Photoshop CC: The Missing Manual

Advanced Sharpening Techniques

Now that you understand the basics of sharpening, it’s time to delve into the realm of advanced sharpening. Consider yourself warned that this is pro-level stuff and not for the faint of heart. (Basically, these methods involve many more steps than the techniques you’ve learned so far.) In this section, you’ll learn how to create a detailed edge mask and make a new high-contrast channel. Read on, brave warrior!

Note

This book doesn’t cover every Photoshop sharpening technique; if it did, it’d be too heavy to lift! Instead, it covers the most practical and frequently used methods. If you want to learn more, pick up a copy of Real World Image Sharpening, Second Edition by Jeff Schewe and Bruce Fraser (www.lesa.in/rwsharpen). That book is a few years old, but it teaches you more than you ever wanted to know about the art of sharpening.

Creating an Edge Mask

An edge mask is simply a layer mask that accentuates the edges in an image. (Pop back to What Is Sharpening? if you need a refresher on what “edge” means in this context.) The mask itself, which you apply to the layer you want to sharpen, is black except for a white outline of your image. Because black conceals and white reveals in the Land of Layer Masks, this makes the sharpening show only on those edges. However, instead of drawing such a complicated mask yourself—that would take days!—you can have Photoshop create one for you by using the (rather lengthy) method described in this section. It takes ...