HDR Cookbook - Sharpening

By On 10. August 2010 · 18 Comments

Sharpening is a vital step in post-processing. Especially the HDR process tends to soften images. Most people use the Unsharp Mask filter to sharpen their images. While this usually works acceptably well, it has an important drawback: it is destructive. That is, is changes the actual pixels of the image layer it is applied to. Thus, you cannot easily undo it or change its intensity after you applied it. More importantly however, it cannot be easily applied to images that consist of blended layers (where different parts of the image are on different layers which are blended together using layer masks. In this case, you would have to apply the unsharp mask to each layer separately.

There is a quick an easy way around this using the High-Pass filer in Photoshop.

Requirements and Assumptions

  1. I assume that you have one layer that represents your image. You will need to copy this layer and apply the high-pass filter to it. If your image data is dispersed over multiple layers (e.g. two layers blended into each other using layer masks, then you will have to reduce these to a single layer which you can use for the sharpening. Select the layers in the Layers palette, right-click on one of them and select “Merge layers” from the popup menu.
  2. Any kind of retouching has to be completed before you do the sharpening! If you do the sharpening before the retouch (e.g. removing unwanted objects of artifacts) that shadows of these objects will remain in the sharpening layer and you have to redo the sharpening.

Overview

The whole process is rather simple:

  1. We make a copy of the image layer and set the layer mode to Overlay
  2. We apply the High-pass filter to this layer

Remarks before we start

Setting the zoom: Before you start applying any sharpening (no matter which method you use) set the zoom level to 100%, 50% or 25%. Any zoom level in between these will cause interpolation artifacts on the screen that will make it hard to judge the result.

Sharpening for print or screen (Internet): It is well-known that you need to sharpen more aggressively when you want to print the resulting image as opposed to when you want to have it displayed on-screen. Keep that in mind while you sharpen the image. How much more aggressively you have to apply the sharpening depends on the print size and other factors. A bit of experimenting is necessary here. As a rule of thumb: If it looks good on the screen, you may need to ramp it up a notch for printing to a point where you would say it is a bit too much.

Detailed Process

  1. Create a copy of the image layer. We will call this layer the “sharpening layer”. If you apply noise reduction, you should sharpen after the noise reduction step, and you should use the layer on which you reduced the noise. This ensures that your sharpening will not amplify any noise artifacts but only the edges in the image.
  2. Set the new copy’s layer mode (drop-down menu at the top of the Layers palette) to “Overlay”. You image will suddenly have an unnaturally high contrast. Don’t worry this will disappear.
  3. Position the sharpening layer before all other layers in the layer stack that carry relevant information.Only those pixels below the sharpening layer will be sharpened.
  4. Select the new layer copy and choose “High-Pass…” filter from the “Other” section of the “Filters” menu.
  5. In the dialog that appears set the slider to a value between 2 and 4, depending on the image content, the image size and your preferences. If you check the preview box in the dialog, you can see the effect directly in the image.
  6. Click Ok when you’re done.
  7. You can adjust the intensity of the sharpening at any time by setting the opacity of the new sharpening layer.

Selective Sharpening

Some images require selective sharpening where some parts of the image (e.g. the bricks in a wall) are sharpened while others (e.g. the sky) remain untouched. This can be easily achieved with the high-pass filter method as follows:

  1. Create a layer mask on the sharpening layer.
  2. When you only want to sharpen small regions, Invert the mask by selecting it and pressing Ctrl-I. The mask is now completely black.
  3. Use the white brush to reveal any part of it to sharpen the image in those areas.

A variant of this selective sharpening is the following:

  1. Select those parts of the image that you want to sharpen using any of the selection tools available to you.
  2. Select the sharpening layer and create a layer mask from the selection.
  3. You may want to apply a slight blur to the layer mask (e.g. with a Gaussian Blur filter with a radius between 2 and 5) if the sharpening has unnaturally harsh edges.

    Two selective sharpening layers - one for the chains (with a group mask) and one for the arches (with a layer mask)

Selective sharpening can also be easily combined with a general sharpening by having one global sharpening layer as explained at the beginning of this section and one or more sharpening layers for specific areas of the image with respective layer masks. Fine-tine the overall result by changing the opacities of these layers.

Please Refer to This Page!

Did you find this Tutorial helpful? Did you use it in your work? Then there is a simple way of giving something back to me:

Please refer to this page when presenting your work online. You can simply use the following HTML code in your image description to refer to this site in a way that you think is appropriate:

 

<a href=”http://farbspiel-photo.com/”>HDR Cookbook</a>

 

Why should you bother to refer to this page? Well, for you it is a convenient way of revealing information about your work. And you know, the more information you give, the more attention you get. You do not need to write a whole novel because I already did this for you here. For me, the reference is beneficial because it generates some attention for this cookbook.

So, you see that referring to this page is good for both of us – a real win-win situation. :-)

Thanks!

