76 DIGITAL CAMERA^ JUNE 2019 http://www.digitalcameraworld.com
Sharpen the smart way
Discover how to use one of the most advanced
sharpening tools Photoshop has to offer...
Sharpen basics
Found in the Photoshop toolbar, the
Sharpen tool lets you apply localised
sharpening. It’s useful for sharpening
the areas of a photo that might need
it most, like the eyes in a portrait or
a tree in a landscape.
The tool works like a paintbrush: you
simply set a strength, then paint over
parts of the image to sharpen the details.
It’s best to tick ‘Protect Tones’ and set
Strength fairly low – around 10-20 – then
build up the sharpening gradually. It’s also
a good idea to set the tool to Sample All
Layers, then paint on a new empty layer
to keep the sharpening non-destructive.James
Paterson
With a decade as a writer
and photographer behind
him, James knows exactly
which Photoshop and
Lightroom tools and
techniques matter most.ost sharpening commands offer
just a few simple controls –
usually a strength or amount
setting and a radius. By contrast,
Photoshop’s Smart Sharpen
command gives you a host of different options.
It’s for those who want to apply controlled,
methodical sharpening to their photos. In
this tutorial I’ll explore the key settings and
controls you need to know to get the most
out of this advanced sharpening tool.
Smart Sharpen is one of the two best
sharpening commands in Photoshop – the
other is Unsharp Mask. Of the two, Smart
Sharpen offers a greater range of features.
As well as these two sharpening filters, there’s
also the excellent Detail Panel in Camera
Raw – but the Detail Panel should be thought
of as a ‘capture sharpening’ tool, to be applied
in the early stages of your workflow in order to
correct the inherent softness in raw photos.
By contrast, Smart Sharpen is a tool that’s
best suited to ‘output sharpening’, which
should occur towards the end of your workflow.
Apply Smart Sharpen after your image has
been worked on and resized for a specific
output, whether that’s for a print or for
viewing on-screen. It’s a task at which
this powerful command excels...M
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