Join Now
Join ePHOTOzine, the friendliest photography community.
Upload photos, chat with photographers, win prizes and much more for free!
Hi
I'm in the process of populating my new Photium site with images. Just wondered if anyone had any tips for maximising their appearance and sharpness.
My usual sharpening workflow for landscape images is to run a USM Layer to boost contrast (I then erase the areas I don't want it applied to i.e. the sky). I then resise the image prior to sharpening using the highpass filter technique. Finally I erase the areas as I've done with the USM sharpen, before saving the image using the save for web option, making sure the image is under the required max size.
Images on Photium have to be a maximum of 600 pixels wide and no bigger that 100kb in size.
When I look at them on screen they look ok but I can't help but think I could improve on the sharpness. maybe it's just my fault for looking at the likes of the Northscape Photium site 
This is a link to my Photium gallery
I'd really appreciate any of your thoughts or ideas on the matter.
Thanks
Mike
Mike,
A popular and tried and tested sharpening technique that often works very well for on-screen jpegs is to re-size your image and then apply multiple passes of USM using the following values Amount=100, Radius=0.2, Threshold=0.
Usually 5 or 6 passes works well but it obviously depends on the individual image with some requiring more and some less.
Keep applying untill visible halos just begin to appear and then back off one or two steps.
You can obviously do this to just specific selected areas,as you are doing at present.
Nice collection of images BTW.
Justin.
Mike .. getting them to look right on the web is quite hard. Obviously at 100 KB most images will suffer loss of detail and sharpness. Sharpening is best applied at the end after resizing, that is for sure, and also make sure that the image is 600 pixels as the site probably resizes images of its own accord .. and wont do as good as job as you will.
Dan
Mike .. definately doing something wrong as the images are not sharp enough.
A quick and dirty method for sharpening that can produce good results is to use "sharpen more", or a fairly strong USM, and then go to "edit>fade.." or (Ctrl+Shift+F). You can then use the slider to pull back the oversharpening to what you want.
Dan's right, generally speaking sharpening should really be the last thing you do before saving for web.
HTH
Thanks Dan & Justin
I have head of that technique Justin but wasn't sure of the exact procedure or values. I'll give it a go.
Dan - I am making sure that the images are resized to the required 600 pixels and under the 100kb limit. The images are sharp when viewed actual size before resizing. So there must be something in my sharpening technique that needs improving.
Thanks for taking a look at the gallery. I appreciate your honesty.
Must try harder!
mIKE
Having prepared my full size image Mike (and being VERY sparing with any sharpening process' - to the point of adding none) I then resample the image down to 72ppi using 'Bicubic Sharper', setting the longest side to 600 pixels in the process. That done, convert to sRGB and (assuming you're using PS) 'Save For Web', getting the file size down to the 100Kb limit.
HTH's...
Mike
Mike, if you always save your files as a unsharpened version it shoulnt be a problem. There are much better ways to sharpen an image that the above methods, but each image is different and can u really be bothered for a 600 pixel image?? Using bicubic is the right technique, as is converting to srgb profile, as the web doesnt handle adobe rgb and colours will look washed out and desaturated.
I make sure the images are not sharpened before bringing them to size. As Mike mentioned there is no point in saving above 72 dpi. If you havekept the layers open before resize you can do to the the colour channels and see which one has more contrast. You can then select that layer and copy it before making adjustments to the edges, this will probably give you the sharpest result, as usm is applied specifically where needed. However it takes time and patience to learn the technique.
Dan
Thanks Mike. I've also heard about adding sharpening to the colour channel that has the most contrast. That seems to make sense so I'll give that a go as well.
Dan - I know what you mean when you say 'can you be bothered for a 600 pixel image'. The thing is if your website is the first and possibly only place a potential buyer is going to see your work then I really want them to look their best. I know it's never going to get anywhere near the impact of viewing a quality large print but hopefully I can at least get them looking sharp.
I think I need to get some PS lessons. Just when you think you're getting to grips with it you realise you've just scratched the surface!
Mike
My process to sharpen web pictures is:
1. finish messing around with original in
photoshop
2. make a copy (in 'thumbnails' folder)
3. edit with irfanview, resample (eg to 800 or 600 pixels)using "best" method (eg bicubic sharp)
4. use sharpening (ctrl s i think) and save
Followed the link to your photos Mike. Your pictures are superb. The colours are stunning.
Pete
There seems to be a lot of conflicting advice about sharpening - but 5 or 6 passes sounds plain wrong!
FWIW (not a lot, probably), this is what I do. Do not sharpen *at all* whilst you make your corrections to the full-size image (some people advocate capture-sharpening but I'm not convinced it's necessary). Then flatten the image, convert to sRGB colourspace, re-size to 600 pixels on the longest side (ignore dpi - pixel count is what matters for the Web), set magnification to 100% and make sure you can see the full image area.
Now you are ready to sharpen.
If you have PS CS2 then Smart Sharpen is your friend. Otherwise, use USM with a radius of around 0.6, threshold 2 and percentage to taste. The best way to deal with fringing is to use a layer mask and simply mask out the areas where it's a problem. Otherwise, back off the percentage until the halos are invisible.
HTH.
We have to remember that the image has to be sharp to start with! That mean using a shutter release or self time, buying the best you can afford, making sure the tripod is stable - watching the tripod during the exposure to see if there are any noticable movements, correct focusing, checking the hyperfocal distance, correct aperture and so on ... i think a lot of people forget this .. no amount of photoshop work will solve unshapr photos if you have not adhered to the above!!
Dan
Jools it depends on the size of the file as to what settings you should use. It obviously depends if you resize prior to sharpening too.
Dan
Quite right. For printing the images should generally be oversharpened ... now how much is oversharpened is a different matter lol ... the black art of printing and sharpening !!!
Dan
Quote: There seems to be a lot of conflicting advice about sharpening - but 5 or 6 passes sounds plain wrong!
Why's that then???
It is just one sharpening method out of dozens and dozens.
It doesn't matter what it sounds like,it's whether it gives the desired results that's important.
Justin.
Add a Comment
ePHOTOzine, the web's friendliest photography community.
Upload photos, chat with photographers, win prizes and much more.
Login or Join Now
New to ePHOTOzine? Join ePHOTOzine for free!
Join Our Free Newsletter
Awards
Current Competitions
foliopic 'Movement' Competition
1st May 2012 - 31st May 2012
This month's competition theme is 'Movement' which can be interpreted in a number of ways. You could photograph an animal running, a person walking or a car speeding...Featured e2 Photo
Featured Directory Listing
May's Photo Month
Check out ePHOTOzine's inspirational photo month calendar! Each day click on a window to unveil new photography tips, treats and techniques.
Interact
Photography Gallery Photography Forums Recent Forum Activity Members' Meetings Members' BlogsSearch ePHOTOzine
Having trouble or would like to make a suggestion? Create a report
Calibrate your monitor so you can see 16 different shades.
ePHOTOzine © 2001 - 2012 Magezine Publishing | Contact Us | Site Map | Top