Wednesday, February 15, 2017
Instant Sharpening in Photoshop
Instant Sharpening in Photoshop
Some images may lack sharpness which can be corrected in a few steps in Photoshop. You need not be an expert to do it. All it takes are three layers, desaturation, a Black layer Mask and Unsharp Mask. The process will work with all images.
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Step 1 : I have opened this free stock image in Photoshop. You will find it here
It belongs to lpool
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The sharpened image.
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Step 2 : Press CTRL+J to duplicate the Background Layer.
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Step 3 : Press CTRL+SHIFT+U to desaturate the image.
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Step 4 : Change the Blend Mode to Soft Light.
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You will immediately notice a difference in the image.
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Step 5 : Press CTRL+J again. Layer 1 duplicates into Layer 1 copy.
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Step 6 : Go to Filter>Sharpen>Unsharp Mask.
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Step 7 : In the Unsharp mask set the Amount high at say 200, the Radius at 3.1 and Threshold to 4. Click OK.
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Step 8 : Press ALT+CLICK the layer Mask icon. A Black layer Mask forms next to layer thumbnail on Layer 1 copy.
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Step 9 : Make sure the Foreground Color is set to White.
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Step 10 : Click the Bush Tool.
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Step 11 : In the top panel click to see the Brush Controls. Set the hardness at 0. You need not set the Size. Press ] (right square bracket) to increase the size of the Brush and [ (left square bracket) to decrease it.
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Step 12 : Zoom into the eyes.
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Step 13 : Click the Brush Tool again. Paint the eyes and the eyebrows.
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Step 14 : Paint the lips and teeth.
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Step 15 : Zoom out. Paint the hair and the clothes and you are done.
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Look at the Layer Mask. You can see where you have painted away with the Brush to reveal the sharpened parts.
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The finished image.
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