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Posted on 24/09/04 2:33:18 PM |
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Martin Kimeldorf
* Posts: 20 Reply  |
questiion about why, rather than how for pages 60-61
On pages 60-61 you provide a very clever way for punching up detail and color. I had stumbled onto this technique on my own, but lacked the coherency offered in your explanation. While I understand why the soft light layer punches up the color, I am not really clear why the de-saturated layer when over-sharpened looks so natural and NOT over-sharpened. Could you explain this a bit? |
Posted on 24/09/04 2:41:53 PM |
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Steve Caplin
Administrator Posts: 6982 Reply  |
Re: questiion about why, rather than how for pages 60-61
Most of the artificial look you get when using Unsharp Mask comes from the extra contrast seen in the colours. Digital cameras, in particular, create 'artefacts' when compressing images - stray pixels of the wrong hue that appear as part of the compression process. The cheaper the camera, by and large, the more artefacts can be seen. When you sharpen an image, this colour imbalance is accentuated. But when you add a sharpened Hard Light layer, you're merely strengthening the light and shadows, leaving the colour alone. In effect, it's like boosting the black plate in a four colour separation. Any other theories out there? |