Make those photos better.

[QUOTE=thehermit]I don't much like any of the sharpen tools, I prefer duplicating the layer and running a high pass filter with either soft light blend mode or hard light with reduced opacity blend mode (or any other suitable blend mode. (oh and try a radius of 3-10 depending on picture or result wanted). [/QUOTE]
Wow Hermit! I've been using Unsharp Mask for a long time now and I never attemptd to use high-pass layer until now. The results are fantastic. great tip! Thanks.

[QUOTE=Neurothustra]Wow Hermit! I've been using Unsharp Mask for a long time now and I never attemptd to use high-pass layer until now. The results are fantastic. great tip! Thanks.[/QUOTE]

Yup, of my 2 years here, this is easily the best tip/technique that I have learned. It may not seem like much, but I think the results of it are second to none, and it saves me time.

Then you press Ctrl + L.
First I change the first arrow and make everything that is grayish black.Then take the last arrow and make everything white.
Then take the middle arrow to make it just the way you want it...

To adjust the image for proper levels, this is the way I learnt (not my technique, stolen with thanks from Katrin Eisemann's excellent book on retouching). I recite from memory now so apologies for a long winded or confusing explanation, without pictures.

Make sure that your photo or image does not have a white or black border, you just want the image and no extraneous information. Create a new threshold adjustment layer and move the slider all the way to the left, when you have only a couple of black pixels viewable in a sea of white, click OK.

Use the Colour Sampler Tool (under the Eyedropper Tool). Press Caps Lock to define your cursor for more accurate selection, now zoom in real close and select the black pixel. Make sure you have the black pixel selected.

Go back to the Layer Palette and double-click the Threshold adjustment layer. Move the slider all the way to the right and repeat the above process but marking out the whitest point.

Discard your Threshold adjustment layer when you have marked out both B&W points.

Create a Curves adjustment layer. Locate the the three eyedroppers (set black point, neutral point and white point respectively). Click on the white eyedropper and locate the whitest point in your picture and (still using Caps Lock for accuracy) click on the cross-hair. Repeat for black point.

Welcome to the world of Levels adjustment - as I say thanks to KE and her book for that technique - I would also point out that my High Pass technique shared here is not my own and is knowledge gained from a source forgotten.

I share this knowledge not claiming it as my own but for the sake of learning new techniques and methods.

sorry for the long posts recently :o

thehermit is the unsung hero of this board. But like a hermit, we don't see him often enough or get enough info out of him.

PM a portfolio or something man.

[QUOTE=thehermit]I don't much like any of the sharpen tools, I prefer duplicating the layer and running a high pass filter with either soft light blend mode or hard light with reduced opacity blend mode (or any other suitable blend mode. (oh and try a radius of 3-10 depending on picture or result wanted).

Good thing about PS is there are many solutions to reach the same goals[/QUOTE]

omfg that is an unbelieveable trick. thanks!!!!

hey, just wanted to add my thanks(!!!), there are some awesome tips here =)