High pass/Overlay vs Unsharp mask

12 years 1 month ago #202509 by Cruso
Opinions on the usage of high pass vs unsharp mask while post processing portraits?


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12 years 1 month ago #202515 by JM 0 DER
They are the same process....just different ways of going about it. I read an article a couple years ago that explained how they were the same. If I can find that article online or one similar I'll post it.


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12 years 1 month ago #202519 by bad mom
I tend to lean towards high pass, as it can be done non-destructively, unlike unsharp mask. And yes I use it on portraits.


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12 years 1 month ago #202521 by Cruso
Thank you for your opinions. Every time I edit a portrait I go back and forth, should I use either one or neither at all. So I thought I would ask others opinions. Anyone else care to share their opinion on using high pass vs unsharp mask?


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12 years 1 month ago #202598 by effron

bad mom wrote: I tend to lean towards high pass, as it can be done non-destructively, unlike unsharp mask. And yes I use it on portraits.


This just is NOT true. There is very little in Photoshop I can't do non-destructively, and unsharp is one .Layers, use layers.....

Why so serious?
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12 years 1 month ago #202687 by John Landolfi
There...there... They'll get it,soon....:rofl: :rofl:


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12 years 1 month ago #202698 by Stealthy Ninja

effron wrote:

bad mom wrote: I tend to lean towards high pass, as it can be done non-destructively, unlike unsharp mask. And yes I use it on portraits.


This just is NOT true. There is very little in Photoshop I can't do non-destructively, and unsharp is one .Layers, use layers.....


You do realize that high pass sharpening by it's very nature uses layers. You're right though, layers are good.

The main advantages high pass sharpening has over unsharp mask has are these:
1. It's easier to do it right.
2. It doesn't sharpen noise.

High pass is very easy to do and mostly yields better results. Of course if someone wants to stick with unsharp masking, go for it.
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12 years 1 month ago #202768 by John Landolfi
Unsharp Mask applied to the Luminosity Channel (Lab Space) doesn't sharpen noise, and can be applied with stronger settings. You can also diminish noise by blurring the a and b channels at the same time. There is always more than one way to accomplish something in Photoshop, and there seems to be no need to legislate the "best" way to do anything. Different workflows for different situations:cheers:


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12 years 1 month ago #203206 by Henry Peach
It's easy enough to try both and see what you think. I think you will find that used in a simple manner (without the many techniques that have been developed over the last decade) that neither one works best all the time. Some images cause issues for one or the other methods. Usm may sharpen the whole image (if you don't now how to deal with that), but high pass creates more noticeable halos (I assume folks have figured out how to deal with that too).

A google search will pull up several thousand tutorials on how to use usm non-destructively, and how to use it with an edge mask so it doesn't sharpen every pixel. May techniques have been developed to control either.

The Smart Sharpen option in Photoshop is usm with edge masking. The sharpening tools on the details tab in Lightroom or Adobe Camera Raw is unsharp mask with non-destructive layers and edge masking tools built in.

A very good resource for Photoshop users are the "Real World Sharpening With Adobe Photoshop {version}" books.

The technique I used to use was to make 2 usm layers set to luminosity blend. One sharpens with a high percentage/low radius setting. The other controls local contrast with a low percentage/high radius. Adjusting the threshold setting is usually enough to avoid any sharpening of noise, but there are plenty of tutorials on making an edge mask to help with this too. I've never needed to, and I shoot high ISO all the time.

But since switching to Adobe Camera Raw I'm usually satisfied with the sharpening tools it provides. I sharpen with the details tab, and control local contrast with the clarity slider. I only go into Photoshop for local sharpening if necessary (not often).
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