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Home>DigitalImaging>ImageErrors>OverSharpening
OverSharpening
GraemeCookson
Cananimagebetoosharp?Yes,certainly,ifthat'sharpening'hasbeenincorrectlyimplementedafterthe
photographwastaken.
Sharpeninglines
Sharpeningspots
Sharpeninggrain
Sharpeninglines
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FIGURE1Thetypicalsharpeningeffectonanimageistheblackandwhiteoutlinesarounddetail,with
thelinethicknessandintensityvaryingdependingonthesettingsused.Thetwinblackandwhiteedges
arenotalwaysseentogetherthough.Oftenonlytheblacklinesarevisiblearoundlightpartsofanimage
andwhitelinesarounddark,asseeninthesetwoexamples.
Theselinesdonotactuallymaketheimagesharper,theyonlygivetheillusionofsharpnessastheyadd
contrasttotheedges.Butwhetherthissharpeningeffectisbeneficialornotdependsonwheretheimage
istobeused.Printandwebusershaveverydifferentapproachestosharpening,andpicturelibrarieswill
oftenspecifythatnosharpeningistobeusedatall.Regardlessofwhetheryouarefororagainst,these
notesareintendedtohelpindetectingthevariouseffects.
Sharpeningspots
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FIGURE2Examplesofanimagethathasbeensharpenedusingahighthresholdsetting(left),and
wheretheprintsharpensettingswereappliedwheretherewaslittlecrispfocusdetailtostartwith.
Ifthesharpeningusesareasonablyhighthresholdsettingthentheblackandwhiteoutlinesdonotappear
atcertainlevels.Butinotherareasoftheimagethelinescansuddenlycomeintoeffect,suchasinthe
imageontheleft.Thiscanresultinaseriesofspeckledunevenlinesofvaryingthickness,almostasif
theyhadbeenpaintedinbyhandwithabrush.Ifthesharpenthresholdsettingismadeevenhigherthen
theeffectstartstodiminish,tothepointwherenosharpeningisseenatall.
Problemsinsharpeningdonotnecessarilymeantheuseoflowgradeequipment.Theimageontheright
hadprintsharpensettingsappliedwheretherewaslittlecrispfocusdetailtostartwith.Theeffectsarean
exaggeratedformofthesandpaperproblemmorelikeaplagueofblackspotsinstead.
Sharpeninggrain
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FIGURE3Thetwoimagesshownherearefromthesameframe,butscannedbydifferentpeople.
Theintentionofsharpeningistoexaggeratethedifferenceincontrastaroundimagedetail.Thiscanwork
wellwhereanimagedoeshavedetailtosharpen.Butwhereareasofanimageareoutoffocus,suchas
background,orwherethereiseffectivelynodetailatall,suchasinbluesky,thensharpeningcanbea
realproblemifdoneincorrectly.Astherearenohardedgesintheseareas,theresultcanbetoonly
sharpenwhatdoesexisthere,namelyfilmgrainandscannernoise.Ratherthanseeingthecommonblack
andwhitelines,thevisualeffectismoreakintosandpaper.
Asshowninthetwoscansofthesameimage,above,therearewaystoavoidthissandpapereffect,but
alltoooftenblanketsettingsareusedthatcanruinanimage.Photographersusevariousmethodstodraw
thecentreoffocustotheimagesubjectkeepingonlythesubjectinsharpfocusforexample.Thesame
approachcanhelpwhenapplyingsharpening,otherwiseyouruntheriskofdrawingattentionawayfrom
theintendedsubject.
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