5. Output Sharpeners

Once you've completed editing your image, applied all the creative sharpening or smoothing effects, etc. it's time to prepare the image for your preferred output. First things first though ñ resize your image to the "final" output size! A really cool feature of Output Sharpener is that it shows you the current size and resolution of the image in the actual units you've chosen in Photoshop (see below).

 

Selecting the Output Sharpener

 

The Output Sharpeners are divided into four different types of output device, with subsets for the various alternative print resolutions and media types. Good output sharpening is dependent upon you making the correct choice of device, resolution and media. Choosing a Contone Sharpener and then printing using matte paper on an inkjet printer will end in disappointment.

 

Output Sharpening Effects

 

Like the Capture Sharpeners, the Output Sharpeners use a Layer Set. This layer set will contain the Light and Dark Contour sharpening layers with the default opacity set to 100%. Obviously you can reduce the Layer Set opacity to suit the particular needs of the image being sharpened. The default opacity for the individual Light and Dark Contour layers is 50%, which enables you to independently increase or decrease the strength of each contour layer for even better control of the sharpening effect.

6. Conclusion

I think the biggest compliment I can pay the Pixel Genius team is not to simply say that PhotoKit SHARPENER produces finished images that look really sharp, but that they look very natural and display a level of detail that previously I've not seen in any digital print. That's not to say that I've not seen sharper prints, I have, but in one way or another they've always appeared overdone. With PhotoKit Sharpener there's no telltale signs of over-sharpening, halos or any of the other artefacts weíve become accustomed to seeing.

At $99.95 PhotoKit SHARPENER is not cheap and no doubt many will baulk at the thought of spending so much on something as simple a set of sharpening actions, filters and brushes. However, to think it provides only tweaked versions of sharpening methods with which we're already familiar would be doing the folk at Pixel Genius at great disservice. PhotoKit SHARPENER and especially the concept of the sharpening workflow is vastly different to any I've seen or used before. It has changed my approach to sharpening digital images and my prints are much better for it. If you're serious about producing the best possible output from Photoshop you also owe it to yourself to at least try the demo version.

PhotoKit Sharpener can be obtained from http://www.pixelgenius.com and is supplied with a PDF format user manual that provides a detailed discussion on the sharpening workflow and methods.