ptarmigan Posted October 9, 2009 Share #1 Posted October 9, 2009 Advertisement (gone after registration) Just trialling Silver Efx Pro which I am impressed with. I use Photokit Sharpener for all my sharpening and I wondered if Nik is any better? I guess I could try it free for 15 dys but wondered if anyone out there has any experience of it, especially in comparison to Photokit Sharpener which is much much lower cost. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advertisement Posted October 9, 2009 Posted October 9, 2009 Hi ptarmigan, Take a look here Anyone using Nik Sharpener. I'm sure you'll find what you were looking for!
Marty Posted October 9, 2009 Share #2 Posted October 9, 2009 Sorry never used Photokit Sharpener. Nik Sharpener is in the same league as Silver Efex: easy to use, consistent interface, control points, various outputs, and plugs into LR, PS and Aperture. Should you get it? Generally I find sharpening a bit overrated, esp. for prints - often a little Photoshop sharpening is enough, and then only in certain areas... Of course it depends. Just my opinion. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
tobey bilek Posted October 9, 2009 Share #3 Posted October 9, 2009 "Just a "little" for prints" That is exactly the idea of the product. You tell it the size of print, viewing distance, inkjet glossy or matt, web, book, or lazer photo print, and it detirmines the amount required. Our problem is a monitors does not have enough resolution to do this properly on screen for any output except web. I would do a test strip type print like I do in a wet darkroom for exposure, except I would vary the sharpening instead of the exposure. But there is a further problem, three variables except one. That is a lot of experimentation. Change print size or medium, and you have to do it all again. This has got to be worth the few dollars the program costs. Or you can continue to guess if you got it right. It is a little like "first step capture sharpening" where they advise you to replace just what was lost in digital capture. How does one tell what that is ?? Everything on screen is digital. Nothing like a grain focuser and enlarging lens. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
farnz Posted October 11, 2009 Share #4 Posted October 11, 2009 Ian, I used to use Nik sharpener and I found it effective once I understood how to work it. I don't use Nik anymore because I've learnt better techniques that achieve the same end but offer more flexibility. Where a shot needs sharpening I either: 1. create a duplicate layer in PS, apply a high pass filter so that I can just see the edges I want sharpened and no more, and then apply the Soft Light blend mode. If the sharpening is obvious then I can 'throttle back' by decreasing the duplicate layer's opacity to suit. 2. translate into LAB colour space in PS, use USM in the L (Lightness) channel only, reattach the A and B channels and then translate back into RGB. Which technique I use depends on the particular photo, whether I've got other things to do in LAB, and how much time I want to spend on the photo. Pete. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
delander † Posted October 13, 2009 Share #5 Posted October 13, 2009 I use something similar to Pete's but I use hard light for the blend and then throttle back with the opacity. I also use USM with 15/20/0 before the high pass filter. Sometime I simply use the PS smart sharpen. I have used the lab mode as well. I like the Nik software packages although I have only trialled them. However I do think it produces a certain 'look' which becomes recognisable after a while. There is more written about sharpening than virtually anything else in image processing. Jeff Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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