left (it looks like a small paintbrush). Now at the bottom of that toolbar, make your foreground color black. Your layer mask should be selected on your Layers Palette. If it isn’t, click on it.

Now use your black colored brush on the image. You will see parts of the environment texture disappear. If you find your brush is too large or too small, right click on the image and you can resize the brush in that context menu. If you erase something that you didn’t intend to, don’t worry. Just change your brush color to white and paint it back.

Having done this, we accomplished two things: The texture not covering the subject’s arms creates an additional layer of depth to the image, and Shannon looks less leprous.

All done =)

Step 7: You’re Done

I will always reccomend saving a PSD of any work you are doing in photoshop. Many times while admiring the incredible work you have done, you’ll find a flaw. The PSD format retains all layers and changes you’ve made, allowing you to edit the image further without starting over.

So, at the top menu, go to File > Save As. Type a file name, and choose PSD as the file type. Save it.

Now, you’ll need a version that you can post to websites, email, etc. So, do the same thing you did for the PSD except select JPG as the file type. You’re Done =)

Finished Product

Summary

• Vignette
• Duplicate original layer
• Set blending mode of new layer to soft light.
• Gaussian Blur
• Equalize
• Add a picture of environment as a new layer.
• Also set that layer to the blending mode soft light.
• Mask out any parts of the environment texture that disagree with the image.
• Save in PSD and JPG and you’re done.

I hope you’ve enjoyed the tutorial. I’ve tried to make it so that any level of photoshop ability should be able to get through the tutorial just fine. If you have any questions, comnments, concerns, or objections, please add a comment and I will respond as soon as I am able.