Expert Sharpening Techniques or Plug-Ins?

Hey Everyone,

New to these forums, but not new to Photoshop. I'm a tech for a photo studio and know PS pretty well. I'm trying to add resolution/file size to images and maintain as much sharpness as possible. Yes, we can increase the file size and go to UnSharp Mask to sharpen again... being carful not to over sharpen the image. But that can only get you so far.

I know I won't gain any more detail than what is already there. And, if the image is a scan, rescanning will only get me more film grain or halftone pattern... It won't give me a sharper edge image. Professional images used for posters and billboards are very sharp and I know they are shot with medium format film, ect...

Are there any special techniques (other than simply doing unsharp mask)? I did find ONE plug in filter product out there... nik Sharpener Pro! http://www.nikmultimedia.com/usa/products/maincontent/all_products/products.shtml#sharpenerprod

Any others? Will this do the trick and is it worth the price? Any help would be great. Thanks

mike

There is many way to sharpen an image... most with layer trick...

These 2 are pretty easy and quick... they sharp with out pixelating and image!

Trick one...

1) Make a copy of your background...
2) Select your new layer
3) Go to Filter and chose Stylize then Emboss
4) Apply theses value (change them to fit your need) Angle = (light direction) Height 1 Amount 30o, then press ok
5) Change the blending mode of your layer to Soft light.

Done!
There is a (minor if not futile) concern about this trick, the image will seem to move shift 1 pixel to follow than angle of the emboss filter...

Trick two (similar)(Sharpening will be a bit lower)

1) Make a copy of your background...
2) Select your new layer
3) Go to Filter and chose Other then High Pass
4) Set the radius to 2 (change to fit your needs) then press ok
5) Change the blending mode of your layer to Soft light.

Done!

try www.retouchpro.com if they dont have the answer their nobody does.

have you tried duplicating image run a high pass filter and then changing blend mode to soft light (experiment with high pass settings, but I would err on the side of high)

Try changing your color mode to LAB and sharpening the L channel. It will allow you higher levels of sharpening without color shifts.

Or sharpen through a high pass filtered layer.
1) Duplicate your background image layer
2) High pass it. experiment with the radius setting, it will take some tinkering.
3) change blend mode to soft light
4) adjust opacity of the layer to get the degree of sharpening you need

This suceeds in sharpening the places that need it most (areas of greatest contrast, and edges) without higlighting other areas. And its complete reversible and changable without affecting your original image.

sorry , I don't understand 2) :(