When to apply sharpening

Shooting in macro mode, techniques, tips & tricks
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Glenn NK
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Joined: 29.01.2012 07:02

When to apply sharpening

Post by Glenn NK »

I process my images in Lightroom where I adjust WB, exposure, temp, tint, clarity, vibrance, saturation, etc, and any other tonal values I wish.

I do one image, and SYNC all the rest to the master. Then on each individual image I adjust brightness so that the image brightnesses are close to each other.

The question is this: should I sharpen the images and use noise reduction BEFORE or AFTER focus stacking?

Or does it matter?

Glenn
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Stas Yatsenko
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Re: When to apply sharpening

Post by Stas Yatsenko »

I would suggest to make sharpening after stacking. Helicon Focus is able to align brightness of images so it is better not to change it manually.
Glenn NK
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Joined: 29.01.2012 07:02

Re: When to apply sharpening

Post by Glenn NK »

On some groups of images, I had to adjust the brightness or Helicon would not continue.

Glenn
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Stas Yatsenko
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Re: When to apply sharpening

Post by Stas Yatsenko »

Helicon Focus shows a warning about brightness differences? This is only a hint to improve your shooting technique, the stack is processed anyway and in most cases very well.
Henry M

Re: When to apply sharpening

Post by Henry M »

Here as a guest for the first time. - A pre press man of over 40 years, close to digital imaging from its beginnings and an enthusiastic photographer too.
I can't see anything wrong with applying some noise reduction to your images pre stacking. However sharpness should only ever be applied to a copy of your image as the last thing before its use, be it printing or displaying on screen. Because any applied sharpness can seriously restrict future scaling of your image. Henry
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Stas Yatsenko
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Re: When to apply sharpening

Post by Stas Yatsenko »

Helicon Focus uses high frequency details as key information to decide which parts are focused and which are not. Noise reduction or sharpening before stacking may prevent Helicon Focus from making correct decision.
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