Originally posted by micromacro it looks terrible, like low quality. Any suggestions? What am I doing wrong? resolution 72. Sharpen for the screen, amount low. Looks "pixelated" from my screen
Couple of suggestions. Resolution of 72 ppi is the old standard for monitors. Desktop and laptop monitors today, whether HD, retina, 4K etc. are higher resolution. Iʻd recommend at least something in the range of 150-200 ppi. Of course if youʻre going to print, youʻd want a minimum of 240, and 300-600 resolution would be ideal.
Also most software sharpening results in making the image more pixelated or ʻgrainyʻ. In your particular example, you may want to avoid sharpening it.
On PS, instead of unsharp mask, I prefer creating a duplicate layer, filter->other->high pass, set to about 3 pixels, then change the layer from normal to overlay, then merge the layer down. It creates acutance to sharpen the image with a lot less pixel/grain effect I would get from sharpening or using unsharp mask.
If you donʻt have PS, you can download Googleʻs Nik Collection for free and that suite has many excellent sharpening tools.