Posts you may also like:

Image before noise reductionHDR Cookbook – Noise Reduction Basics Hole - 01HDR Cookbook – Adding a Vignette Effect Fine tuning - 01HDR Cookbook – Reducing Halos Adjust Windows - ResetAll - 01HDR Cookbook – The General HDR Workflow
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18 Responses to HDR Cookbook - Sharpening

  1. terrence says:
    29. October 2010 at 16:41

    is there a difference between “merge layres” and “flatten image”; especially in terms of final image quality?

    thanks

    Reply
    • farbspiel says:
      30. October 2010 at 21:48

      Hi Terrence,

      “flatten image” simply merges all layers. “merge layers” allows you to merge two or more specific layers. There is no difference in terms of image quality.

      Cheers

      Reply
  2. eric says:
    10. December 2010 at 20:44

    I like this blog so far! great job

    Reply
  3. Gary guest says:
    18. April 2011 at 21:23

    Thanks for the information. I never do a lot of ajustment in my HDR photos, however after reading this artical and applying the adjustments I found a big difference in the out come of my shot. I have not posted any photos yet but I have played with it a bit more I will. Thanks a lot farbspiel.
    Will you ever print a book on this subject?

    Reply
  4. Mark Brown says:
    26. May 2011 at 02:39

    Farbspiel,

    I’d be willing to pay about 29.99 or so in US Dollars. I love books on photography and prefer turning pages to clicking on links and after all the masking you’ll have me doing, I think I’ll be clicking enough. Either way, thanks so much for all the tips, tricks and techniques!

    Reply
    • farbspiel says:
      26. May 2011 at 06:44

      Hi Mark!

      Wow! $29.99!!! Accepted! Let me just quickly swipe your credit card through here. ;-)

      No, seriously! It’s good to hear how much the information would actually be worth for you. You got me thinking as to whether I shall publish this information in a more couch-friendly format.

      Cheers

      Reply
  5. Granbunny says:
    12. November 2011 at 17:53

    I was just referred to this site and am looking forward to trying your various techniques and magical hints.

    As to publishing: I’ve bought several of Jim Zuckerman’s books, his DVD’s, and two of his ebooks. I love his DVD’s when I’m having trouble with concepts, because it is though he is sitting right next to me explaining how something is done and I can put it on pause or play something over and over again without driving him crazy.

    I find the ebooks take less space than regular books and don’t require page flipping while sitting at the computer. I just copied them to my hard drive and they are easily accessible whenever I need them. They can also be copied to an Ipad or Kindle device (although I don’t have those).

    I’d be willing to pay the same price for your many tips in US dollars that you have online in the form of an ebook.

    Reply
  6. eha1990 says:
    1. March 2012 at 19:31

    I would definitely like to see your website turned into a book or ebook, I’d pay whatever price you’d charge for the book. You have an excellent wealth of information here that other photographers charge for.

    Reply
  7. nico says:
    28. November 2012 at 16:46

    Hello,

    Very good work and thank you for sharing knowledge
    I ask myself a question:
    In early development files in lightroom, CameraRAW … do you pre-sharp your images, or do you leave the sliders to 0 and make sharpening process in photoshop at the end of wokflow?
    Thank you in advance

    Reply
  8. Roman Shymko says:
    20. February 2013 at 08:57

    Hi Klaus,
    Thanks for another great article.Nice trick with High-Pass! I was using something like that but selecting the edges and then applying some sharpening to that selection. Your way is much easier to use.
    Now I’m using Sharpener Pro ©Nik Software. This tool give you nice features but I’ve tested the results and High-Pass method makes less noise in result image (when applying without masking to whole image).
    And I’m agree that sharpening has to be done in the end.
    Thanks again, Klaus! Nice article.

    Reply
    • farbspiel says:
      25. February 2013 at 06:02

      Thanks for sharing your process, Roman!

      There are many tools out there for sharpening. The High-Pass method is simple and yet effective, and it does not require any additional expenses.

      For more sophisticated sharpening, I can recommend Topaz InFocus, and Nik’s tool should also do a great job.

      Regards
      Klaus

      Reply
  9. David B says:
    21. February 2013 at 04:42

    Have you looked into the new features of Lightroom 4 and how they might work with your workflow?

    I’m greatly impressed with the LR4 features listed below:

    1. general image adjustment, highlights, shadows, clarity. these now work on 32bit tiffs and so can be used for final adjustments on the HDR file after alignment and merging.

    2. CA and fringing correction. These work VERY well. I am very impressed. It’s like buying a new set of high(er) end lenses.

    3. Noise reduction and sharpening with detail and masking controls. I understand these are improved features, though I haven’t tried older LR versions. I would like to hear if someone tests them compared to the dedicated applications you use.

    I don’t have Photoshop, other than old CS2, so I’m still looking for the best HDR app to use in conjunction with Lightroom4. I’m probably not going to shell out the bucks for a new Photoshop anytime soon. I do have PSE11, but the 8bit processing becomes a limitation quite often, even on non-HDR images.

    Reply
    • farbspiel says:
      25. February 2013 at 06:09

      Hi David,

      I don’t use LR. So, I cannot really comment on the features. What I do know however, is that the Raw engie is the same as in Adobe Camera Raw, which is excellent. Overall, LR is certainly well capable. It’s the weapon of choice for many professional photographers.

      The best HDR app? That’s tough. It depends on your taste. Try out a few and compare the results.

      Regards
      Klaus

      Reply

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