# Super sharpening technique for CS2



## fmw (Dec 2, 2006)

The latest issue of Photoshop User magazine has a really effective technique for applying sharpening to an image without all the bad side effects of oversharpening. It uses the unsharp mask on the inverted lightness channel in the lab color mode. This channel has all the detail information. The article shows you how to set the process up as an action so you can repeat it easily each time you want to use it. Here goes.

1. Load an image that needs sharpening. Make it a high res image so the numbers that are included later don't over do things. Then start the recording process in the actions palette. Window>actions. Click on the "create new action" icon, name the action and click "record"

2. Switch to Lab Color mode. image>mode>lab color
3. Open the Channels palette - windows>channel, select the lightness channel - Control-Alt I. 
4. Invert the selection - Control-Shift-I
5. Activate the lightness channel by clicking on it in the Channels palette. The image will probably turn monochrome because the lightness channel has no color information. click on the eye icon and move on. Use unsharp mask - filter>sharpen>unsharp mask. Put 500% in the amount box, 1 in the radius box and 2 in the threshold box. Click OK.
6. Make a second pass. This time make the amount 50%, radius 20 and click OK. 
7. Deselect the lightness channel - select>deselect.
8. Return to RGB mode - image>mode>rgb color. Now you can go to the actions palette and click the stop recording icon.

That's it. Any time you want to repeat this process on another image just go the actions palette, select the action as you named it and click the play button.

If you are working on a lower res image use less extreme settings in unsharp mask.

This method works very well. Highly recommended.


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## Philip Weir (Dec 14, 2006)

Thanks "FMW"  I have been using Photoshop professionally for many years and any hints are appreciated.
www.philipweirphotography.com


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## c_mac (Dec 14, 2006)

wow that really does do a great job! thank you!


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## fmw (Dec 15, 2006)

You're welcome.  I now use this method all the time for high res or large output.  It's the best method I've seen.


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## Flash Harry (Dec 15, 2006)

google the "hi pass" filter, there's an excellent tutorial online and this is what I do for "super sharpening" shots.


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## Big Mike (Dec 15, 2006)

I also use the highpass method of sharpening...but I'm always willing to learn new things.

I tried this method...but as I'm only on CS...somthing doesn't work.


> Open the Channels palette - windows>channel, select the lightness channel - Control-Alt I.


Control-alt I, opens up the image info.  What exactly are you selecting when you do this?


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## fmw (Dec 15, 2006)

Big Mike said:
			
		

> I also use the highpass method of sharpening...but I'm always willing to learn new things.
> 
> I tried this method...but as I'm only on CS...somthing doesn't work.
> 
> Control-alt I, opens up the image info. What exactly are you selecting when you do this?


 
Control Alt I inverts the selection


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## Big Mike (Dec 15, 2006)

fmw said:
			
		

> Control Alt I inverts the selection


Control *SHIFT* I, inverts the selection.
Control Alt I, opens up the file info box.

What I need to figure out is this...when you open the channels pallet...then what?  You said to 'select the lightness channel'.  Does that mean to click on it in the pallet?  Like making a layer active?  Or do you make an actual selection of something? 

I can't invert the selection, if I don't have anything selected...so what do I select?


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## fmw (Dec 15, 2006)

Big Mike said:
			
		

> Control *SHIFT* I, inverts the selection.
> Control Alt I, opens up the file info box.
> 
> What I need to figure out is this...when you open the channels pallet...then what? You said to 'select the lightness channel'. Does that mean to click on it in the pallet? Like making a layer active? Or do you make an actual selection of something?
> ...


 
Yes you click on it in the pallet to make it active.  When you do that, the image will become monochrome (if it was color) so you'll know you selected it.  Then you can invert.


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## Big Mike (Dec 15, 2006)

I think I figured it out...but I'm still having trouble with your instructions.  (I'm not trying to be a jerk...just trying to make sure I'm doing it right)

I change to Lab mode...then to _select_ the lightness channel I hit *Ctrl-Alt-1*.  I don't 'invert' (as in image/adjustments/invert)...but I *inverse* the selection Shift-Ctrl-I.  Then I click on the lightness channel in the pallet, (it turns monochrome), then run the two sharpening passes, deselect and return to RGB mode.

It looks pretty good...so I think I've got it right....but in the process of figuring it out, I ended up with a bunch of _inverted_ images...purple sky etc.


