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09-22-2019, 03:14 AM   #1
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Sharpening in Photoshop

I use Photoshop Elements 11 (with Elements + add-ons) to process my RAW files. From a sharpening perspective, does Photoshop CC perform better sharpening than Photoshop Elements (I usually sharpen with 'unsharp mask'). Hence the question is have the sharpening algorithms in Photoshop CC (or Photoshop Elements for that matter) improved markedly over recent years, or stayed pretty static.
Comments will be much appreciated.

09-22-2019, 03:37 AM   #2
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QuoteOriginally posted by Robert N Quote
I use Photoshop Elements 11 (with Elements + add-ons) to process my RAW files. From a sharpening perspective, does Photoshop CC perform better sharpening than Photoshop Elements (I usually sharpen with 'unsharp mask'). Hence the question is have the sharpening algorithms in Photoshop CC (or Photoshop Elements for that matter) improved markedly over recent years, or stayed pretty static.
Comments will be much appreciated.
I used to use Elements, I now use Photoshop CC. For output sharpening I also use USM exclusively. I notice no difference between the two products.
09-22-2019, 04:16 AM   #3
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Many thanks for the reply - I am quite happy with Photoshop Elements and your reply that there has not been significant advances in sharpening confirms my impression.
09-22-2019, 05:25 AM   #4
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QuoteOriginally posted by Robert N Quote
Many thanks for the reply - I am quite happy with Photoshop Elements and your reply that there has not been significant advances in sharpening confirms my impression.
I am no expert in the software, but I suspect that there has been little change to the USM programming at all over the years. You dial in your parameters and off you go.

However I will say that the switch from Elements to LR/PS package has been a very worthwhile one for me. The latest PS editing tools are more advanced that the Elements ones and LR itself has very user friendly editing tools like HDR merge and graduated filter effects.

09-22-2019, 06:51 AM - 2 Likes   #5
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There is a different technique for sharpening in Photoshop that I found to be much superior to unsharp masking. It’s called high pass sharpening. If you go to YouTube and search for „photoshop high pass sharpening“ you will find lots of tutorials on this technique. For me it really was a game changer.
09-22-2019, 07:37 AM   #6
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QuoteOriginally posted by alpheios Quote
There is a different technique for sharpening in Photoshop that I found to be much superior to unsharp masking. It’s called high pass sharpening. If you go to YouTube and search for „photoshop high pass sharpening“ you will find lots of tutorials on this technique. For me it really was a game changer.
Thanks, I will have a look at that. Always fun to look at something new.

Got to say however that since I upgraded from a K10D to a K1 I use much less output sharpening than I did before. With the K10D the USM settings were typically 85-100 for amount with 0.6 and 1 for radius and threshold. With the K1 I use between 15 and 35 for the amount slider to achieve the same sharpness.

These are for web viewing. For prints typically double the settings though they can vary a lot.

Last edited by pschlute; 09-22-2019 at 03:31 PM.
09-22-2019, 11:22 AM - 1 Like   #7
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Don't forget that the last processing stage is the sharpening one. The 'output sharpening' needs to be done specifically for the intended, guess what, output. No sharpening formula works for all output. A large print will have a very different requirement than a downsized web image. So do any processing with as much data as possible (wide gamut and bit width), then prepare the image for it's intended output, before sharpening last.

Also, you might want to look up luminosity blend modes. Using these with sharpening means you only sharpen the luminosity values and not the colour. It helps ...

09-22-2019, 11:58 AM   #8
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09-22-2019, 12:20 PM   #9
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For USM there is no significant change, however there are more different tools for sharpening in photoshop. I rarely use usm anymore.
09-22-2019, 12:37 PM - 1 Like   #10
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QuoteOriginally posted by alpheios Quote
There is a different technique for sharpening in Photoshop that I found to be much superior to unsharp masking. It’s called high pass sharpening. If you go to YouTube and search for „photoshop high pass sharpening“ you will find lots of tutorials on this technique. For me it really was a game changer.
I have found no difference between Elements and CC unsharp mask, however, I agree with @alpheios that using High Pass is superior in that you won't get the graininess artifact seen in unsharp mask.

Steps for using High Pass on Photoshop CC:
Layer->Duplicate Layer
Filter->Other->High Pass (I generally set it around 3 pixels)
From the layer window, change "Normal" to "Overlay"
Command E or Layer->Merge Down
09-22-2019, 10:04 PM   #11
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I usually use Smart Sharpen.

But I might be a cretin.
09-26-2019, 11:51 AM - 1 Like   #12
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Just a thought. In High Pass Sharpening, look to see if you have a subset point called Soft Light. I use Corel Paint Shop Pro 9 and the SL (soft light) setting has less of an impact on color and hue. Also, I use either 5 or 10% settings sequentially to get sharpening, but not any halo effect. It allows an incremental back up to eliminate any onset of the halo effect.

JB
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