Angel nextdoor
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Sat April 18, 2009 4:19pm
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What's the name of the software, the photo looks good but maybe a tad over sharp try it on another subject.
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yvonne
Registered: August 2008
Posts: 438
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Sat April 18, 2009 7:01pm
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Rating: 8.00
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Yes, I like it - you can see the difference quite clearly on the LHS. It just depends what you want out of the photo - some people like the soft smudgey look, personally I love the cat on the left side, very nice! 
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Kev
Registered: February 2008
Posts: 2,722
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Sat April 18, 2009 7:48pm
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Personally, I think that the USM tool in Adobe or Capture NX products are all ya need to sharpen an image. Nik Software (who make Capture NX products) also have a professional Pro Sharpening 3.0 tool.
The image on the left is over sharpened, and the one on the right is slightly under-sharpened - IMHO.
I think most people have a tendency to over sharpen pics, and we kind of expect everything to be visually crystal-clear these days. Modern technology is partly to blame for this. However, when you actually look at things closely in nature, you will find that most objects (whether it be flower petals, blades of grass, animal fur, etc) have a rounded edge, and are in reality not tack-sharp at all. Not many objects are razor sharp with extremely thinly defined lined outer edging.
Recently, I have been submitting some of my pictures to various stock agencies...and once accepted they often show information on the file (ie: how it reads with their system) and I notice that a lot of my images are classified as "hard" sharpening.
So, I decided to back-off with my sharpening approach and now have it set so that it reads as "normal" with their system. At first, I thought "their" level of normal sharpness was somewhat soft to me, but now that I have adjusted my thinking, I can see where I was perhaps being a bit too overzealous with the USM.
Plus, also - there is another upside to using less, and that is the overall image 'noise' level is reduced too.
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geofflaw
Site Admin
Registered: December 2007
Posts: 1,445
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Sat April 18, 2009 9:02pm
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Less is more. 
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maurizio
Registered: May 2008
Posts: 130
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Sat April 18, 2009 9:17pm
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i agree with kev .....the left pic is way too sharp and in my opinion it gives some sort of very wild loock to it and the right one is quite ok as it is
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honez
Registered: August 2008
Posts: 705
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Sat April 18, 2009 11:28pm
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Rating: 7.00
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An alternative approach is selective sharpening with a layer mask. I'd sharpen the overall image a tad from the right picture, but "hard sharpen" the nose and eyes with a layer mask to give them the extra focus they need.
The major problem with the left hand pic, if you discount over-sharpening, is that you have also inadvertently sharpened the blurred out-of-focus background carpet too. This is a dead giveaway of over-sharpening.
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LollyLockhart
Registered: April 2008
Posts: 325
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Sun April 19, 2009 3:49am
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The software I used was the Nik Professional Pro Sharpening 3.0, which is new for me. I agree I think I went a bit overboard...trying to get the face sharp. I will say tho I did use the PS auto sharp on the pic on the right. The software does have a selective option, just havn't learn how to use it yet!
I must say THANK YOU very much for all the wonderful input it really helps.
Thanks again.
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Kev
Registered: February 2008
Posts: 2,722
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Sun April 19, 2009 4:57am
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Lolly, as you own a Nikon D50 I highly recommend that you use Capture NX2 to process your NEF files...understandably, it's simply much better than Adobe at processing Nikon's own RAW files.
And, IF you use NX2 then really you don't NEED the Pro sharpener 3.0 software - because NX2 already has the same capability. With NX2 you can quickly apply any 'selective' sharpening...using the onboard U-point technology & selection control points with the USM tool, to any area or region of the shot that you want.
Without having to use any layers, like in Photoshop.
Also note, Sharpener Pro 3.0 is a plug in for Photoshop...not Capture NX2, which in a way is kinda counter-productive IF one shoots in NEF files., as it's much better to DO the sharpening at the original NEF stage, rather than in a TIFF or JPEG in Adobe.
IF you have alrady purchased the program...then I suggest you do all of your 'other' NEF processing in NX2, then save to TIFF, and then sharpen the image with 3.0 as the last stage in PS, before rendering to your final output JPEG.
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