Real World Image Sharpening with Adobe Photoshop, Camera Raw, and Lightroom, Second Edition

Real World Image Sharpening with Adobe Photoshop, Camera Raw, and Lightroom, Second Edition

Released August 2009
Publisher(s): Peachpit Press
ISBN: 9780321637550

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Book description

Just about every digital image requires sharpening since softness is inevitably introduced during the image digitizing process, and oftentimes with digital photography, images are sharpened badly. This second edition of the definitive book by the late Bruce Fraser teaches readers all they need to know about sharpening, including when to use it, why it's needed, how to use the camera's features, how to recognize an image that needs sharpening, how much to use, what's bad sharpening, and how to fix oversharpening.

Real World Image Sharpening with Adobe Photoshop, Camera Raw, and Lightroom, Second Edition is written by Fraser's friend and renowned photographer Jeff Schewe. It adds essential coverage of Adobe Photoshop Lightroom and Adobe Camera Raw, since many of the key sharpening functions have migrated from Photoshop to those tools since the first edition of the book was published.

The book shows readers how to: recognize the kind of sharpening that each image needs; become acquainted with the full arsenal of sharpening tools built into Photoshop, Lightroom, and Camera Raw; sharpen part of an image selectively; create a complete sharpening workflow that allows sharpening images optimally for different uses; balance the contradictory demands of sharpening and noise reduction; and more.

