AV News 177 - August 2009
Photoshop - Sharpening an Illusion (P2)
K e ith S c o tt FRPS
Assuming that your original image was saved as a RAW file with camera
sharpening turned off, your first sharpening option generally available is the
tools palette in Photoshop Camera RAW converter. This plug-in utility which is
periodically updated by Adobe should spring into action automatically when
opening RAW files from within Adobe Photoshop or Adobe Bridge. Different
versions of this plug-in are available and it's most important that you choose
the correct download to suit your particular version of Photoshop when
updating manually. Version 5.4 of Camera Raw replaces the plug-in that was
installed with full Adobe Creative Suite 4, Photoshop CS4, and Photoshop
Elements 6.0 or 7. Note that Camera Raw versions 5 and above are intended
for CS4 use only, and cannot be used with Photoshop CS3 which requires
version 4.6 to replace its original plug-in. If your system doesn't update
automatically via "Adobe Updater" check for updated releases using the links
and search engine at http://www.adobe.com/support/downloads/
Sitting to the right of your opened image in
Camera Raw is the control panel. By placing
your cursor over each of its eight icons their
individual function is momentarily highlighted
within a small text box. Clicking the double
triangles (3rd icon from left entitled "Detail")
opens RAW sharpening menu. Two of its
commands i.e. Amount and Radius look and
function similar to those found under the
"Unsharp Mask" control of your Photoshop
main programme. However in Camera Raw the
"Amount" and "Radius" sliders each have much
lower maximum levels. Combined with
Masking and the Noise Reduction controls of
Luminance and Color adjustment these sliders
offer very subtle and controlled sharpening.
Note that whilst Camera Raw Converter is a
great tool for many clever and precise
adjustments it isn't actually the best sharpening
tool for "every" situation.
This is because it applies sharpening across the entire image. You may
recall from our previous article that some images benefit from different levels
of sharpening applied to different parts. If you are entirely happy to apply
controlled sharpening to the entire image then use this facility. However if you
wish to be a little more creative leave camera raw sharpening at factory default
settings and open your image into Photoshop. Make a copy layer of your image
(keyboard shortcut Ctrl+J) then use this copy to carry out any adjustments i.e.
Levels (Ctrl+L), Curves (Ctrl+M), Color Balance (Ctrl+B) and any other editing
operations such as airbrushing, healing, cloning etc. thereby leaving your
original image layer unaltered.
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