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Question

Where I can apply Smart Sharpen?

Forum|Forum|4 years ago
January 31, 2022
5 replies
1428 views

Hello,

I have image in Photoshop (see image below).

Background is first layer and then there is dupplicated layer, because I needed to remove some unwanted details with spot healing brush tool. Levels 1 is layer where I improved brightness and with Vibrance 1 layer some colors. I can't add Smart Sharpen to Levels 1 or Vibrance 1 layers. So is it okay to apply it to layer called "Removing trash" (what is duplicated layer)? Will it still be visible?

Please help me with this 🙂 thank you!

macOS

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Earth Oliver

Legend

Aside from your questio, be aware that Smart Sharpen is currently bugged and will produce artifacts on your image. It is recommended to not use Smart Sharpen and use Unsharp Mask instead.

J

Jonathan32yearsAuthor

Known Participant

Thanks for telling. I used Unsharp Mask, I didn't need advanced settings just good old sharpening.

Stephen Marsh

Community Expert

Another option... Adding a new blank layer at the top of the layer stack, then using opt/alt keys with the merge visible layers command will create a new layer with all of the information from lower layers merged into it. Sharpen this layer. You can then adjust blend mode such as luminosity and use the layer blend-if sliders to lessen the intensity of the light halo, or apply a layer mask.

Trevor.Dennis

Community Expert

Stephen I was going to suggest placing a Copy Merged layer at the top of the stack (Shift Ctrl Alt E — Shift Cmd Opt E) and applying Smart Sharpen to that, but I am now thinking that if you combined all layers into a Smart Object you;d have the best of both worlds. You be sharpening the combined layers non destructively, and could still edit those layers by double cling the SO to open in a new window.

I am a fan of High Pass sharpening, so my workflow is to add the Copy Merged layer and apply High Pass to it. I like this approach as you can use a layer mask to selectively reduce sharpening using different shades of grey in a layer mask. You can also use Noise Reduction on the High Pass layer for high ISO images. Having local control of the sharpening lets you push it a bit further.

J

Jonathan32yearsAuthor

Known Participant

Both the background and Removing trash layers appear to be fully black from your screenshot. , so there is nothing to sharpen.

It sound like you are new to Photoshop.

Click on the menu top right of the Layers panel and select Panel Options (near the bottom of the menu)

Chose Large thumbnail (my red highlights)

We should be able to make more sense of your screen shots after that. Note: Most panels have panel options, and they all have useful features/options

Thanks for answering.

I have image even it appears all black. I'm doing this kind of work where I can't show those pictures publicly yet, so I just created black bow to cover those images.

Is this method I described okay in your opinion? Thank you!

c.pfaffenbichler

Community Expert

Applying a Filter to an Adjustment Layer is impossible; applying it to an Adjustment Layer’s Layer Mask is possible but would not seem to make any sense in this scenario.

If it is essential to apply the Filter to the adjusted pixel content one could convert the pixel Layer/s and the Adjustment Layers together to one Smart Object and apply the Filter to that.

But in this case I doubt it would have a significant benefit.

One can also apply most of the Adjustments themselves as Smart Filters, by the way.

J

Jonathan32yearsAuthor

Known Participant

Thank you for answering and sorry about my english (it's not my native language).

So you mean I can make that one layer called "removing trash" as Smart Object and then add Smart Harpen to that Smart Object?

This all is so new to me and I'm trying to find simplest way without losing my temper 😄

c.pfaffenbichler

Community Expert

So you mean I can make that one layer called "removing trash" as Smart Object and then add Smart Harpen to that Smart Object?

This all is so new to me and I'm trying to find simplest way without losing my temper 😄

Yes, convert the Layer to a Smart Object and apply the Filter; that way you can re-edit the Filter again and again without degrading the image unnecessarily.