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## darich (Dec 16, 2006)

fmw said:
			
		

> The latest issue of Photoshop User magazine has a really effective technique for applying sharpening to an image without all the bad side effects of oversharpening. It uses the unsharp mask on the inverted lightness channel in the lab color mode. This channel has all the detail information. The article shows you how to set the process up as an action so you can repeat it easily each time you want to use it. Here goes.
> 
> 1. Load an image that needs sharpening. Make it a high res image so the numbers that are included later don't over do things. Then start the recording process in the actions palette. Window>actions. Click on the "create new action" icon, name the action and click "record"
> 
> ...



Great method, but like Mike, i struggled with the instructions

for step 3 it's easier to simply click the lightness channel. The keystrokes in the method open a window for adjusting image size

step 4 - inverting the selection is impossible since nothing has been selected. I presume you meant Control_I to get the inverse of the image.

sharpening in 2 passes is no problem.

and a missing step is to re-inverse your layer by pressing control-I again. if this is missed then the image looks way too weird.

and conversion back to RGB is fine.

Of course it maybe depends on what version of PS you have. I have PS CS2 so i had to follow a slightly different procedure from the instruction.

But the method does work a treat and i now have a nice action for my images. Nice one :thumbup:


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## Digital Matt (Dec 16, 2006)

There is a mistake in the method.  You do not press ctrl+alt+I, you hold control and click the lightness channel.  This loads it as a selection.  Then you invert that selection (shift+ctrl+I), and do your sharpening.


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## fmw (Dec 16, 2006)

Sorry about the instructions.  The method, however, is very effective if you can wade through the process.  The advantage of making it an action is that you don't have to go through the process every time.  

The whole purpose of the thing is to do the sharpening only in the L channel where it makes a difference and it avoids any side effects by having the sharpening take place anywhere else.  At any rate, if works great.


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## Chicagophotoshop (Jan 30, 2007)

I just wanted to bump this, its a great thread.  thanks fmw


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## seanberry (Jan 30, 2007)

I'm on PhotoShop 7, but I can still doing everything as explained in the results so I don't think that should matter...

I think I'm following the instructions correctly but the only results I get are horrendously over-sharpened.  This is what I'm doing:
1) Convert to Lab
2) Go to Channels and click the Lightness channel so it is the only one that shows up as selected (blue)
3) Cmd+Click (on a Mac) on the Lightness channel 
4) Select>Inverse
5) Sharpen at 500%, Radius 1, Threshold 2
6) Sharpen at 50%, Radius 20, Threshold 2

Throughout this, the only channel selected is Lightness.  Someone please shed some light on my error!


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## theusher (Jan 31, 2007)

Any chance you just want to post the action? I couldn't follow your instructions, once I inverted I could never get the colors back to normal again.

http://www.gigasize.com/index.php You can upload it there, if you need a host.

Actually I figured it out, I didn't select the channel. I thought the end result was far over sharpened too in my case.


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## Digital Matt (Jan 31, 2007)

It's going to be SHARP. Afterall, it's called "super sharpening".  Chances are, you are normally conservative with sharpening, and this might take some getting used to, but in my experience, it's not oversharpening.  

If the result is still oversharpened in your opinion, then lessen the amount of each unsharp mask.  I like to use 120%, 0.3, 0, and then 40%, 20, 0, (or there abouts).

Also, duplicate your background layer before you run this.  It will ask you to flatten, but say no.  This way, the sharpening is on a seperate layer, and you can reduce the opacity if needed, or mask off areas that are oversharp.


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## fmw (Jan 31, 2007)

Also note that the unsharp mask setting depend on the pixel dimension.  I used these settings successfully for 10mp RAW files.  If you have a smaller file, you need less extreme settings.


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## shingfan (Jan 31, 2007)

i think this is such a great post....thx FMW...BUMP


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## Christie Photo (Jan 31, 2007)

shingfan said:


> i think this is such a great post....thx FMW...BUMP




and I'm glad you did!  Very nice, Fred.  Thanks.

Pete


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## ShutteredEye (Jan 31, 2007)

The Canyon Conundrum by Dan Margulis....I'm reading it now.  Fantastic book about using LAB color space, especially for contrast and sharpening...


