Sharpness Ahoy! - DPChallenge Forums

05/12/2003 01:11:01 AM · #1

While saving a recent challenge entry from Photoshop to the web, I selected the Save for web... feature and saved it as a .jpg at a whopping 65% quality, as it needed to be under 150K. However, there was a considerable decrease in sharpness because of the low percentage of quality.

Any tips on making an image sharper? I certainly use Unsharp Mask, but am wondering what else I can do to get that quality and/or sharpness up.

Message edited by author 2003-05-12 01:11:08.

severin

Sony DSC-R1

05/12/2003 01:25:52 AM · #2

did you resize the image before saving it as jpeg, that usually reduces image size significantly

Nikon AF-S DX NIKKOR 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR II

05/12/2003 01:33:23 AM · #3

Originally posted by severin:

did you resize the image before saving it as jpeg, that usually reduces image size significantly

Yes. My normal routine: I fix everything the way I want (including unsharp mask), then I save it. Then I resize the image, add a border, if desired, then use the Save for Web feature. When I close the image, since I've already saved it and saved it for the web, I do not save it again.

This usually works well, but for some photos, to get it under 150K means a drastic drop in image quality.

dacrazyrn

Nikon D300

05/12/2003 02:23:25 AM · #4

The way I go about it for the Save for Web.
Adjust my photo, etc, to how I want it, with sharpness and all. Hit the Save for Web button...wait hours (kidding) for it to process the full size image. Set the longest side to 640 and apply. See what the kb size comes out at. then I start bringing down the quality. I have never submitted one less than 75(%). When I hit that I start bringing the size down, but never under 512 on the longest side. May take a little time, but worth it. I want the best quality look possible, and sometimes bringing size down is the only way. I have never been below 512 or 75% doing this. Usually I can end up with 85% quality and still be at 640 pixels!
I have also heard that putting black (maybe white) borders can reduce the kb size also, because they do not require information (??)

zerocusa

Canon EOS-1D Mark II

Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM

05/12/2003 03:03:22 AM · #5

I use save for web too, but i doesn't save exif data too no?
Then I insert the exif data back using exifer and upload to PBase but still it doesn't show. What did I do wrong?

greenem2

Canon EOS-10D

05/12/2003 04:12:25 AM · #6

dsidwell, there is one thing I would change in your routine. ALWAYS sharpen AFTER you make the final resize. If you sharpen, then resize, it may need to be sharpened again. This may be why your images don't appear as sharp.

Jacko

Canon EOS-20D

Nikon AF-S DX NIKKOR 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR II

05/12/2003 06:03:06 AM · #7

I second that. It took me a while to figure it out, but it is very important to sharpen only after resizing. You will not get nice results if you sharpend the image, resize it, then sharpen again

Originally posted by greenem2:

dsidwell, there is one thing I would change in your routine. ALWAYS sharpen AFTER you make the final resize. If you sharpen, then resize, it may need to be sharpen again. This may be why your images don't appear as sharp.

pinback

Canon EOS-10D

05/12/2003 07:32:23 AM · #8

I third that. You should always sharpen the picture as a final step before saving. I usually save a PSD file with all changes bar resize/sharpening, then resize, sharpen and save in final format.

There's a good tutorial on using USM somewhere on the web. I don't have the reference here at work, but will post it when I get home.

marbo

Nikon D5000

05/12/2003 09:29:21 AM · #9

I resize, sharpen then add a border last. I found if i sharpen with a border you get a sort of halo inside the border.

Fiver

Canon EF 24-105mm f/4.0L IS

05/12/2003 09:41:30 AM · #10

What I have been doing lately...

1) Crop
2) Adjust saturation, Contrast, etc. Then save (a Copy)
3) Filter with Neat Image (if desired)
4) Resize (in PS7)
5) Sharpen
6) Add Boarder (if desired)
7) Save for web

I try to work with the Full resolution photo as long as possible (delay resizing). When I resize I try for multiples of the original resolution (ie resize 50% or 25%) even if this gives me a strange size. This way PhotoShop isn't 'interlacing' the image; filling in the blank spaces with interpreted data. Do you understand what I mean?

I only sharpen once. Always at the end. The only thing you should do after sharpening is add a border.

Message edited by author 2003-05-12 09:43:02.

05/12/2003 10:31:51 AM · #11

I'll try sharpening AFTER I resize, and I'll also try dacrazyrn's method, especially now that I can use my wife's fast new computer (dual processor MAC!).

I would have thought that sharpening after resizing would give the application fewer pixels to work with, and so the sharpening wouldn't be as complex--meaning that weird things would happen in this simplicity, but I guess that's not the case. Thanks for the tip.

I most images, things work out just fine. I'm usually between 75% and 90%. That gets higher with B/W, of course. But really colorful images, like this week's challenges, often bring the complexity of the photo up and the percentage quality down.

pinback

Canon EOS-10D

05/12/2003 10:52:41 AM · #12

One other point. I never use 'Save for Web' - I always just save as a JPEG file, which lets me control the amount of JPEG compression used (not sure if Save for Web lets you do this - never used it). I seem to remember also that Save for Web reduces the number of colours in the image (although I may be wrong or confused on this).

Fiver

Canon EF 24-105mm f/4.0L IS

05/12/2003 10:57:26 AM · #13

Originally posted by pinback:

Save for web has all the controls and more for compression. It also shows you a preview of the output file. Something that Save As... does not. I'm not sure about the Colour thing though.