747438 From UK - England, joined Jan 2007, 820 posts, RR: 6 Posted (1 year 7 months 4 days 10 hours ago) and read 2807 times:
A few years ago, I used to use this method for my sharpening, but since I started this hobby up again, this method has escaped me. I just can't remember the process. I recall using control J to add the layer, but from there I'm at a loss.
Can anyone jog my memory please ?
vikkyvik From United States of America, joined Jul 2003, 8228 posts, RR: 28 Reply 3, posted (1 year 7 months 4 days 10 hours ago) and read 2798 times:
AIRLINERS.NET CREW PHOTO SCREENER
Quoting RonS (Reply 1): I just right click on Background Layer, and it adds the duplicate layer.
I then mask out the sky, right click select inverse, so it only selects the aircraft / background without the sky. I expand pixels by 1 pixel.
I then sharpen using Smart Sharpen, .3 165-200 or so, then erase jaggies with Eraser tool.
I use a very similar method:
Note that before I use layers, I'll usually sharpen the airplane as much as I can without creating jaggies anywhere (Unsharp Mask, usually around 0.3, 70-100, 1). After that:
1.) Add Duplicate Layer.
2.) By whatever method, select only the airplane (if it's against blue sky, it's easy to select the sky then "inverse"...if it's against a detailed background, I usually just use the polygonal lasso to select the airplane).
3.) Expand selection by 2 pixels (only if I selected the background then inverse).
4.) Unsharp Mask (usually around 0.3, 60-100, 1)
5.) Erase jaggies using eraser tool (usually at 100% opacity).
6.) Flatten image.
"Two and a Half Men" was filmed in front of a live ostrich.
I've never gotten a good explanation on the reason to flatten image or flatten layers,etc, so I just either Save As and Save for the Web when I'm done editing.
All opinions expressed by me are my own opinions & do not represent the opinions in any way of my employers.
vikkyvik From United States of America, joined Jul 2003, 8228 posts, RR: 28 Reply 5, posted (1 year 7 months 4 days 8 hours ago) and read 2758 times:
AIRLINERS.NET CREW PHOTO SCREENER
Quoting RonS (Reply 4):
90% of the time I just sharpen the background and aircraft all together.
A lot of people do seem to do that.
The main reason I don't is that I don't want to have to be bothered erasing jaggies from the background.
Though I did get a rejection the other day that said, "background looks soft(washed out. From too much noise reduction?"
So maybe I will have to start sharpening it.
(probably was NR...I can go overboard on that sometimes)
Quoting RonS (Reply 4):
I'm at 55-60% for everything, 40% for liveries roughly and more than 70% and more for heavy jaggies.
Gotcha. That's why I do the pre-sharpening prior to using layers. Then I can just leave the eraser at 100% and not worry about it.
Quoting RonS (Reply 4): I've never gotten a good explanation on the reason to flatten image or flatten layers,etc, so I just either Save As and Save for the Web when I'm done editing.
I don't really know, to be honest. But sometimes I'll look at an image after sharpening and realize it could be a bit brighter or what-have-you. And if I don't flatten the image, I'll only brighten the selected layer.
Basically, I like to have multiple layers for only as much as necessary.
"Two and a Half Men" was filmed in front of a live ostrich.
spencer From United Kingdom, joined Apr 2004, 1624 posts, RR: 19 Reply 6, posted (1 year 7 months 4 days 8 hours ago) and read 2755 times:
Select the sky if it's a "sky" shot, CTRL+SHIFT+i to reverse the selection so the aircraft is selected (as sometimes it can be quite long-winded to select the entire aircraft in one foul swoop), then hit SELECT>MODIFY>EXPAND (norm by 1px), then sharpen in whatever method you chose fit. It's also a good way to NR the sky before you reverse the selection.
Spence.
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90% of the time I just sharpen the background and aircraft all together.
A lot of people do seem to do that.
I kind of do both...If the background is blurry (due to panning) then I will not sharpen it, but if its a sharp background then I will sharpen it along with the aircraft.
darreno1 From United States of America, joined Jun 2010, 214 posts, RR: 0 Reply 9, posted (1 year 7 months 4 days 2 hours ago) and read 2677 times:
My method is similar to Vikkyvik and Rons's. I use the unsharp mask tool as well (~175-200/.3/1 initial pass then after image resize, maybe 20-50 if needed), and never sharpen the sky. Sometimes I will use two layers, sharpen, flatten, then layer once again sharpen etc. The d7000 does a phenomenal job with noise so I usually only do one pass and hardly ever need to do selective NR, even in shadows.
darreno1 From United States of America, joined Jun 2010, 214 posts, RR: 0 Reply 11, posted (1 year 7 months 3 days ago) and read 2554 times:
Quoting jid (Reply 10):
The first method is far better than all these wand waggler methods who rightly dont want to sharpen the sky ... but what ever suites you.
Having revisited this edge sharpening technique, I have to agree with you. A year ago when I tried it, it seemed rather complex. Now that I've had some editing experience, it is a lot less intimidating. I Just applied it to a couple of my recent shots and was pleasantly surprised. It definitely cut down on my workflow time and no 'wand waggling' was needed. Thanks for posting!
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