Sharpening Images
Do you ever wonder why your photos look much better on the screen than they do on the paper when printed or after you post them online? Well, the answer is simple: a lot of sharpening gets lost on a high-resolution print or when saved for web. If you are printing your own images than you know you need to calibrate your equipment (monitors, cameras, printers) in order to get the same image you see on the screen printed on the paper or canvas. If you are sending your images to a photo lab to print them, you should know how to prepare them before you upload them for printing. It’s simple. Open your image in Photoshop, go under Edit menu and select Convert to Profile. Under Destination Space select Working RGB-sRGB IEC61966-2.1; click OK and that’s it.
This simple step will most likely get you the best results from your photo lab. If you are not sure which format your photo lab uses, give them a call or send them email and ask them how would they like you to prepare your photos for printing. If you are publishing your photos online, this is the way to go as well. You will also need to sharpen your images for the printing as well as for the web use. The way I do it is: Go under Filter and choose Sharpen, under Sharpen select Unsharp mask.
- Amount: 200% (you can go all the way up to 400% if the image is blurry)
- Radius: around 0.3 pixels
- Treshold: 0 levels
After I hit Enter, I go to Edit menu immediately and select Fade Unsharp Mask.
From the drop menu I select Luminosity and apply the sharpening to the image luminosity. This way the color will not be sharped again.
That’s it! I’d be happy to see you using this tip!
After!
Latest posts by Mira Crisp (see all)
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14 Comments:
By Rosie@leavesnbloom 12 Feb 2011
Thankyou so much for both of these tutorials today – I learned so much from you. I am going to bookmark these for future reference.
By Mira 12 Feb 2011
You're the msot welcome. There is more to come so stay tuned!
Mira
By Trish ~ ♥ ~ 13 Feb 2011
Thank you so very much. Bookmarking your post so I can come back and give it a try.
By Mira 13 Feb 2011
you're welcome to come back!
By Courtney 13 Feb 2011
Love the PP you did! What a fun photo with that bicycle!! Great tutorial to sharpen for the web! Love sharpening for the web :O)
By Kristen 13 Feb 2011
This is so helpful! I can't wait to try it! (And thanks for stopping by and leaving a comment on my homecoming photo!)
By Mira 14 Feb 2011
Courtney, thanks! That bicycle is fun indeed!
By Mira 14 Feb 2011
Kristen, great! Come back for more!
By Anne U 15 Feb 2011
Awesome edit.
By YoRosco 15 Feb 2011
i didn't know the Fade Unsharp Mask. I'll read about it. Thanks Mira.
By Mira 15 Feb 2011
Anne U – thanks!
YoRosco – I know that feeling; I learn something new about PS everytime I dare to think I know everything.
By ultralicious 17 Feb 2011
Beautiful photo! Thanks for sharing all that information as well. really appreciate it!
By Light Trigger 22 May 2011
Oh, my God. Well-done! I love how you edit the picture…nice composition, nice editing. And thanks for sharing a tutorial…
By A Trick to Enhance the Texture | Crisp PhotoWorks 25 Jan 2012
[...] Sharpen it by using the sharpening brush or this excellent sharpening technique [...]