Sitemap
Log In Here »
HOME GET ORGANIZED PHOTO TECHNIQUES PHOTO EDITING DIGITAL EQUIPMENT SHOP FAQ CONTACT
 

Photo Techniques
Light, Camera Setting, and Composition

LEARN MORE

 

Photo Editing
Correct, Enhance, and Create Images

LEARN MORE

 

Photo Equipment
Edit, Print, and E-mail Photos

LEARN MORE

    Home » Photo Editing » Photoshop CS2 » Lesson 17 Sharpen

Printer Friendly Version

Photo Editing
Album Starter
Album Full
Elements Basic
Elements Plus
  Photoshop CS2
  Lesson 1
Work Area
  Lesson 2
Toolbox
  Lesson 3
Viewing an Image
  Lesson 4
Display Size & View Size
  Lesson 5
File Size / Pixel Dimension
  Lesson 6
Rectangular Marquee
  Lesson 7
Elliptical Marquee
  Lesson 8
Magnetic Lasso
  Lesson 9
Magic Wand
  Lesson 10
Color Range
  Lesson 11
Rotate Canvas
  Lesson 12
Resizing for Printing
  Lesson 13
Dust & Scratches Filter
  Lesson 14
Tonal & Color Adjustment
  Lesson 15
Burn
  Lesson 16
Sponge
  Lesson 17
Sharpen
  Lesson 18
Tonal Adjustment / Curve
  Lesson 19
Color Adjustment / Curve
  Lesson 20
Replace Color
 
 

Adobe Photoshop CS2

Level 3

Lesson 17

Learning how to sharpen the overall focus of a photo using the Unsharp Mask filter

Introduction

The Unsharp Mask filter is useful for refocusing a poor-quality original photo or an image that has become blurry from scanning or from resampling. This filter makes edges appear sharper by increasing the contrast between light pixels and dark pixels.

The following lesson will teach you how to sharpen the overall focus of a photo using the Unsharp Mask filter.

In Lesson #16, we have increased the saturation of color in the red building.

In this lesson, we will sharpen the overall focus of the photo.

Step #1:  

·   Go to the “Menu bar”.

·   Choose Filter > Sharpen > Unsharp Mask.

Step #2:  

The Unsharp Mask dialog box appears.

·   Check the “Preview” box so that we can see the effect of changes in the image.

·   Click the Plus (+) button below the preview window to enlarge the view.

Step #3:  

·   Position the pointer on the preview window. The pointer changes to a hand tool.

·   Drag with the hand tool to scroll the preview window to see different parts of the image.

Step #4:  

Before applying the filter to the image:

·   Experiment with different settings by dragging individual slider left and then right to see how the image is sharpened or softened in the preview window, as well as in the document window.

“Amount” controls the amount of sharpening. The higher the percentage, the stronger the effect of the filter.
“Radius” determines the depth of pixels that will be affected at the edge. The greater the radius, the thicker the edges.
“Threshold” controls how Photoshop recognize edges in an image. A high value excludes more pixels; a low value includes more pixels.

The degree of sharpening applied to an image depends on the image and on the effect we want. We can try out a small value first, then add sharpening bit by bit to increase the focus of the image. In any case, keep in mind that oversharpening an image will produce a halo effect around the edges.

·   After the experiment, we use the following setting for this photo (screen image):

“Amount” 150%
”Radius” 0.3
”Threshold” 0

The overall focus of the photo is sharpened.

Step #5:  

·   Go to the “Menu bar”.

·   Choose File > Save.

This completes the last step in the sequence of basic photo correction.


Before


After

Conclusion

In this lesson, we learned to sharpen the overall focus of a photo using the Unsharp Mask filter.



Copyright © 2005-2006 DPinstruct.com    Contact Us | Terms of Use | Privacy Policy

Designed and Powered by Bhasin Group Inc. All rights reserved.