The steps below summarize the two-pass sharpening technique described in “Out of Gamut: A Two-Pass Approach to Sharpening in Photoshop.”
STEP 1: Sharpen to Correct the Image
CREATE EDGE MASK
- Duplicate your image, using Image>Duplicate… and leaving the original image open
- Convert the duplicate to grayscale (duplicating one of the color channels using the Channels palette often works well)
- Isolate the edges using Filters>Stylize>Find Edges
- Apply a Gaussian Blur to soften edges and reduce noise
- Invert the mask, by choosing Image>Adjust>Invert
- Exaggerate the contrast of the mask using Image>Adjust>Levels
APPLY EDGE MASK
- Make the original image active, by selecting it from the Window menu.
- Load the edge mask into the image by choosing Select>Load Selection and making sure the name of your duplicate file is entered as the source document
SHARPEN EDGES
- Press Command-H (Mac) or Control-H (Windows) to hide the selection outline
- Sharpen the selection defined by the mask using Filter>Sharpen>Unsharp Mask…
- Press Command-H (Mac) or Control-H (Windows) to restore selection outline (to avoid unintentionally acting only on the selection again)
Step 2: Sharpen for the Output Device
- If necessary, use Select>Deselect to turn off edge-mask selection
- Sharpen as appropriate for your output device
This article was last modified on June 17, 2023
This article was first published on March 20, 2001
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