Sharpening For Web Display

[Ripley]

I've had a google and have seen different methods and variety but was wondering what the DOL pros here do? I'm sharpening some photos for web. I have a pbase account up and running for my wildlife/scenic images and the sharpening for web issue has me . I do an initial sharpen on my full size pic before resizing it down; but after a google it says not to do this and I should resize my file to web size (about 650-680 x 400 or something) and then give it a sharpen at about 100/1/1. However some of the pics then look overly sharpened and I'm not a fan of oversharpened landscapes and animal pics.

Should I just stick with my original settings and then resize, choose 'bicubic sharper' and 'save for web' on 'high' quality setting? Or should I sharpen full size, reduce and then a light sharpen at about 25/1/1??

[Linda K]

I only sharpen an original file once it is cropped and ready to go t the printers - ie if I want the same photo as a 5x7, 8x10 etc I crop it first, then sharpen and save, then would go back to the original unsharpened file, crop again, then apply sharpening at that size. For web files, same deal, I take the unsharpened file, crop to web size, then apply my web sharpening - which is done to taste on a file - I have made my own action which applies a sharpening as a 3 step process - USM (unsharp mask), 110 - 0.3 - 0, then USM 110, 0.2, 0 then USM 100, 0.2, 0 (then I will look at file, go back into history if need be and backstep. Web files I always save as about a 10 size image.

[Ripley]

Thanks LindaK. I used a setting of 300/0.3/0 on an 800 x image as suggested for bird pics, and it was way too sharp, so I dropped it to 200/0.3/0 and still too sharp. Maybe it's my lens - I have a very good prime for bird photos and even hand holding it, OOC images are pretty sharp already. I have a 30D and take pics in RAW. I think I'll have to play around with settings and see how it looks on a different computer tomorrow.

Thanks for your advice.

Edited May 27, 2010 by Ripley

[kja]

Sharpen should be your last step and your method and settings will likely vary depending on your final output.

I suck at remembering to sharpen before I put stuff on the web ;) When I do remember, I use a variety of different methods, depending on my brain function on a day LOL

So, basically, I am no help at all.

But do remember that some sites, like flickr, also sharpen (or decrease quality or other mods) your images when you upload so you might have to tweak for different applications.

[Ripley]

Thanks, kja. It's interesting to hear what others do. I've edited some pics using sharpening that looks ok on my home computer, but I want to see them on another monitor so I'll have a look on my work monitor tomorrow. My one at home is calibrated, the one at work is not.