Photo Editing: Noise Free Sharpening
If you like the image and use it on your website, linking back to Free-StockPhotos.com is much appreciated. You can simply copy the following html code and paste it on your site:If you’re a stock photographer, shooting really clean and noise free images is a must. Sometimes having your images sharpened with Photoshop USM filter is not such a good idea. Here’s the alternative of getting noise free and artifacts sharpening using High Pass Filter:
1. Copy your background layer.

2. Run the High Pass filter on the new layer. (Filter>Other>High Pass).

3. Change the blending mode on the high pass layer to Soft Light.

4. Adjust the opacity of the high pass layer to get the right amount of sharpening. I usually use 33% or 50%. Then flatten the image.

5. If you want a different number you can just go back one step and adjust the opacity slider however much you want.
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November 6th, 2005 at 12:48 am
Any suggested radius for the high-pass filter? Not being familiar with this method, I find it hard to determine a starting point. Thank you.
November 23rd, 2005 at 1:49 am
kinda lame because you don’t have a before/after pic. but good technique, gotta try it out once i get home =]
November 23rd, 2005 at 7:34 am
Probably the left one… if that doesnt work try the right.
np man glad to have helped and as always: practice makes perfect
December 15th, 2005 at 4:15 pm
wow! it just worked wonders on a family portrait I’m giving to my mom for her birthday. Thanks! - Scott
December 22nd, 2008 at 10:39 am
3 years later, I still think this is a superb sharpening too. Thank you for sharing this.
Now that I am familiar I can answer the question I asked. And the answer is (you guessed it) “it depends” The proper radius to use on the high pass layer depends on the amount of sharpening needed and how much added granularity you find acceptable. For me anywhere between of 7 and 20 pixels works best.