Adobe Photoshop CS5 for Photographers - Martin Evening [119]
Figure 4.3 This shows the Detail panel in the Camera Raw dialog. Note that the Luminance Detail, Luminance Contrast and Color Detail sliders only appear active if the image has been updated to Process Version 2010 (current). Note that in the following steps the screen shots show all the Noise Reduction sliders set at zero. This is because the photo being edited is a TIFF rather than a raw image. When editing a raw photo the above defaults would be used instead.
Sharpening defaults
The Detail panel controls consist of four slider controls: Amount, Radius, Detail and Masking. When you open a raw image via Camera Raw, you will see the default settings shown in Figure 4.4. But as I mentioned earlier, if you open a non-raw image up via Camera Raw, such as a JPEG or TIFF, the Amount setting defaults to 0%. This is because if you are opening a JPEG or TIFF image via Camera Raw it is usually safe to assume that the image has already been pre-sharpened and it is for this reason that the default sharpening for non-raw files is set at zero. You should only apply sharpening to JPEGs or TIFF images if you know for sure that the image has not already been sharpened.
Figure 4.4 This shows the default settings for the Detail panel in Camera Raw when processing a raw image.
The Noise Reduction sliders can be used to remove image noise and we'll come onto these later, but for now I just want to guide you through what the sharpening sliders do.
The sharpening effect sliders
Let's start by looking at the two main sharpening effect controls: Amount and Radius. These two sliders control how much sharpening is applied and how the sharpening gets distributed.
If you want to follow the steps shown over the next few pages, I suggest you make a copy the Figure 4.1 image from the DVD and use Bridge to open it via the Camera Raw dialog. To do this use File Open in Camera Raw, or use the keyboard shortcut. Then go to the Detail panel section (Figure 4.4). If you are viewing a photo at a fit to view preview size you will see a warning message that says: ‘For a more accurate preview, zoom the preview size to 100% or larger when adjusting the controls in this panel’, which means you should follow the advice given here and set the image view magnification in the Camera Raw dialog to a 100% view or higher. The test image I created is actually quite small and will probably display at a 100% preview size anyway. The main thing to remember is that when you are sharpening normal images, the preview display should always be set to a 100% view or higher for you to judge the sharpening accurately. In addition to this I should also point out that the screen shots over the next few pages were all captured as grayscale sharpening previews, where I held down the key as I dragged the sliders. Note that you only get to see these grayscale previews if you are viewing the image at a 100% view or bigger if using Process Version 2003.
Amount slider
1.
The Amount slider is like a volume control. As you increase the Amount the overall sharpening is increased. A default setting of 25% is applied to all raw or raw DNG images, but if you open a TIFF, or JPEG image, Camera Raw assumes the image has already been pre-sharpened and applies a 0% Amount setting. So, if you are editing the image that came from the DVD you will need to set this to 25% to simulate the default setting shown here.
2.
As you increase the Amount setting to 100% you will notice how the image becomes sharper. 100% is plenty strong enough, but you can take the Amount even higher. Camera Raw allows this extra headroom because it can sometimes be necessary when you start dampening the sharpening effect using the Detail and Masking sliders.
Radius slider
1.
The Radius slider is identical to the one found in the Unsharp Mask filter. The Radius determines the width of the halos that are generated around the edges in a photo. A small radius setting can be used to pick out fine detail in a picture, but will have a