Need to Sharpen after using Bicubic Sharper?

AF
Posted By
Andrew_Faber
Apr 3, 2007
Views
401
Replies
6
Status
Closed
Is there a need or benefit to applying additional sharpening if one down-sizes (for prints or the Web) using bi-cubic sharper?

Thanks.

MacBook Pro 16” Mockups 🔥

– in 4 materials (clay versions included)

– 12 scenes

– 48 MacBook Pro 16″ mockups

– 6000 x 4500 px

L
LenHewitt
Apr 3, 2007
Usually, Yes.
RK
Rob_Keijzer
Apr 3, 2007
Andrew,

Bicubic Sharper is an interpolation method, not a sharpening method.

Of course whether a downsized image needs sharpening or not depends on your judgement.

I usually downsize (for web) with bicubic sharper, followed by Photokit Sharpener’s output sharpening.

Example: Click on the image:

< http://www.pixentral.com/show.php?picture=1rNeTAbIou4p8nz9Gm zaHnUXK1k4UZ0>

Rob
C
chrisjbirchall
Apr 4, 2007
Didn’t do much for that bike on the left though, did it Rob? 😉

Andrew: Rob is quite right. Sharpening is a matter of judgement and will vary from image to image. All I would add is that you should be careful to keep an unsharpened "master" image which you can go back to each time you need a different size. Do your sharpening after resizing and save out the new version under another name.

You’d be surprised how many newcomers downsize an image and save it back on itself – then wonder why the quality suffers when they come to make a larger version!

Chris.
RK
Rob_Keijzer
Apr 4, 2007
Didn’t do much for that bike on the left though, did it Rob?

No Chris, you’re right. Lenses today! I’m longing back to my first camera (Agfa Clack/AKA Weekender) where everything was sharp!

Why they let us pay 1500 or more for those crappy lenses nowadays is beyond me. 🙂

Rob
BL
Bill_Lamp
Apr 5, 2007
I’ve found that occasionally, after downsizing an UNsharpened image with bicubic sharper, I have to new layer by copy and add a slight gaussian blur (then fade the opacity to fit the image). The picture is just TOO sharp.

I haven’t been able to pin it down to occurring more often with any particular lens. If it was a lens thing, I would expect it to happen more often with the Nikon ED 180 f2.8 than with the 105 macro or 24-50 zoom.

Bill
MV
Mathias_Vejerslev
Apr 6, 2007
I prefer to downsample with regular bicubic, then sharpen with Smart Sharpen.

Master Retouching Hair

Learn how to rescue details, remove flyaways, add volume, and enhance the definition of hair in any photo. We break down every tool and technique in Photoshop to get picture-perfect hair, every time.

Related Discussion Topics

Nice and short text about related topics in discussion sections