http://www.luminous-landscape.com/tutorials/instant_photoshop.shtml


Dfine
http://www.graphics.com/modules.php?name=News&file=print&sid=1596 

nik Sharpener Pro! (NSP)

RAW Files

If you are working with files from a digital camera they should preferably be in RAW mode. JPG files have been degraded by the camera and the application by the camera of White Balance and Sharpening has done the same (though to a lesser extent). Apply controls once only in Photoshop for best results.

 Preferably have your scanner or camera apply NO sharpening and do it all in Photoshop.

The trick to high quality Sharpening is to do it in LAB mode using just the luminance (Lightness) layer. This way youčre only affecting the monochrome data not the colour data. This leads to higher quality images and prints.

Go to Image / Mode / Lab Color and then Window / Show Channels. In the Channels palette select the Lightness channel. Now choose Filter / Sharpen / Unsharp Mask.

I find that a setting of 125 / 1.5 / 1 in my scanning software and about the same again in Photoshop does the job nicely, but ...........


You probably have noticed that there are a great number of tools available under Image / Adjust. You'll mainly be using Levels, but this is not the way to get to them. Instead wečll be using one of the most powerful tools in Photoshop, called Adjustment Layers.

A Layer in Photoshop can best be visualized as a piece of clear film overlaying your image. That layer can contain another image or text and can be sized or positioned separately from your main picture. These layers can be turned on and off and merged with layers above and beneath them.

What we'll be using are called Adjustment Layers. But, instead of holding images or text these layers contain adjustments to brightness, contrast and colour balance of the image laying beneath them.

Every time you make a change to a digital image you slightly degrade it.   This is the reason for using Adjustment Layers.

Changes to the image made using an Adjustment Layer are  done to an overlay which can be turned on and off, or deleted at any time.