High pass filter for sharpening?

[Sandy Witvoet]

Hello all,
I use PSE11... not the most capable, but still is pretty much PS engine-driven. That said...
I generally refrain from using a ton of PP techniques and (other than the basics of straighten, crop, adjust in RAW, convert and check/adjust the various options)...
As a simpler method of sharpening, I've rather stumbled upon the High Pass Filter.

Our Traditional options:
Unsharp Mask.
Newer option: Adjust Sharpness
Both of the above require what seems to be lots of +/- adjustments.

High Pass Sharpening seems to work nicely without oversharpening (it shows you where you may be getting halos). I'm not into "layers" but this one is pretty simple...
- Open photo
- Duplicate layer
- Filter-Other-High Pass (your image will look like a gray mudslide... but not to worry)
- Move slider till you can barely see the outline of your subject.
- Click ok
- In Layers Panel, set Blend mode for Overlay. Sharpened photo shows up.
You can save, merge or flatten (if desired) from there.

Would love to know your thoughts on this process. Thanks!

[Diane Miller]

Set the mode to Overlay FIRST, then you can see how much to move the slider. (Or Soft Light or Hard Light if Overlay isn't the best.)

Don't merge or flatten -- why burn bridges?? You can make your final JPEG or print from a layered master file. If you do other adjustments (as adjustment layers where possible) you may wish you had done a different setting. Don't know about Elements but in PS you can make the High Pass layer a Smart Object which lets yo go back and modify it later without re-doing it.

It's a good method but it isn't really sharpening -- it's more like a narrow-range contrast adjustment. But it can be very effective.

[Don Lacy]

I prefere smart sharpen in PS I have never really like the look of the high pass plus it really does to good of a job sharpening noise.

[shane shacaluga]

Hi Don

If you run NR on the grey High Pass layer before blending, none of the noise is sharpened.

[Don Lacy]

Hi Don

If you run NR on the grey High Pass layer before blending, none of the noise is sharpened.
did not know about that trick thanks for sharing lately I have been using a two stage sharpening workflow where I first run a Gaussian blur layer then an aggressive smart sharpen layer. Really works well on landscape images but hit and miss on avian subjects sometimes I end just going with smart sharpen.

[Don Lacy]

It appears I accidently closed the thread darn iPad it should be fixed

[Diane Miller]

For anyone who is new to High Pass sharpening, for whom it may sound a little complicated, it really isn't. You can run the NR at any time on it - no need to do it before blending. It's just a separate layer and should remain so, malleable at any time. The Blend Mode only affects how the layer "appears to" interact with the layers below, it doesn't change the layer itself.

I change the blend mode before moving the slider so I can see how much to move t.

[Sandy Witvoet]

Thanks Diane, and everyone.... I had neglected to put in the "overlay" step (duh me). Important to do that! And, thanks Shane.... I've not found it to sharpen the noise either. I do like how the slider works, so even if you don't choose to use the HP filter, it shows you a "gray scale" of the sharpest parts of your image.

[Don Railton]

For those of you that want an High pass sharpening action, Morkel has left a link in the 'sticky' section of the landscape forum.

DON