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## seanberry (Jan 31, 2007)

Digital Matt said:


> If the result is still oversharpened in your opinion, then lessen the amount of each unsharp mask.  I like to use 120%, 0.3, 0, and then 40%, 20, 0, (or there abouts).
> 
> Also, duplicate your background layer before you run this.  It will ask you to flatten, but say no.  This way, the sharpening is on a seperate layer, and you can reduce the opacity if needed, or mask off areas that are oversharp.



This works much better for me!  And now that I realize you are using these settings on a 10MP image it makes sense that my 6MP pictures were oversharpened (and I assure you, they were drasticaly OVER sharpened).  

I'm going to have to try it out a few more times before I know if I like it more than the high-pass method.  Echoing what others have said, thanks for posting this (know that I've got it worked out :blushing


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## machine (Feb 12, 2007)

WOW , i had a very dull pic with my f1.7(kinda soft wide open ) and turned it into a stunning pic . if its ok i will post a before and after


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## machine (Feb 12, 2007)

im so behinde in the PS world its not even funny.

but here is the before 






and the after (i think i used the action 2 times by mistake)





btw these were both taken as jpegs originally

and i did a tad of edit as well


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## Chicagophotoshop (Feb 12, 2007)

this may be asking alot. but I have tried the steps.  not sure if I'm doing it correct.   can someone post the "action" again.  there seems to be confusion


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## shingfan (Feb 12, 2007)

Chicagophotoshop said:


> this may be asking alot. but I have tried the steps. not sure if I'm doing it correct. can someone post the "action" again. there seems to be confusion


 
if you do it correctly....your photo will be "sharpened"....if it doesnt sharpen...or it does more than just sharpening......then you are doing something wrong.......for different resolution....you would need different level of sharpening......is better for you to understand what it is doing rather than just applying an action.....i think the sharpening technique is doing the following

1)  change color mode to Lab color
2)  select lightness channel 
3)  invert the lightness channel
4)  sharpen the lightness channel
5)  change back to RGB color mode

the result image will be SUPER sharp using the value suggested above.....for small resolution.....you might want to try something lower.....like 120 suggested by Matt


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## Digital Matt (Feb 12, 2007)

Convert to LAB.

Open the channels pallet.  Hold control and click on the lightness channel to bring up the selection.  

Go to select/ inverse (ctrl+shift+i).

Run the unsharp mask filter 2 times.  
I do once for sharpening, and once for local contrast enhancement.  120, 0.3, 0, and 25, 15, 0.  (settings subject to change based on image size and personal taste)

Deselect, and re-convert to RGB.


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## Chicagophotoshop (Feb 12, 2007)

edit nevermind  I got it.  thanks all


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## ksmattfish (Feb 12, 2007)

Try running the sharpening USM pass on the inversed selection, then ditch the selection and run the local contrast USM pass on the whole image.

By the way, the point of using the lightness channel in lab mode is so that you aren't affecting colors.  If doing this to BW images don't worry about switching to lab mode.

Another tip.  I haven't found the auto selection, then inverse to do a very good job finding the areas I would want sharpened.  It works better for me to mask the areas/lines I want sharpened, and then convert that into a selection.


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## photogmatt (Jun 27, 2008)

Sorry to bump a thread from a while ago, but I saw this a while back and finally got around to creating the action for anyone who's interested. I defaulted to Digital Matt's sharpening settings (but it will prompt you for settings, and I included a comment about FMW's original stated settings for reference) The action is non-destructive and created on a new layer. Anyway, hope you guys find it useful.

http://www.gigasize.com/get.php?d=x3dn61pjdzc


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## PNA (Jun 27, 2008)

Thanks, had to search where to place the file.....will try it later.


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## Do'Urden's Eyes (Jul 7, 2008)

i find this doesnt work too too well with photos that have a lot of highlights


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## ShaCow (Jul 8, 2008)

im gonna try this tonight ;D


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## BuZzZeRkEr (Jul 12, 2008)

I tried this today for a few photos and it looks like it could be very usefull.

I used the original %500-1-2 ratio and then the 50-20-1 ratio and got a picture alot sharper but with some problems...

The pictures I used was a wedding photo with the bride throwing the boquet to the singe ladies.  The bride turned out ok (in focus closes to camera), but the people and the background looked they we're made of leggos because there was SOOOO much noise.  The groom's tux almost turned out a dark shade of gray as his tux was slightly lit.  Gotta play with the levels more, but pretty cool action.

I'll probably make 3 actions from this one though
SUper Sharp
Sharp
Slightly sharp

I'll try and post the variations on levels when I get it perfected


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