USM

[Jbong]

ok after I have done my leveling and cropping I do alittle auto fix, then I resize to 1024 then I view and then bust out my majic wand to do some USM and when i click on the sky it goes all over the place. I really do not know how to explain but that one of the reason I like static ac. So is there a easier way. I am using PS elemt 8.

Just incase I am not totally clear i get all those little moving lines and dont know how to control them to get it around the AC so that I can inverse and USM.

Thanks

Jason

[Jay Beckman]

Why are you doing selections for Unsharp Mask and not just applying it to the entire image?

Not saying it's wrong, just curious if there's a different method about which I don't know.

If you make your selection(s) and want to swap everything selected to everything that isn't selected, you need to click on SELECTION at the top and choose INVERT from the drop down menu.

[Joe Copalman]

Why are you doing selections for Unsharp Mask and not just applying it to the entire image?

IIRC, this is the method of sharpening recommended by A.net.  Apply unsharp mask to the aircraft only, and don't futz up the sky with needless, additional graininess.  I've done if for a few shots, but it really doesn't make too big of a difference.

[BillOz]

Jason,

The reason you are getting all the moving lines is, those lines enclose the area which is being called the Mask, part of the USM, (UnSharp Mask)  The reason it is all over the place is the Mask selection tool selects areas which are similar in color to the area you put your pointer in and clicked.  The amount that each pixel is similar is controlled by a setting, which you can adjust.  So if you have a airplane in a totally blue sky, then when you select the sky, you should get a decent Mask around the airplane, but then you would want to reverse the Mask, because since you selected the sky, the Mask is around the sky, and so any following commands, such as USM will be applied to the masked area, which would be the sky, and there's seldom reason to sharpen the sky alone.  If the sky has clouds or you have other things in the background, like trees, mountains, UFO's, etc., the Mask is going to be enclosing many different items.  You can get it to enclose just the airplane, but it can be a very time consuming hassle, which is usually not worth the effort, unless it is the one photo you are going to have selected for the cover of National Geographic.

Just apply USM to the whole picture.  The sky is random closely matching pixel colors, so it will not be affected much.

I would suggest applying USM to the full size picture, before you reduce to 1024, because by doing that you have a truer finer representation of your photo, and reducing it in size makes it quite pixelated at the objects edges like wing leading edges and such, relative to overall size.

One last question.  Why are you busting out your Magic Wand when you are Photoshopping?!  Whatever works, I guess.

[Joe Copalman]

Bill, you raise an interesting point regarding applying USM before resizing a photo.  Does this work out fairly well for you?  I've been sharpening my shots only after resizing them to  make sure I'm applying the appropriate level of sharpening for the size of the image.  I do all my noise-reduction prior to resizing though.  It seems to be working out well, but if another way is working out, it might be worth looking into.

Anybody else sharpening before they resize?

[Jbong]

To be honest I before I started submitting pics to A.net and JP.net i had not clue how to edit a picture. I studied those instructions to a Tee. Most of the time I dont have a problem with it but there are curtain occasions that is happens to me. I always use USM on a re sized picture. But it give me a little testing to do.

Billoz you ask why do I break out the Magic Wand for photo shopping. I guess because that's how I taught myself. I am going to try to use USM on the whole picture and see what results I get. Thanks

[Jay Beckman]

It's been my understanding that output sharpening (by whatever means you prefer, High Pass, USM or Lab) is always the last thing you do before posting or printing.

[Jbong]

Thats what i thought. But my question is how do I control all the pixals. Aka marching ants. and make it so the AC is bordered by them and not the 80 thousand of objects in the picture.

[Jay Beckman]

Thats what i thought. But my question is how do I control all the pixals. Aka marching ants. and make it so the AC is bordered by them and not the 80 thousand of objects in the picture.

You need to get a handle on the sensitivity of the selection tool.  The number in the small box at the upper left is how you do this.  Smaller number means you won't take as big a "bite" with each selection click.

Have you tried the Magnetic Lasso tool or the Pen tool to make selections?  How about working with Quick Masks?

The problem with the Magic Wand tool is that you're trying to avoid blue sky while selecting an aircraft that's probably reflecting a ton of blue sky.

[Jbong]

This is what i am talking about.

[Jbong]

I never thought about using the lasso... Will try that.

[Jay Beckman]

You need to adjust the "Tolerance" value when using the Wand:

Tolerance at 10


Tolerance at 40


See how much less it "bit off" at 10?

[BillOz]

Like I said before, if the plane is in a clear sky situation, you can pick the sky, and it will put the Mask edges around the plane and the photo outside edges.  Then you do a Mask reversal, to get the Mask around just the plane.  The difficulty here is in adjusting the Mask selection sensitivity to pixel color differences.  If it is set to be to sensitive, you end up with the Mask too far outside the outer edges of the plane, or if set too loosely, you end up with the Mask edges inside the plane edges.

Masking is simpy a method to restrict what is done in editing, such as lighting, colr adjustment, contrast, sharpening, etc., to only the area within the Mask.  It is not necessary to use, just helpful, in some cases, but you must learn how it works, to use it effectively.

To get good at Masking, you are going to have to read up on and test how the different functions of Masking works, such as addition, subtraction, freehand, etc.   For now, just USM the whole picture, and you will most likely be happy with the result.  This means select USM from the menu, but do not click on the photo anywhere, just adjust the USM settings, and preview the results, and when you're happy, select OK.

I have always done all work to the full resolution file, saved, and then resized to post on the net.  I will do some testing to see how much it affects to sharpen after resizing, but I suspect due to the way resizing affects the edges of objects, sharpening before would be more beneficial, but I will test to see.

The question about breaking out the Magic Wand was a wisecack, no offense, just humor attempt.

[BillOz]

JBong,

In the photo you posted as an example, you will never get the Mask to work good.  There is no easy way for the Mask tools to know what you want to Mask.  You would have to go in and create a Mask virtually by drawing a line around the plane, pixel by pixel, or almost that detailed, to get it to work, but that is not needed here.   Just USM or Sharpen the whole image.

See how in JBeckman's example, there is alot of sky all around the airplane.  In this case, it is easy for PS to select the edge between the plane and the sky, because it is a border between blue, and other colors.

[Jbong]

Like I said before, if the plane is in a clear sky situation, you can pick the sky, and it will put the Mask edges around the plane and the photo outside edges.  Then you do a Mask reversal, to get the Mask around just the plane.  The difficulty here is in adjusting the Mask selection sensitivity to pixel color differences.  If it is set to be to sensitive, you end up with the Mask too far outside the outer edges of the plane, or if set too loosely, you end up with the Mask edges inside the plane edges.

Masking is simpy a method to restrict what is done in editing, such as lighting, colr adjustment, contrast, sharpening, etc., to only the area within the Mask.  It is not necessary to use, just helpful, in some cases, but you must learn how it works, to use it effectively.

To get good at Masking, you are going to have to read up on and test how the different functions of Masking works, such as addition, subtraction, freehand, etc.   For now, just USM the whole picture, and you will most likely be happy with the result.  This means select USM from the menu, but do not click on the photo anywhere, just adjust the USM settings, and preview the results, and when you're happy, select OK.

I have always done all work to the full resolution file, saved, and then resized to post on the net.  I will do some testing to see how much it affects to sharpen after resizing, but I suspect due to the way resizing affects the edges of objects, sharpening before would be more beneficial, but I will test to see.

The question about breaking out the Magic Wand was a wisecack, no offense, just humor attempt.

I am a little slow thats what I thought.