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2.

Here, I enlarged the image preview to 200% and set the Color slider to zero. As you can see, there were a lot of color noise artifacts in this image.

3.

In this step, I applied a Color noise reduction of 60. The Color Detail slider can do a good job resolving the problem of color edge bleed that is commonly associated with Color noise reductions. However, an excessive amount can cause edges with color contrast to appear unnaturally over-sharpened, so I applied a Color Detail setting here of 30.

4.

In this final version I applied a Luminance noise reduction of 35 with a Luminance Detail setting of 20 and a Luminance Contrast setting of 70.

Localized sharpening in Photoshop

Smart Sharpen filter

We have so far seen how to apply localized sharpening in Camera Raw. Let me now show you a few ways this can be done directly in Photoshop. One way is to use the Smart Sharpen filter. Don't be too taken in by the fact that it's called a ‘smart’ sharpening filter. Some people figure this is a kind of ‘super unsharp mask’ filter and might therefore be a better tool to use for general sharpening. If applied correctly, it can be used to sharpen areas where there is a distinct lack of sharpness, but if used badly it can soon introduce ugly artifacts (see Figure 4.12). The Smart Sharpen filter also runs very slowly compared with the Unsharp Mask filter and Camera Raw sharpening. Therefore, I generally consider Smart Sharpen to be more useful as a tool for ‘corrective’ rather than one for general sharpening.

Figure 4.12 Take care when using the Smart Sharpen filter. If you apply an excessive amount of Smart Sharpen this can lead to ugly artifacts like those seen in the bottom half of this screen grab.

Basic Smart Sharpen mode

The Smart Sharpen filter has three blur removal modes: Gaussian Blur is more or less the same as the Unsharp Mask filter, but the Lens Blur method is the more useful as it enables you to counteract optical lens blurring. Lastly, there is Motion Blur removal, which can sometimes be effective at removing small amounts of motion blur from an image. After you have selected a blur removal method, you can use the Amount and Radius slider controls to adjust the sharpening effect.

In the example on the page opposite I first went to the Filter menu and chose ‘ Convert for Smart Filters’, which converted the Background layer to a Smart Object layer. This allowed me to apply the Smart Sharpen filter as a ‘smart filter’, where I could edit the filter effect coverage by painting on the layer mask. An alternative option would be to duplicate the Background layer and apply the Smart Sharpen filter to that layer, but the advantage of the Smart Object/Smart filter layer approach is that the Smart Sharpen filter settings remain editable - you simply double-click the Smart Sharpen layer to reopen the filter dialog shown in Step 1.

Improved sharpen tool

The sharpen tool in Photoshop has been improved in CS5. The new Protect Detail mode utilizes a new algorithm that minimizes any pixelation when the sharpen tool is used to emphasize image details. The Protect Detail mode can therefore faithfully enhance high frequency image details without introducing noticeable artifacts (see Figure 4.13).

Figure 4.13 This shows the sharpen tool options, including the new Protect Detail mode.

1.

This shows a close-up view of a photograph where the main subject was slightly out of focus. I didn't want to apply any further global sharpening as this would have created artifacts in the background. I converted the Background image layer to a Smart Object and applied the Smart Sharpen filter using the settings shown here.

2.

The Smart Sharpening effect worked fine on the statue, but created noticeable image artifacts in the background (see Figure 4.12), so I clicked on the Smart Object mask layer, filled with black and painted on this layer with white so that the smart filtering was revealed on the statue