In sharpening, saturation, and contrasting a image, does one adjust the image to THIER taste, or is there some CORRECT amount for the actual image. I.e. one can stop at the precise BEST stage (scientific like).
It’s all very subjective, but there are some basic guidelines that usually help most images look better. The most important thing is setting the black and white points of the image and the overall contrast. That alone will usually boost the saturation at the same time. If you have black and white points that you know are neutral and maybe an area of neutral gray in the image, then it can be fairly scientific, reading the pixel values off the Info Palette. But in the end, it’s really up to the individual to determine what looks the best.
I recall Deke Mclelland "Bible" author, had a formula based on resolution and someone else had a standard USM where the radius was never to exceed .7 and the amn’t +100 –and this USM formula was repeated if more sharpening was necessary.
I’ve noticed some like their images with the white haloe in evidence, but for me that is as unexceptable as out of focus edges. Some swear that oversharpening is fine for ink jet printing; but not fine for Web. But that depends on your colour management, paper type, and printer.
I recall when oversaturation was how most forced their unnatural images to "pop". These guys were good for adverts, but a "Field and Stream" type mag. would have nothing to do with lime green bushes, surf boards or magenta waters.
You decide what is appropriate and necessary based on the image, the audience, the project, and the output device, and who is paying for the outcome.
And always keep a clean original in case I’m wrong.
Sharpening is very much an art. There are no hard rules at all despite some claims to the contrary. The subject matter, the nature of the detail in the subject, the type of output and viewing distance will all affect the type of sharpening that is best for a given image. It’s pretty normal to have a different sharpening strategy for every different output. Thankfully, at least with inkjets, it’s very easy and inexpensive to make a series of tests to at least determine what’s right for that type of print. Other outputs will need your best guess that is further refined with experience.
