carolyn bowles - i love magic sharp!!! but I do have a question when you are preparing files for a magazine publication. would you considering using magic sharp twice? so many publications have soft looking images and i want to make sure mine look nice and sharp. please, any advice would be great! (Apr. 2, 2008, 4:11pm)
Jen Stewart - Thanks [b] that's what I was thinking, but I was having a heck of a time wrapping my head around it. ~can you tell that my husband Chris is the album design part of our team? ;) (Mar. 14, 2008, 3:58pm)
[ b ] e c k e r - jen, we tweak the photo, size it, sharpen it, then place it on the layout. if we laid the page out, then sharpened the entire page, the smaller images would have too much sharpening. (Mar. 13, 2008, 5:57pm)
Jen Stewart - [b]ecker, I LOVE magic sharp, I just simply couldn't live without it. I tired many other methods tyring to avoid having to purchase another action set, but this one, BY FAR is worth the money and does a far better job than anything else I've tried. I do have a question though that I've been trying to figure out. How do you sharpen for your albums? As you said I always sharpen the photos at the size they will be printed, so do you place the photos in the album layout then sharpen, or sharpen the image prior to placing in the layout? Because often times we are resizing the photos within the layout as we tweak the layout before the final design. (Mar. 13, 2008, 2:50pm)
audrey - thanks b! this blog has become my new addiction. i check it almost every day! thanks for all your generosity! (Mar. 4, 2008, 8:09pm)
ali - So if you were sharpening a small print and a big canvas, would you use Magic Sharp on both? Would you fade it out on the smaller one, or use it twice on the huge one? (Mar. 3, 2008, 3:30pm)
Matthew Saville - Becker, indeed your web images are by far the BEST anywhere. Your amazingly clear, crisp images are what drove me to make my own blog images look as professional as possible. For those who are either broke or super geeky, here's a tip to get you started: Sarpening for the WEB is a whole different world than sharpening for print. For the web, try unsharp mask at amount 500, radius 0.2. Yes I said amount 500. (of course you can throttle it down to 400 or 350 as needed) Do it AFTER you re-size for the web, of course! These parameters are the rough concept behind the Kubota action... =Matt= (Mar. 1, 2008, 6:49pm)
delores - i'll be broke in a minute trying to keep up .. .. ha, ha, ha... thanks {b}.. how is this different from school in March? (Feb. 29, 2008, 1:36pm)
[ b ] e c k e r - here are a bunch of answers: audrey, there is no right or wrong way to sharpen... it only matters that sharpening is the last thing to do to a file before it is outputted, in other words... do all of your PS work, resize, then sharpen. ----- ryan, i use AWB 99% of the time. the 5D has a great sensor. ----- jess, yup, that is in camera B&W... not bad eh? ----- jannelle, you should still turn off in camera sharpening and then use unsharp mark in photoshop to tweak your images... find some settings online somewhere. dave, true, with RAW a lot of the in camera settings are "pointless" as you say... but i like to get the image as good as possible in camera so i have less work to do to the shots in post. while you are fiddling with your RAW files, i am playing online poker or doing something much more fun. rachel, thanks for your sweet comment! - and folks, about the purple chair, my old assistant amanda moved to a smaller place and didn't have room for her big purple chair so it has been in my garage for a couple of years now. (Feb. 29, 2008, 10:53am)
audrey - becker....i don't have the kubota image tools. i use cs2. after seeing this i may have to invest in kubota. however, i do my sharpening with unsharp mask in cs2. is that the wrong way to do it??? help! (Feb. 29, 2008, 9:54am)
Ryan Cohen - Yo [b], I'm glad we're talking about sharpening. But what about White Balance? What setting do you use, especially since you shoot JPG? What setting do you recommend (like "k" for consistency)? Thanks! (Feb. 29, 2008, 9:34am)
jess - I forgot to ask you [b]... your bride image you posted, is that the in-camera b&w? It is very nice! (Feb. 29, 2008, 8:09am)
Camille Ackerman - "Just take my word for it!" OK, we will Professor [b}! =) Good job - really appreciate the [b] school! (Feb. 29, 2008, 1:31am)
Shelley - I am on holidays for the next 10 days and I won't be able to get my [b]ecker fix...I will miss you...sniff sniff (Feb. 29, 2008, 12:37am)
Mark Zemnick - I wondered why your images plus Jessica & Jasmine images look so sharp. Thank you for sharing this info with us. I have tried it and it so cool that it does make a big difference. :-) (Feb. 28, 2008, 11:46pm)
Karen Ard - That chair blooper is friggin' hilarious!!! (Feb. 28, 2008, 10:50pm)
