ADJUSTING SHARPNESS

Sharpening works by increasing the contrast between neighboring pixels. All of

PhotoShop’s sharpening functions are located under FILTER->SHARPEN. They include
Sharpen, Sharpen Edges, Sharpen More, Smart Sharpen and Unsharp Mask. You should
only use the last two functions – Smart Sharpen or Unsharp Mask. We are going to use
the Unsharp Mask command in this example.

Amount controls the amount of

sharpening that is applied to the image.
Values over 100% increase the sharpness,
values under 100% decrease the sharpness.
Amount has a maximum value of 500.

Radius controls the width of the edges that

are sharpened. For Web images you
usually want to keep the Radius between
0.5 pixels and 1 pixel. For print images
you usually want to keep the Radius
between 1 pixel and 3 pixels. However, an
individual image may dictate otherwise

Threshold helps control the noise that is

NOTE: You should only adjust images and view
image previews at 100%, 75%, 50%, 25% or 12.5%
introduced in the sharpening process.
Threshold determines the luminosity value
of pixels to be sharpened. For example, a
Threshold of 0 means that all pixels will be
sharpened – generally a situation you want
to avoid. For best results, choose a
Other zoom levels will distorted the effect. Threshold level between 1 and 10.
SAVING PHOTOS FOR THE WEB

PhotoShop has a very easy method for saving photos for the Web. Simply select FILE->
SAVE FOR WEB & DEVICES. Save your image for the Web ONLY after you finish
editing your image. You should also save a high-resolution version of your image with
your adjustments. You will be able to edit this image. PhotoShop applies a great deal of
compression to images saved for the Web, making them much more difficult to edit.

File Format: First, select a file format from the pull-down menu in the top box on the
right-hand side of the screen. The format menu is in the upper-left-hand corner of the first
box, and the choices include GIF, JPEG and PNG. Save photographs in the JPEG format.

Image Quality: After selecting the JPEG format for your photograph, set the image
quality. Higher image quality creates a better image, but a larger file size. Set the image
quality to the lowest level that does not adversely affect the display of the image and that
gives the lowest file size. You can see the file size of your current settings on the lower
left-hand corner of the Save for Web panel, underneath the image. Generally speaking,
you want a file size that is under 100k for the Web.

Image Size: Use the Image Size tab in the lower box on the left-hand size to change the
size of the image. Reducing the image size will reduce the file size of your image.
When you are ready to save your image, click the SAVE button at the top. The Save for
Web Panel also automatically sets your image resolution to 72 pixels per inch, which is
what you want for the Web.
SAVE FOR PRINT

To save images for print instead of for the Web, you do not want to use the Save for Web
and Devices menu item. Instead, you want to finish editing your image, then adjust the
print size with Image Size, and then save the image with FILE->SAVE. The Image Size
panel is located under the IMAGE->IMAGE SIZE menu.

The important thing to remember about the Image Size panel is that the Pixel Dimensions
are of interest to us only if we are saving the image for the Web. For print, you will use
the Document Size settings. Preparing your image for print is relatively easy if you
follow these steps:

1. Uncheck Resample Image

2. Set the Resolution to 300 pixels/inch
3. Recheck Resample Image
4. Resize your printed image by entering the desired size, in inches, in Width and
Height under Document Size. (Make sure Constrain Proportions is checked.)
5. From the drop-down menu under Resample Image, select the best interpolation
method for your image. Choose Bicubic Smoother is you want to make your
image larger, choose Bicubic Sharpener if you want to make your image smaller.
6. Click the OK button when you are done.

After you have adjusted the image size, you can save your image and print directly from
PhotoShop.