Table of contents

  1. Copyright
  2. Preface: Real World Sharpening
    1. The Sharpening Workflow
      1. Sharpening and the Display
      2. Objective Realities
      3. Creative Capacities
      4. Multiple-Application Workflows
    2. Who Needs This Book?
      1. How the Book Is Organized
    3. A Word to Windows Users
    4. This Book’s Origins
    5. Image Credits
    6. Thank You!
  3. One. What Is Sharpening?: And How Does It Work?
    1. Emphasizing Edges
    2. Analog Roots
    3. Digital Processing
      1. Unsharp Mask Filter
      2. Digital Noise Reduction
      3. Sharpening and Pixels
  4. Two. Why Do We Sharpen?: And What Must We Take Into Account When We Do So?
    1. Sharpening and Displays
      1. Display Technologies
      2. Display Resolution
      3. The Display as a Guide
    2. Sharpening Issues
    3. Image Sources
    4. Detail, Film Grain, and Scanner Noise
      1. Transparency Film Grain
      2. Color Negative Film Grain
    5. Detail, Noise, and Digital Capture
      1. Sensor Types
      2. Sensor Noise
    6. Noise Reduction
      1. Color Noise
      2. Luminance Noise
      3. Noise, Exposure, and ETTR
      4. Noise, Detail, and Enlargement
      5. JPEG and Noise
    7. Lenses and Image Quality
      1. Monochromatic Lens Aberrations
      2. Chromatic Lens Aberrations
      3. Lens Diffraction
      4. Lens Flare
    8. Photographic Aspects of Image Quality
    9. Sharpening and the Image Source
    10. Sharpening and Image Content
      1. Low-Frequency and High-Frequency Images
      2. How Sharp Is Sharp Enough?
    11. Sharpening and the Output Process
      1. Resolution and the Eye
        1. Human Visual Acuity
      2. Viewing Distance
    12. Print Resolution
      1. Halftone Output
      2. Continuous-Tone Output
      3. Error Diffusion Dither Output
    13. Sharpening for Output
    14. Introduction to Creative Sharpening
    15. One Size Does Not Fit All
  5. Three. Sharpening Strategies: Why Use a Sharpening Workflow
    1. Traditional Prepress Sharpening
      1. One-Pass Sharpening Is Inflexible
      2. One-Pass Sharpening Is Often Overdone
      3. One-Pass Sharpening and Digital Capture
        1. Traditional Sharpening Is Global
        2. Traditional Sharpening Fails to Exploit Digital Capture
      4. Traditional Sharpening Roots
        1. Photoshop Sharpening Practice
        2. Traditional Sharpening Problems
        3. Multipass Sharpening Problems
    2. A Multipass Sharpening Workflow
      1. Phase One: Capture Sharpening
        1. Optimizing for the Image Source
        2. Optimizing for Image Content
      2. Phase Two: Creative Sharpening
      3. Phase Three: Output Sharpening
    3. Benefits of a Multipass Sharpening Workflow
      1. Use-Neutral Capture-Sharpened Master Images
      2. Fixed Output Sharpening
    4. Creating a Multiapplication Sharpening Workflow
      1. Sharpening in Photoshop
      2. Sharpening in Camera Raw
      3. Sharpening in Lightroom
      4. Output Sharpening in Practice
      5. Output Sharpening and the Display
    5. From Theory to Practice
  6. Four. Sharpening Tools: Learning to Sharpen
    1. Sharpening Tools in Photoshop
      1. Analyzing Sharpeners
      2. The Sharpen Filter
      3. The Sharpen More Filter
      4. The Sharpen Edges Filter
      5. The Unsharp Mask Filter
        1. Amount
        2. Radius
        3. Threshold
        4. Working the Controls
        5. Unsharp Mask Limitations
        6. Local Area Contrast
      6. The Smart Sharpen Filter
        1. Gaussian Blur
        2. Gaussian Blur Advanced Mode
        3. Lens Blur
        4. Lens Blur Advanced Mode
        5. Motion Blur
        6. Smart Sharpen Issues
      7. The Overlay/High Pass Method
        1. The High Pass Filter
        2. The Overlay Blend
      8. Edge and Surface Masks
        1. Edge Mask Beginnings
        2. Tuning the Mask
        3. Preparing the Image for Sharpening
        4. Using the Edge Mask Channel
    2. Noise Reduction in Photoshop
      1. The Reduce Noise Filter
        1. Reduce Noise Advanced Options
        2. Saving Reduce Noise Presets
        3. Strength vs. Preserve Details
      2. The Surface Blur Filter
      3. Noise Reduction with Despeckle
      4. Comparing Noise Reduction Tools
        1. Comparing at 400% Zoom
        2. Comparing at Contact-Print Size
        3. Third-Party Solutions
    3. Sharpening and Noise Reduction in Camera Raw and Lightroom
      1. Comparing Camera Raw and Lightroom’s Environments
      2. The Camera Raw and Lightroom Sharpening Philosophy
      3. Analyzing Camera Raw and Lightroom’s Sharpening Tool
        1. Evaluating Radius
        2. Evaluating Detail
        3. Detail Settings and Noise
        4. Masking
      4. Using Camera Raw or Lightroom for Image Sharpening
        1. Adjusting Amount
        2. Adjusting Radius
        3. Adjusting Detail
        4. Adjusting Masking
        5. Comparing Default and Optimized Sharpening Parameters
      5. Using Camera Raw or Lightroom for Noise Reduction
        1. The Noise Reduction Controls
    4. Combining Camera Raw, Lightroom, and Photoshop’s Tools
  7. Five. Industrial-Strength Sharpening Techniques: Using the Tools
    1. Layers, Blending, and Mask-Making Techniques in Photoshop
      1. Sharpening on a Layer
        1. Advanced Option/Merged Procedures
      2. Luminosity Blending
      3. Sharpening Tonal Ranges
        1. Midtone Sharpening
      4. Sharpening Layer Controls
      5. Splitting the Sharpening Haloes
      6. Layer Masks
        1. Edge Masks
        2. Surface Masks
    2. Capture Sharpening in Photoshop
      1. Medium-Format Transparency
        1. Turning Off Sharpening
        2. Preparing for Sharpening
        3. Slight Noise Reduction and Sharpening
      2. 35mm Transparency
        1. Moderate Noise Reduction and Sharpening
      3. High-Speed 35mm Color Negative
        1. Resorting to a Specialized Tool
        2. Sharpening the Reduced Noise
        3. Scanning to Reduce Noise
      4. Using Third-Party Raw Processing Software
        1. Using Capture One
        2. Creating the Sharpening Layers
    3. Capture Sharpening in Camera Raw and Lightroom
      1. Determining Edge Width
        1. Super High-Frequency Edges
        2. Low-Frequency Edges
        3. Medium-Frequency Edges
      2. Blending Image Frequencies with Smart Objects
        1. Setting Up Camera Raw to Create Smart Objects
        2. Using Camera Raw Snapshots
        3. Creating a Smart Object Copy Layer
        4. Editing Smart Object Parameters
        5. Using Smart Objects with Lightroom
        6. Editing in Photoshop from Lightroom
        7. Saving the Smart Object in Lightroom
        8. Reediting the Smart Object File
    4. Controlling File Size
    5. Creative Sharpening in Photoshop
      1. Choosing the Type of Mask
      2. Sharpening Brush Techniques
        1. Depth-of-Field Brush
        2. Haze-Cutting Brush
        3. Creating a Clipping Mask
      3. Effects Layers
        1. Lens Blur Layer
        2. Box Blur Filter
        3. Progressive Sharpening Layer
        4. Image Sculpting
        5. Adding Film Grain
    6. Creative Sharpening in Camera Raw and Lightroom
      1. Lightroom to Photoshop to Lightroom for Creative Sharpening (and Other Things)
    7. Output Sharpening in Photoshop
      1. Halftone Sharpening
      2. Inkjet Sharpening
      3. Continuous-Tone Sharpening
      4. Sharpening for Computer Display
      5. Smart Sharpen for Display Sharpening
    8. Output Sharpening in Camera Raw
    9. Output Sharpening in Lightroom
      1. Output Sharpening in the Print Module
        1. Determining the Size and Resolution
        2. Print Sharpening Options
        3. Upsampled Print Output
      2. Output Sharpening with Export
    10. The Power of the Workflow
  8. Six. Putting the Tools to Work: Building a Sharpening Workflow—Efficiently
    1. When Do We Sharpen?
    2. Automation in Photoshop
      1. Action Basics
        1. Creating an Action Set
        2. Recording an Action
        3. Testing an Action
        4. The Actions Panel Flyout Menu
        5. Editing Actions
        6. Saving Your Action Set
      2. Batch Processing Using Photoshop
        1. The Rules for Opening Files in a Batch Operation
        2. The Rules for Saving Files in a Batch Operation
        3. Playing by the Rules
    3. Saving Images with Image Processor
    4. Efficient Capture Sharpening in Camera Raw
      1. Creating Camera Raw Sharpening Presets
      2. Controlling Camera Raw’s Preferences
    5. An Efficient Sharpening Workflow for Lightroom
      1. Creating Sharpening Presets in the Develop Module
      2. Creating and Using Templates in Print
        1. The Right-Side Print Module Panels
        2. The Left-Side Print Module Panels
      3. Image Sizing and Output Sharpening in Export
      4. Output Presets in Export
      5. Post-Processing from Export
    6. Sweating the Details

Product information

  • Title: Real World Image Sharpening with Adobe Photoshop, Camera Raw, and Lightroom, Second Edition
  • Author(s):
  • Release date: August 2009
  • Publisher(s): Peachpit Press
  • ISBN: 9780321637550