Dustin Francis - MagicSharp is a combination of a local contrast enhancement and a standard sharpening adjusment. Local contrast enhancement gives the image that pop and the standard USM adjustment gives the sizzle. For those of you who want to try it. Using USM, try a low amount (between 10-30) with a high radius (between 25-50) with a low threshhold (0-10) for the local contrast enhancement. Then for the second USM pass use a high amount (150-250) with a low radius (.3-.7) and a low threshhold (0-10). Then fade the luminosity 100% so you don't introduce more noise if you have a noisier image. This method works great, but I think Kevin Kubota nailed the values. You can create the MagicSharp action exactly using the above method, just play around and see what values work for you the best. (Feb. 28, 2008, 10:22pm)
Lacey - Very sharp indeed b. The chair. . . I don't even know what to say! Do you put newbies in it to make them feel tiny? (Feb. 28, 2008, 9:40pm)
Brian Khang - I was gonna ask you the other night, why do you have that big chair? It's as tall as the garage roof. I say you put that in the living room and reupholster it. (Feb. 28, 2008, 8:48pm)
Janelle Vano - Hi Becker! I'm one who left a comment about this and I was SO excited when I saw today's title. My problem now is...in-camera (Nikon) sharpening is all I do (single mom that can't afftord Magic Sharp yet). So, I'm in the middle of creating my new site (I'll link this comment to it, even though it's not official up yet) and now I'm looking at my images and wondering if mine look 'digital' ??? I'd love your opinion...before I email everyone I know to announce this new site! Thanks so much for all you're doing!!! (Feb. 28, 2008, 8:08pm)
Melissa Koehler - Dear king [b]ecker- Your examples are awesome. I am a huge fan of Magic Sharp too. Your throne is huge.. (Feb. 28, 2008, 7:30pm)
Dave T. - For RAW shooters, you can always sharpen in lightroom, Canon DPP, or Nikon Capture. any camera settings are pointless. I haven't tried Kubota's SW yet, but have Nik sharpener on order & hope this works as well as MagicSoft. Great post. (Feb. 28, 2008, 5:48pm)
Desiree Hayes - Okay, watching this just cost me money. HAHAHAHA Off to try magic sharp! I normally just do USM 14/40/3...how I got that number I have no idea. LOL (Feb. 28, 2008, 5:25pm)
Rachel - I am so grateful for you! You are my inspiration and the smile that keeps me going on this path :) Can't think of a better way to learn than a little bit each day. (Feb. 28, 2008, 5:25pm)
Mia - What is that? The Alice in Wonderland chair??? Or did you just shrink? VERY FUNNY! (Feb. 28, 2008, 4:44pm)
Lisa O'Connor - Agree!! I rarely laugh-out-loud when I'm working by myself but that purple chair is too much -hee-hee!! I'm now off to experiment with my tools.....ahem...... Photoshop/Action tools .....[b]ravo [b]ecker!! (Feb. 28, 2008, 4:09pm)
ScotWharton - Gotta love that blooper reel! (Feb. 28, 2008, 3:52pm)
Teresa - Great videos. Everyday, I learn something new each time and have fun watching them. You have to visit AZ. And BTW, how tall is the chair? Love the endings, too. (Feb. 28, 2008, 3:48pm)
Amanda Donaho - Quick question Becker - Do you apply Magic Sharp BEFORE your other PS editing or AFTER? Maybe it doesn't matter... I never know! Thanks! (Feb. 28, 2008, 3:48pm)
Shawn Kloster - I totally agree about sharpening. That "digital" look is VERY apparent when sharpening is performed incorrectly. As for the chair at the end... AWESOME! It looked like you were shrinking as you sat into it. =) Haha... (Feb. 28, 2008, 3:48pm)
Jasmine* - The Chair is PRICELESS!! :) xoxo... (Feb. 28, 2008, 3:47pm)
Jamie Stoia - Becker... I watch B school every day! You have to keep putting in the bloopers at the end. This one cracked me up!!! Quick Question- what do you resize your blog images to and resolution? (Feb. 28, 2008, 3:31pm)
Rene - Hello America :-) I love this website and I am checking it every day from The Netherlands. I am a non-professional photographer but sometimes I am doing something professional ;-) I hope to learn even more from you by checking this site every day. Greetings René (Feb. 28, 2008, 3:21pm)
jess - I can't believe I've owned Kubota's actions for almost a YEAR and I have never tried the magic sharp!?!? Am I NUTS? (I must be!). I've always used the Smart Sharpen filter on a dup layer and adjusted the opacity as needed. Geesh, I have to try that magic sharp NOW! And yeah, that chair is a hoot! You look so small in it! (Feb. 28, 2008, 3:12pm)
Melissa Powell - Wow! I'm sold! (Feb. 28, 2008, 3:12pm)
Craig - photographer!! - I take it from that, not sharpening until the final output size web/print etc (always the LAST step) is important too?? (Feb. 28, 2008, 2:57pm)
brooke b - this is fantastic info! thank you. your images ALWAYS look sooooooo sharp, and now i know your little secret. i am off to check those actions out! (Feb. 28, 2008, 2:55pm)
Jennifer - OMG, the chair at the end is too much! (Feb. 28, 2008, 2:47pm)