35 Postal Photography Club

Digital darkroom

Tip of The Month Jan 08

For subtle sharpening, and to avoid the halo effect sometimes present when using unsharp mask, try using Hi Pass Filter. The following steps may be useful:

1. Open the image in Photoshop.
2. Use the layers pallet to make a copy of the background by dragging it over the new layer icon.
3. Using the top menu bar, go to Filter>Other>Hipass.
4. Experiment with the radius, but 10 is a good starting point.
5. In the layers pallet, change the blend mode from Normal to Overlay [see below for other option].
6. Ensure all layer eyes are on, go to Merge Visible or Flatten Image.

Try substituting step 5 by using the Soft Light blending option if you want a more subtle, gentler effect.

To sharpen only an area of an image: open the image, make a selection and feather it; hit CTRL + J to send the selection to a layer and then follow steps 3 onwards.